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Pharmacy Technicians in Training
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CopyCarla Milliorn, RN, has been teaching an Emergency Medical Training class for seniors at Grand Saline High School for the last two years. This year, she has started another class for seniors called Practicum in Health Science, a training class for students interested in becoming Pharmacy Technicians.
The one class, two semesters long, consists of nine seniors. These students will work closely with local pharmacists in the county. They will be prepared by the end of the school year to take the pharmacy technician certification exam, which is open to high school graduates regardless of age. They will also learn how to mix IVs and be able to fSke^me IV certification
exam as well. Both certifications will enable them to get jobs at any hospital as a Pharmacy Technician.
The curriculum and supplies for this class have been available by Kaduceus, Inc. out of Houston. They have provided this program for numerous school districts across the state, and now Grand Saline ISD has opted to offer the program to their graduating seniors. Milliorn went to Houston over the summer for training with the company in order to be able to teach the class. Her training, combined with her previous training in pharmacology as a nurse qualifies her to teach the strict curriculum.
The owner of Kaduceus, Inc. is Anthony Newton, a Pharmacy Technician. He has not only set the curriculum and necessary supplies for the course, but the company will also oversee the instruction and the certification exams at the end of the school year.
Besides learning how to mix IVs, students will also learn about different classifications of drugs and their uses. They will learn about dosages and side effects of different drugs, formulas for mixing drugs and comparisons between different medications.
Students will also learn compounding, the process of mixing different drugs together into capsules or suppositories with binding components.Compounded medications are very common and
often prescribed by doctors to offer simultaneous effects in patients. The Edgewood Compounding Pharmacy is a local pharmacy that actually compounds many medications on site and will be one of the pharmacies working with the students during their practicum hours.Compounding is also used im veterinary medicine for animals, combining such things as anti nausea with morphine, making medicine into lollipops for kids, and suppositories for patients who can't take medicines by mouth.
This class pulls in all aspects of learning by combining higher levels of science, biology and algebra, geometry and chemistry, nursing and history. It is a cross-curric-ular, demanding class that requires many additional hours of
practicum in a pharmacy as well as hours of memorization of drug names, classifications and formulas. Students interested in a career in medicine are strongly encouraged to take the course as it will be similar to classes they will be required to take in college. This class will provide a strong foundation for these aspiring young doctors and pharmacists.
Copyright 2010 Grand Saline Sun, Grand Saline, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.
© 2011 Grand Saline Sun Grand Saline, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.
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