Requirements to Become a Pharmacy Technician in Louisiana

As of June 1st, 2012, the state of Louisiana features well over a thousand hospital and retail pharmacies employing about 5,220 full time pharmacy technicians.  Despite a state law mandating that Louisiana pharmacy technicians be Board certified, more than seven hundred pharmacy technicians currently employed in the state of Louisiana are technically unlicensed.  This is largely because many competent, experienced pharmacy technicians do not keep their licenses current, often allowing them to expire before renewing them.  Other unlicensed pharmacy technicians are on-the-job trainees and pharmaceutical interns studying to become licensed pharmacists.  The regulations, requirements, and restrictions imposed on pharmacy technicians vary from state to state.  Some pharmacy technicians hold out-of-state licenses. 

Louisiana State Regulations for Pharmacy Technicians

As mentioned, Board certification is required for all pharmacy technicians employed at pharmacies in Louisiana.  Certification (licensing) requires registration with the Board.  To qualify, applicants must be eighteen years of age or older with at least a high school level education.  The initial application fee is one hundred dollars.  Registration must be renewed each year no later than June 30th, and requires an annual renewal fee of $50.  All applicants for licensing as pharmacy technicians in Louisiana must complete a Board-approved training program and pass one of two Board-approved pharmacy exams.  This is followed by a 600-hour practical internship (no more than fifty hours per week) at a Louisiana pharmacy.  Maintaining certification also requires ten (10) hours per year of continuing education.  Trainees are given work permits valid for up to eighteen months from the date of issuance.  According to Kentucky pharmaceutical law, the maximum allowable pharmacy technician to pharmacists ratio is two to one (2:1).  The ratio can be increased to 3:1 if all three technicians are licensed. 

Louisiana Training Programs for Pharmacy Technicians Include:

Louisiana residents who are interested in working locally as pharmacy technicians can acquire skills and professional degrees at accredited local colleges.  Leading Louisiana colleges offering certificate programs for pharmacy technicians include Virginia College in Baton Rouge, Remington College, with campuses in Baton Rouge and Lafayette and University of Phoenix, featuring facilities in Baton Rouge, Bossier City, Lafayette and Metairie. At the same rate, some aspiring pharmacy technicians living in Louisiana opt for convenient online training.  Popular accredited online colleges with degree programs for pharmacy technicians include Northwest College, Vatterott College, YTI Institute, Virginia College and Fortis Institute, to name only a few.