Hazardous Compounding Certification Course

 

Our hazardous compounding certification course, previously known as our chemo certification course, provides you with the skills and training you need as a pharmacy technician to properly handle hazardous drugs, including those used for chemotherapy.

An Overview of Our Course

We carefully designed our course to meet all of the relevant training requirements from the State Board of Pharmacy to obtain your Hazardous Compounding Certification or Chemo Certification.

Our course is also accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), which helps ensure that it is officially recognized by your employers as well as by any future organizations that you work with to complete further training or certifications.

 

This course appeals to pharmacy technicians and certified pharmacy technicians as well as pharmacists and those who are working toward becoming pharmacists.

Requirements for the Course

It is very important to note that our hazardous compounding certification is designed to build on previous knowledge you have gained as a pharmacy technician. As such, we require that you meet one of several requirements. These requirements are in place to ensure you have sufficient foundational knowledge to take the course, allowing us to focus on the most relevant topics instead of spending time reviewing the information you should know.

Perhaps the simplest prerequisite to meet is to have successfully completed our sterile compounding certification course, previously known as our IV course. Alternatively, you can be currently enrolled in that course.

Alternatively, you could have completed a course on sterile products and aseptic techniques that is ACPE accredited and had at least 40 contact hours. To fulfill the requirement, this course must have included both hands-on training and didactic training. This is essentially the equivalent of completing our sterile compounding certification course. You will need to submit the relevant documentation.

Because many pharmacy technicians prefer to learn with hands-on experience instead of traditional training, we also offer the third option of at least 600 hours of practical experience with preparing sterile products and aseptic techniques. These hours must have been accumulated in the past 12 months. We will also require a signed letter from the director of the pharmacy attesting to your completion of this requirement.

                     

 

Course Outline

Our course consists of nine modules that you study in your home at a time that is most convenient for you. It also includes a day of hands-on training and five process technique validations.

Each of the at-home modules is specifically designed to teach you then test your new knowledge. This is done via reading assignments as well as comprehensive exams. You must score at least 70 percent on each of the exams in this home-based portion.

Following the completion of the home-based modules, you visit our NPTA Training Institute, located in Houston, Texas. There, you will complete a one-day hands-on training program, the Hazardous Drugs Training Institute. That hands-on training is also where you will receive your technique validations. For your convenience, we provide lunch and snacks on the day of your hands-on training and supply all of the relevant laboratory supplies and equipment.

This specific course design supplements your skills as a CPhT with both increased knowledge and hands-on experience related to hazardous compounding. This combination should ensure that you are fully prepared for all of your responsibilities following your completion of the course.

Course Topics

We cover a range of topics throughout the course, providing you with the necessary skills for all types of hazardous compounding, including USP 800. The modules begin with “What Are Hazardous Drugs” and end with a comprehensive final exam, the latter of which does not count as a module.

Other module topics include aseptic technique; decontamination, waste disposal, and spill control; personal protective equipment; isolators; risk assessment, controls, and medical surveillance; receipt, storage, labeling, and transport; American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and other guidelines; and biological safety cabinets.

The training as well as the topics that you will have your techniques validated on include aseptic handwashing and garbing, hazardous liquid vial manipulations, hazardous ampule manipulations, hazardous powder vial manipulation, and decontamination and deactivation of a BSC.

 

Hands-On Training Via One of Three Paths

No aspect of pharmacy technician training is complete with a practical component. We offer three different ways for you to complete this aspect of our hazardous compounding certification program, allowing you to choose the method that fits your situation the best.

The Training Center

You can visit our training center, conveniently located in Houston. Selecting this option will give you a full day at our state-of-the-art simulation training area. Here, you will learn your hands-on skill validations and training. 

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Your Workplace

If you currently work in a health system pharmacy where hazardous sterile products are compounded, you can also receive the training there. This involves your pharmacist validating the training hours as well as the skill validations right on the job. If you choose this option, we will give your proctor/pharmacist the instructions and supply all the required forms. We will not include PPE or training products.

At Home

Due to the unique situation with COVID-19, we also have a temporary option that allows you to complete the skill validations and hands-on training at home. This is done via a combination of one-on-one video conferencing, simulation software, and video+MockMed product training. There are also group video calls that allow you to take advantage of Q&A sessions with our instructor. If you opt for this method, we will supply the training products and PPE, but you must return them using the prepaid shipping container we supply you with. You will not receive your certificate until you return these materials.

 

                 

After Completing the Course

At the end of this course, you will receive a statement outlining your continuing education credit, which includes 20 contact hours of CPE credits. You will also receive an Official Certificate of Validated Training. This continuing education credit can count toward the requirements to renew your CPhT certification from the PTCB.

Once you have completed the course and have a hazardous compounding certification, you will find that your skills are in even higher demand. Most employees strongly prefer candidates with this certification or who have at least completed this type of certification course. Some even require it.

Not only will completing the certification course make it easier for you to find a job, but it should also give your salary a boost. This type of course is an excellent tool to use during your salary negotiations.

Essentially, completing the hazardous compounding certification course and becoming a chemo certified technician will allow you to extend your responsibilities related to medications and compounding to include hazardous medicines.

You can keep this as your last specialization or continue advancing your skills to gain more responsibilities or even to work toward becoming a pharmacist, depending on your preference. Many pharmacy technicians are satisfied with just their Official Certificate of Validated Training from this course due to the increase in duties it can bring.

Learn more about our hazardous compounding certification course and register to further your training and your career.

 

                  

 

 

 
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