Pharmacy tech careers are the hot new path for job growth in the economy and it's no wonder why. You can start training as young as age 16 and complete your coursework in just 2-3 semester of school before you're viable to get certified!

A pharmacy tech salary is made or broken based on how much you experience in your training. There are three ways you can increase your pay, so let's examine those. They include education, internship, and certification. Some states will require all three of those, but some don't.

Although the statistical salary projection for people starting out as a tech is high, the many that do go on to become pharmacists can (by the Department of Labor reporting), easily earn over $100,000 a year. Pharmacy technician careers can be very rewarding in so many ways.

Whether certification is necessary in your state or not, you'll want to become certified. It's just a smart career move. The Pharmacy Board holds certain days for applicants to take the pharmacy technician test. You can check with the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board for the dates and times when the pharmacy technician test will be given.

It pays off to go the full route. And your pharmacy tech education will never end if you keep this as a career because every two years you'll have to complete certain continuing education requirements just to keep your job. Here are the three main areas of your pharmacy technician training that you'll want to focus on.

In pharmacy technician classes, you'll also learn the necessary medical terms that will help you to correctly identify the body. For example, you might learn that the parotid glands are saliva glands. Being able to correctly identify the body parts can help to prevent technicians from handing out the wrong medications.

When looking at pharmacy technician programs online, keep in mind that your coursework will be very similar to the standard classroom training, and the online courses will discuss the same topics as face-to-face courses, including preparing and distributing medications, interpreting prescriptions and physicians' orders, pharmaceutical terms and how they relate to anatomy and physiology, and a basic knowledge of illnesses and their relation to pharmaceuticals.

Once you've completed the course load for pharmacy technician certification, you'll move on to in-house work so that you can get hands on experience with this career. You can intern at a hospital or with an online prescription drug manufacturer - but most people go to a retail pharmacy (like a Walgreens for example) to get their internship requirements met.

If you have a busy schedule, you will find that pharmacy technician certification online is perfect for you because you can learn on your own schedule. If you have a laptop you can carry your "school" with you and study when you have a few minutes.

Accredited pharmacy technician schools online offer the same education as traditional classroom-based schools. Make sure the school you choose is accredited by an organization that is in turn recognized by the US Dept. of Education, and your school will provide the same education as a traditional bricks-and-mortar program.