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Pharmacy Assistants work under the supervision of a pharmacist and may be responsible for the overall operation of a pharmacy, including: safe study, drug receipt accountability, preparation, packaging, storage and return or disposition of all unused products. Some of a pharmacy assistant's responsibilities include filling orders under a pharmacist's supervision, entering client information, identifying the correct mixture of breakdowns for prescriptions, and preparation and processing of paperwork for orders. The Pharmacy Assistant diploma program covers a broad range of subjects. Students in this 45-week program learn about Pharmacy Assistant practices, basic pharmacology and drug and medical terminology. They also explore pharmacy computer systems, hospital and community pharmacy practices and procedures, drug dosage calculations, and compounding labs. Ethics, legislation, personal conduct and workplace safety are also covered.
The Pharmacy Assistant diploma program includes a field placement in a community pharmacy that students can choose to complete full-time at the end of the program or part-time during their studies.
This program is 45 weeks in length.
Job Opportunities
- Community Pharmacies
- Hospitals
Pharmacy Assistant - Ontario
Also offered in British Columbia as Pharmacy Assistant - BC At:
Abbotsford Burnaby Richmond Surrey Vancouver VictoriaProgram Courses
The program outline below is for Ontario . Click here to see the outlines for British Columbia and Alberta.
| Code | Course Name | Hours |
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- For those who are not already proficient in MS Office software, this series of workshops will be essential to completion of some of the projects and will improve the students’ productivity in school and on the job. This workshop is optional and only needs to be taken by those who do not already have experience in the software covered. All modules are covered at the basic and intermediate levels. Students who are familiar with the software may do challenge exams and use the time for other projects. This workshop series will include MS Word (word processing), MS Excel (spreadsheets), Access (database), MS PowerPoint (presentations) and MS Outlook.
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- Course description coming soon.
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- This course offers an overview of community pharmacy operations. Topics include current trends and issues facing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians; the complementary roles of the pharmacist and the pharmacy technician in providing pharmaceutical care and other pharmacy services. Federal and provincial jurisprudence, record keeping associated with legislation and voluntary professional associations for both pharmacists and technicians will also be examined. Emphasis will be placed on the day–to–day activities of a pharmacy technician in a community pharmacy, including interactions with patients and colleagues.
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- This course will prepare the students for drug lab work for the purpose of preparing drugs to be dispensed to patients. They will learn techniques for measuring and counting various forms of drugs such as capsules, ointments etc. They will learn proper methods for preparing mixtures and cleaning and storing equipments after usage. Student will also learn the proper methods for recording inventories used and proper storage of various forms of drugs.
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- Course description coming soon.
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- During this important module, students will learn about various drug types. They will learn how to categorize drugs and various affects or side effects that drugs will cause. Students will determine drug administration and which drugs can be mixed and which cannot. In addition, they will determine the how they interact with other drugs, food, alcohol and herbal remedies. Students will learn about patient education and labelling.
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- This course will concentrate of drug dosage calculations and concepts. During this course students will cover apothecaries and household systems of measurement, interpretation of medication orders and labels, proportion formulas to calculate, equivalent units and checkpoints, calculation of Oral Medications, Powder and Crystalline Drugs, Insulin Dosage Calculations, Intravenous Fluids and Medications, and Dosages for Infants and Children.
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- The Gaining Employment program will help participants develop the requisite skills to plan and conduct an effective employment search or determine their suitability for self–employment. Students will set goals and objectives, develop interview and presentation techniques, resumes, and detailed job search or self–employment plans.
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- This introductory course covers specific math concepts that are required by heath care professional. During the sessions students will learn to apply general math concepts to the medical field. Specific topic the students will cover include whole number review, fractions and decimals, ratios and proportions, percents, combined applications and conversions, and dosage calculations.
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- The organization, functions and services of the hospital pharmacy are examined in detail as well as the roles of the Pharmacy Management, clinical pharmacist and staff pharmacist. The role of the pharmacy technician in provision of pharmacy services is emphasized. Practical methods of drug distribution in institutions will be developed. Emphasis will be placed on orders for unit dose, traditional drug distribution orders, patient profiling and associated record keeping.
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- This course provides students with opportunities to gain knowledge and understanding of human anatomy and physiology. Emphasis is given to various homeostatic mechanisms that promote human adaptation and survival. Selected disorders associated with the body systems are included.
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- Effective communication is critical to successful management. Without it, managers will find themselves running into problems with employees, customers, peers and superiors. Good communication practices will help make work go more smoothly, avoid costly errors caused by misinterpretation and reduce overall stress levels for all involved. During this module, participants will cover the communications process, barriers to communication, effective listening, non–verbal communication, dealing with emotions, questioning, paraphrasing and acknowledging, communicating in a cross–cultural environment, and giving and receiving feedback.
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- This course consists of a combination of modules that are considered necessary prerequisites to all other courses. During this course, students will begin with Micro Computer Terminology, which they will do in conjunction with keyboarding skills. Both of these courses are self–paced. Students will then proceed to Windows environment, which will also be self–paced, except for the review days, which are scheduled before each beginning studies on each of the integrated software suites. Students may already have some of the skills covered in this module. Those students will be assigned enhanced courses.
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- This introductory course will provide the students with an overview of the Pharmacy environment. It will provide the students with an insight on what is expected of them in a pharmacy assistant position and what types of tasks they will be required to performs. They will also be advised of how this position differs from Pharmacy Technician. This module will also act as an introduction to terminology and forms that the students will encounter in their positions.
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- Pharmacy practice is affected by a variety of legislation and regulation. Pharmacy Technicians must have a good working knowledge of this field and be able to apply that knowledge to ensure that they conform to all applicable requirements in carrying out their day–to–day work. Business ethics are an important consideration for businesses in today’s environment. Organizations find themselves having to answer to patients, doctors, government, colleagues, and other stakeholders. It is no longer acceptable to only consider laws and regulations, as the actions of a company today can make it very successful or very costly in the future. It is also important to ensure that you, as a Pharmacy Assistant, conduct yourself in a professional manner.
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- This course develops the students’ basic understanding of disease principles, before becoming inundated by more complex principles in professional school. Part of the training as pharmacy technicians will include a study of drugs, their actions and uses. Since drugs work essentially by altering body function, it is important to understand how the body normally functions without drugs. You will be required to think physiologically. That is, being able to explain how a given body system or structure maintains homeostasis. In this course we will look specifically at the physiology and pathophysiology of the nervous, respiratory and digestive systems as well as blood.
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- Computerization is an important factor in keeping the pharmacy efficient and keeping accurate information of drugs being dispensed to patients. Pharmacy computer systems and databases keep records of clients, prescriptions and refills if necessary. They also are capable of cross checking against other drugs the client is taking to ensure that interactions do not cause side effects or other medical problems. The systems keep track of patients, doctors, billing and third party billing information. They are also capable of keeping track of refills and refill expiry.
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- This Health & Safety programs covering the essential topics as outlined in the legislation The course covers the mandated topics such as WHMIS and also covers important topics such as First Aid and CPR that everyone in the health field should be.
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- This module will deal mainly with report and proposal writing. The process will begin with a refresher of the student’s writing skills including the correct use of grammar. Students will learn when to best use letters, memos and e–mail messages. They will also learn to plan and prepare effective reports and proposals. During this course, students will learn concepts and objectives of written communication, keys to successful writing, writing effective sentences, using correct grammar, correct and effective use of punctuation, paragraphs and linking thoughts, when to use memos and letters, making your writing interesting, and writing the details.