There are no degree specializations for pharmacy technician programs. All pharmacy technician students will learn the same skills and acquire a similar educational background, regardless of the environment in which they plan to work. Transitioning from work in a nursing home to a hospital or from a retirement facility to a full-time pharmacy is generally very easy and relatively seamless.

There is truly no standard training requirement that needs to be fulfilled for a pharmacy technician job, but employers certainly prefer to see some sort of formal training or certification. In some states a high school diploma is the only basic requirement you may need to acquire before entering this particular field. In some cases you may receive on-the-job training over a period of three to 12 months.

There are no national standards of qualification to become a pharmacy technician. Specific requirements vary based mostly on individual employers and to a lesser extent of the state. In most places, pharmacy technicians will have some level of higher education leading to a certification or program of study related to pharmacy technician work. In some cases, however, people can gain work as a pharmacy technician with a high school diploma or GED and receive all the training they need on the job. 

For those who do pursue higher education as a pharmacy technician, training an be achieved through most community colleges and vocational schools. These certification or associate degree programs can vary greatly by program and state and can take anywhere from six months to two years or more to complete. The programs generally cover education in the areas of pharmaceutical terminology, pharmacy record keeping, pharmaceutical measurements, and pharmacy law and ethics. Technicians are also required to learn the names, weights, actions, uses, and doses of the medications that they measure and provide. This type of training is often received through an internship or other hands-on type of pharmacy training.

In most states, pharmacy technicians are required to complete some form of certification, which often involves registering with the state board of pharmacies. Specific requirements vary greatly, but generally a high school diploma or GED is required alongside a small application fee. Though most states do not require any type of national certification or licensing to work as a pharmacy technician, some people may seek national certification to improve their job eligibility. National certification examinations are offered by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) and the Institute for the Certification of Pharmacy Technicians (ICPT).

Students can expect to take Introduction to Pharmacy Procedures, which exposes the student to ethical standards of handling controlled substances. In addition, students learn about various vials, liquids, and lotions. Pharmacy Calculations is another course a student can expect to take as it teaches the student about how to make conversions and to understand the calculation of medications and dosages. Students learn how to avoid medication errors and learn about the quality control that occurs in pharmacies.

A course in pharmacology will expose students to the various types of medications and the classes of drugs. In addition, the student learns how the drugs affect the human body as well as absorption rates and half-lives of drugs. Drug administration is also studied within the degree to show students how drugs interact with other things and which drugs should never be mixed together. Students learn more about dosing and how the drugs react within the body, as well as learning about liquids, injections, and oral medications. Medical terminology is also a required course to help the student understand different illnesses and how medications treat such diseases. The course will cover the various systems in the human body and how drugs metabolize.

Advanced degree programs in pharmaceutical sciences often include advanced classes based on the study of physiological, psychological, and social effects and developments of medical drugs and other forms of pharmaceutical technology.  Standard classes required from preceding degrees focus on the study of the biological and anatomical affects of medications and drugs on humans, and most doctoral programs require completion of standard requirements such as introductory and advanced biology and chemistry courses before the program is started.  Students commonly believe that a degree in pharmaceutical studies is similar to a medical degree program; while some medical classes overlap between the fields, pharmaceutical science degrees focus on the development of medicines to counteract disease rather than the focus of treating with standard medical practices.

Yes.  These degrees require several clinical training trips to hospitals and clinics as well as patient care courses that are often taught in other kinds of clinical environments, such as retail pharmacies.  For this reason, online degrees in pharmaceutical studies usually require students to transport themselves to participating hospitals and clinics.

Degrees offered in the pharmaceutical sciences field are often specifically related to a student's career path, and some take more time to complete than others, depending on the medical requirements of the degree.  A degree in pharmaceutical sales focuses on the business aspect of medical drugs, including the advertisement and regulation of specific drugs in certain markets.  Pharmaceutical engineering is specified towards the development of drugs in response to specific diseases, and is often based in biochemistry and physiological research studies.  Pharmaceutical technology is a rapidly growing field that allows students with an interest in technological innovation to study how hardware developments affect the production of medical drugs.  Molecular pharmaceutical sciences is a very specific degree that examines the affects of drugs on human physiology from a molecular level, and contains a heavy basis in chemistry related courses.  Medication therapy has both physiological and anatomical specifications depending on the degree, and it focuses on researching how drug treatments affect patients mentally and physically.