Rhode Island Pharmacy Tech School – RI

Pharmacy Technician Education in Rhode Island

If you are interested in working as a pharmacy technician in Rhode Island, you picked a good place, as health care is the state’s leading industry (rhode-island .careers.org).  The nation’s largest pharmacy health care provider is headquartered in Rhode Island, and is the state’s largest employer.  Employment as a pharmacy technician also presents an opportunity to work with cutting edge technology. Rhode Island ranks second nationally in use of e-prescriptions, where doctors send prescriptions online to pharmacies.  Another benefit for pharmacy technicians is the rate of pay.  Salaries statewide average $30,120, placing Rhode Island in the top ten nationally (pharmacytechs.net).  And demand for pharmacy technicians remains healthy.  According to America’s Career Infonet (acinet.org), the expected growth in pharmacy technician jobs from 2006 through 2016 is 33%.

Rhode Island pharmacy technician schools provide and education that caters to licensure as a fully qualified pharmacy technician, known as a Pharmacy Technician II.  However, completing a Department of Health Board of Pharmacy approved pharmacy technician training program is the preferred way to become certified and obtain a license.  Programs typically run 15 weeks in length, can frequently be completely online, and lead to a diploma.  Should you choose the certification by-examination route for licensure, continuing education comes into play.  The nation’s two leading certification tests, the Pharmacy Technician certification exam (PTCB) or the Institute for Certification of Pharmacy Technicians ExCPT certification exam, require recertification every two years.  During that time period, the technician must complete 20 hours of continuing education.  Recertification pays off.  Rhode Island pharmacy technicians with more than four years experience $14.16 to $17.00 per hour, versus $11.76 to $15.12 per hour for those with less, according to newsveritas.com.

Through campus based and online programs, aspiring Pharmacy Techs in Providence, Warwick, Cranston and Pawtucket, Rhode Island may be able to prepare themselves for the possibility of employment in some of the largest hospitals and healthcare facilities in the state including the Rhode Island Hospital, Kent Hospital, Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and The Miriam Hospital.