MohaveWire

Allied health occupations are among the fastest growing in the nation, and the Mohave Community College Pharmacy Technology program has set out to meet the increased demand for well-educated pharmacy technicians in Mohave County and around much of the country.

Based on 2007 data from CCbenefits, Inc., pharmacy-tech positions are expected to increase by an impressive 33 percent throughout the tri-state area by 2017.

Classes in the new Pharmacy Technology program at Mohave Community College begin Aug. 25. The MCC program offers a certificate course and a two-year course in which students earn an associate of applied science degree (AAS).

MCC Chancellor Michael Kearns said, “Pharmacy techs are an integral part of today’s allied health team, helping people of all ages maintain good health.”

The program prepares students to work under the direct supervision of a licensed pharmacist and to perform many pharmacy-related functions. Technicians are used in a wide variety of settings, including community pharmacies, hospitals, the military, in-home health care, long-term care, mail-service facilities, managed health-care facilities and education/training programs.

Carol Elledge, a long-time pharmacy tech in Arizona, is resident faculty for the program. She worked several years as a pharmacy technician at Tucson Medical Center, at Option Care in Bullhead City, at Western Regional Medical Center in Bullhead City and at Kingman Regional Medical Center.

“There has been a big change in the emphasis on education with new hires at pharmacies and related businesses,” she said. “The companies are starting to demand employees with higher levels of education.”

Elledge teaches the program on the Thomas C. Henry Campus-Bullhead City. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, holds national standing as a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) and has her Arizona state license as a pharmacy technician.

The certificate course runs four semesters and prepares students to pass the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board test, now required in Arizona to work as a practicing pharmacy technician. It will include an internship at a pharmacy.

The AAS can be earned through a four-semester program that includes in-depth training in supervisory and administrative duties, an in-depth science education and an internship working at a pharmacy, hospital or other health-related business. Twenty-seven credit hours of core classes are a part of the four-semester program or students may take them before entering the program.

“Pharmacy technicians have grown from being simple clerks to compounding intravenous injections, filling prescriptions and completing other duties that the pharmacists used to do,” Elledge said. “Laws are changing to allow that because of a shortage of pharmacists. It is becoming more and more important for efficient pharmacy operations that a pharmacy technician be well-educated and that they understand the entire process.

“A pharmacist should be free to consult with customers, deal with the public and oversee the work of the technicians,” she said.

To enroll in the program, a student must be at least 18 and a high school graduate or have earned a GED. The student must be free of felony convictions for the past five years and he or she must have no drug-related felonies, Elledge said.

For more information about the program, contact Elledge at the Henry Campus-Bullhead City, (928) 758-3926, Ext. 4429, e-mail her at celledge@mohave.edu.

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Carol Elledge, who earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, is the resident faculty member for the Pharmacy Technology program at Mohave Community College. She holds national standing as a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) and has her Arizona state license as a pharmacy technician.