The first cohort of six students graduated from the Mount Sinai Health System Pharmacy Technician Training Program. The students holding certificates are, from left: Christian Cuatlal-Zempoalteca, Jacqueline Pierce, Millagros Verdejo, and Ekelly Huntley. They are joined by, from left, Irina Usherenko, PharmD MBA; Elone Winston, MPH, CPhT; Susan Mashni, PharmD, BCPS; John Ugbogbo, MS, RPh; and Brian Radbill, MD. Students Oprah Reid and Aishatou Coulibaly are not shown.
Pharmacy technicians serve as crucial team members who work alongside pharmacists to maximize the pharmacist’s scope and efficiency.
As technology and training have evolved, technicians have taken a more significant leadership role in hospital pharmacy operations. However, there is a severe shortage of qualified pharmacy technicians across the country.
To address the issue, the Mount Sinai Health System Pharmacy Technician Training Program launched earlier this year with support from Susan Mashni, PharmD, BCPS, Senior Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer, Mount Sinai Health System.
The program was begun under the leadership of Irina Usherenko, PharmD, MBA, Vice President, Pharmacy, Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West, and Elone V. Winston, MPH, CPhT, Project Manager II, Mount Sinai Health System.
“We want to fill the pharmacy tech vacancies from within the Health System while providing career advancement opportunities to our Mount Sinai colleagues. Our goal is to fill those vacancies with the best trained, most qualified personnel,” said Dr. Usherenko. “Specifically, we need certified pharmacy techs who are registered and licensed in New York State and have hospital-based training or experience.”
To do that, they decided to create a comprehensive training program that would be accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).
“There are only four other ASHP-accredited programs in New York State,” said Mr. Winston. “We designed a program with didactic, simulation, and onsite rotations. It is what is necessary so that pharmacy technicians are prepared to work in a complex environment that operates 24/7.”
The first cohort of six students graduated in September. Students were recruited from Strive NYC and the Manhattan Educational Opportunity Center (MEOC)—organizations focused on providing pathways to life-changing careers that provide financial empowerment and stability.
Each student completed more than 400 hours of intense study that includes online classroom work, time in a simulation lab, and hands-on experience in the Mount Sinai Morningside pharmacy. The online topics included basic anatomy and physiology and pharmaceutical terminology. In the simulation lab, students learned about dispensing and filling prescriptions, sterile compounding, and hazardous medications. They also gained experience working in retail and hospital pharmacies.
The students must pass a certification exam before applying for licensure and registration. Once that is achieved, the technicians are ready to work in a hospital environment with a starting salary of close to $70,000 per year.
The training for the first cohort was provided tuition free, and the students were given a small stipend during their experiential phase of the training.
The next group of students is being recruited from existing hospital staff including Environmental Services, Throughput, Patient Accounts, and the Emergency Department. The 1199 Training Fund will support these students and they will continue to work part-time during the training program. There were more than 400 applicants for 15 spots.
To learn more, contact PharmTechTraining@mountsinai.org.