University of Iowa partnering with community colleges to train pharmacy technicians

IOWA CITY - The University of Iowa and the state's 15 community colleges are working together to better train pharmacy technicians.

Representatives from the groups, along with national and state pharmacy associations, will meet today in Des Moines for the first-ever Iowa Pharmacy Technician Summit, where they will discuss developing a uniform pharmacy technician curriculum to be available to students anywhere in the state.

As patient care has become more personalized and technology more sophisticated, the roles of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have changed, said Donald Letendre, dean of the college of pharmacy at the University of Iowa.

'Pharmacists must deal with newer, more challenging things all of the time,” Letendre said.

'They need to be able to delegate. ... It is increasingly important to have a well-trained core of technicians.”

The summit comes as Iowa addresses a potential lack of qualified pharmacy technicians. Between 2010 and 2020, Iowa Workforce Development projects that more than 1,000 pharmacy technician jobs will need to be added.

Pharmacy technicians prepare medications for patients and deliver and change out medications at hospitals, among other responsibilities, said Grant Houselog, a third-year pharmacy student at UI and a pharmacy technician at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

'Technicians are accruing more responsibilities,” he said. 'There's more patient interaction.”

Several community colleges offer pharmacy technician tracks, Letendre said, but not one has an accredited training program.

'Wouldn't it be nice if these 15 community colleges can marshal their resources and work together to create one, unified accredited program?” Letendre said.

He believes the groups should create a tiered program, which would include a one-year certificate and two-year associate degree, adding it also must be able to integrate into four-year programs for students interested in obtaining a bachelor's degree and becoming pharmacists.

He said the groups could develop a program and have it up and running by next fall, though it may only be available at four or five community colleges at first.

'Health care is changing all the time,” he said. 'It's important these individuals have the knowledge and skills for a baseline of education and training to meet a wide range of expectations.”