Career Step, an online provider of career-focused education and professional training headquartered in Lehi, has partnered with the University of Utah to address a shortage of qualified pharmacy technicians within the university’s healthcare system, the school has announced. The university will offer tuition-paid Career Step training to current employees interested in becoming pharmacy technicians with the end goal of hiring them upon graduation.
“We are very excited to be able to bring the University of Utah Pharmacy Department this program, which will grow and develop their employees and contribute to the overall health and success of the entire hospital system,” said Dr. Denis Petersen, director of professional education at the UofU. “Professional education pharmacy tech certificate holders will have the skills needed to excel in entry and mid-level jobs in many different departments in the system.”
The partnership, which launched Feb. 1, involves Career Step and three groups within the medical university: Professional Education at the University of Utah, the University of Utah Health Care Human Resources Department and the University of Utah College of Pharmacy.
Through this program, the University of Utah will cover tuition for current employees and provide program participants with opportunities to fulfill the required externship within the University of Utah Health Care system. Once graduated, the students will have jobs waiting for them within the system. The university hopes to fill 60 positions by the end of 2017.
The partnership boosts Career Step’s existing relationship with the university’s Professional Education department, which already offers six Career Step courses, including the recently augmented pharmacy technician program.
“We have a longstanding relationship with Professional Education at the University of Utah and they trust the quality of the education as well as the value we provide their students,” said Ryan Ewer, Career Step vice president of academic partnerships. “When we showed them the updated pharmacy technician program, they said it exceeded their expectations. Their initiative to pay for employees to train with the program speaks to its quality, and we look forward to helping the students thrive as they prepare for their exciting new careers.”
Career Step enhanced its pharmacy technician program earlier this year to meet the accreditation requirements of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. This involved adding 115 hours of new curriculum and a mandatory 200-hour externship. The course can be completed in as little as six months with full-time study. Students have up to 12 months to finish the program. Upon graduation, students receive a voucher to take the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam.
The University of Utah is not alone in facing a shortage of qualified pharmacy technicians. According to reports from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for pharmacy technicians is expected to grow by 9 percent from 2014 to 2024.
Although this tuition-paid partnership is exclusive to University of Utah employees, anyone can take the Career Step pharmacy technician course through the university’s Professional Education department.