Students will gain a broad knowledge of pharmacology, drug uses, actions, interactions and side effects, medication therapy, pharmaceutical calculations, anatomy and physiology, drug delivery systems, pharmacy practice, purchasing and inventory control and pharmacy law and regulations.

Through simulated pharmacy laboratory activities, students will increase their skills in using pharmacy computer software, interpreting prescriptions, processing medication orders, compounding IV admixtures and parenteral nutrition, compounding pediatric medications, creating veterinary dosage forms, managing pharmacy operations, and utilizing critical thinking to resolve patient problems.

Through the clinical experience, students will increase knowledge and skills in creating and maintaining patient profiles, effectively participating on the health care team, filing insurance claims, managing automated medication dispensing systems, operating robotic pharmacy equipment, staffing patient care clinics, providing exceptional customer service, leading quality improvement programs, supervising and managing pharmacy technicians and reconciling medications for ER patients. The clinical practice will take place in hospital, community and specialty pharmacies.

Graduates may be employed in hospitals, medical centers, private and chain pharmacies and specialty pharmacies, including medication compounding, long-term-care medication therapy management and IV infusion pharmacies. Students are required to pass the national certification examination administered by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board prior to the beginning of the second fall semester. Therefore, graduates of the AAS program will be nationally certified upon the completion of the program.