What Certificates Can a Pharmacy Technician Gain to Further Their Career?

by Chloe Black, CPhT-ADV

Are you looking to improve certain skills, learn something new, or maybe land a great job?

The new Board of Pharmacy Technician Specialties (BPTS), an initiative brought to us by the National Pharmacy Technician Association, is here to help. While the choices for gaining additional certifications or specialty designations were extremely limited and could get very pricey previously, the BPTS is changing that by offering a cheaper and wider range of specialty certificates.

BPTS is now offering three core certifications:

• CPhT-ADV (Advanced Certified Pharmacy Technician)
• BCSCPT (Board Certified Sterile Compounding Pharmacy Technician)
• BCNCPT (Board Certified Nonsterile Compounding Pharmacy Technician)

While the CPhT-ADV and CSPT designations have been around for a few years now, this is the first time a certification has been offered, allowing a technician to specialize in nonsterile compounding and the first time any of these titles has been available from your choice of companies.

What is part of the reason these certificates change the game? BPTS offers candidates one additional retake for all exams at no extra charge. All of their exams can also be taken from the comfort of your own home.

To get the CPhT-ADV title, a technician has to complete four assessment-based certifications before submitting an application. Don’t worry! BPTS has that covered for us too! BPTS offers ten specialty certifications:

• Billing & Reimbursement
• Controlled Substances Diversion Prevention
• Hazardous Drug Management
• Immunization Administration
• Medication History
• Medication Therapy Management
• Point-of-Care Testing
• Regulatory Compliance
• Supply Chain Management
• Technician Product Verification

These certifications all come with the same perks as the core ones, free retakes and the ability to take your exam anywhere. Several of these certificates don’t even require additional classes, only that you meet a minimum amount of experience in the field.

Have you already started the process to become a CPhT? The Board of Pharmacy Technician Specialties will honor the certificates you’ve achieved as long as at least one of your certifications is obtained from BTPS.

This new, wider range of specialties allows pharmacy technicians to define their career paths.

Are you interested in helping people face to face? Maybe Immunization Administration and Point-of-Care testing are right for you.

Perhaps you’re more interested in playing a larger role in preventing medication errors? Medication History, Medication Therapy Management, and Technician Product Verification offer a more hands-on approach to medication errors than a pharmacy technician would normally be involved in. There are so many different combinations of certifications that it is finally possible to showcase your skills.

The list of possibilities went from very small to almost overwhelming.

Still, the real beauty of all of these new options is the amount of freedom over the direction you want your career to go. These certificates show that not only are you experienced and capable, but you’re also willing to go the extra mile to prove it.