VGCC adding Pharmacy Technology two-year degree

Vance-Granville Community College is expanding its Pharmacy Technology program by adding a new option for students to earn an Associate in Applied Science degree in the field, providing graduates with the skills necessary to qualify for more employment opportunities. The degree program is set to begin in the Fall 2013 semester, which starts Aug. 19. VGCC will hold an information session and open house about the new program on Tuesday, April 23 at 2:30 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. in the small auditorium (Building 2) on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County.

 

VGCC has offered Pharmacy Technology since 2004, but previously, only a one-year (three-semester) diploma program was available. Students who have already earned a Pharmacy Technology diploma at VGCC (or another North Carolina community college) can now resume their education, complete 30 additional credit hours (two more semesters), and graduate with the new degree. Previously enrolled students must re-apply to VGCC and specify the Pharmacy Technology A.A.S. degree as their intended program of study.

 

Carla May, the VGCC Pharmacy Technology program head, said that the additional education has a specific benefit: the degree qualifies graduates to work as “validating technicians,” as defined by the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy . “A validating technician has legal authority to check the accuracy of work done by other technicians in hospitals and other institutions,” May explained. “At one time, this sort of validation could only be done by a pharmacist. As our health-care system changes and our population ages, there will be more and more demand for pharmacy technicians who can perform these duties, allowing pharmacists more time to provide clinical services to patients.” The new degree program will also prepare Certified Pharmacy Technicians to assume pharmacy technician roles in specialty areas such as Medication Therapy Management, Medication Reconciliation, Inventory Management and Pharmacy Technician Administration.

 

VGCC’s Pharmacy Technology graduates have found employment not only in retail drug stores but also in hospitals, infusion centers, long-term care facilities, wholesale drug companies, pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities and pharmacy benefit management call centers. Diploma graduates are prepared to take the National Certification Examination developed by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board.

 

For more information, call Carla May at (252) 738-3482.

 

Above: VGCC students (from left) R.J. Catchings and Kelly McKenna Evans train in the Pharmacy Technology lab on Main Campus. (VGCC photo)