Pharmacy Technicians

ACPE's interest and involvement with pharmacy technician education and training

ACPE does not currently have any direct involvement with the accreditation of pre-service education and training programs for pharmacy technicians. Through its membership of the Council on Credentialing in Pharmacy (CCP), ACPE participates in discussions regarding all credentialing issues in pharmacy and these include education and training of pharmacy technicians (see Pharmacy Technician Educators Council, PTEC), certification of pharmacy technicians (by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, PTCB), and accreditation of pharmacy technician training programs (by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, ASHP). Furthermore, many ACPE-accredited providers of continuing pharmacy education offer continuing education activities that include pharmacy technicians as participants; continuing education being a requirement for renewal of certification and for renewal of licensure or registration in some states

Members of the ACPE staff were involved in a Summit on Pharmacy Technicians (pdf, 304 KB) held in May 2002 and in the drafting of an updated White Paper on Pharmacy Technicians (pdf, 124 KB). Endorsement of the White Paper by CCP's 12 member organizations reinforced the call for change made in the paper. The need for further, profession-wide discussion was, however, evident and this led to CCP's request to ACPE to initiate a profession-wide dialog concerning the possible development of national standards and an accreditation process for pharmacy technician education and training. During 2003, individuals and organizations submitted written responses to ACPE. Additionally, comments were received at the ten open hearings convened by ACPE at national pharmacy meetings. In February 2004, ACPE provided CCP with a compilation of the written comments and summaries of the open hearings. Following its February 2004 meeting, CCP published a summary of its findings and conclusions in a news release. The news release and compilation of comments is available on the CCP website. As members of CCP and JCPP, ACPE supports continued profession-wide dialog on this issue.

Press Release: Revised definition of Continuing Pharmacy Education (CPE) approved
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