RBHS seniors Jane Tselepis and Soleil Kaciuba recently completed the 3-week Pharmacy Technician Program in partnership with Loyola Medicine, gaining hands-on experience and insight into the many career paths within pharmacy.
Throughout the program, Jane and Soleil shadowed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the central inpatient pharmacy, outpatient pharmacy, and hospital units such as the Surgical, Neuro, and Cardiac ICUs. They learned the day-to-day responsibilities of specialists like narcotics technicians, pyxis technicians, and purchasing pharmacists. Highlights included observing the compounding of chemotherapy medications in the oncology pharmacy, practicing gowning and garbing procedures for the sterile IV room, and helping label and scan prescriptions in the outpatient pharmacy.
In addition to shadowing, the students participated in weekly labs, practicing skills such as reading and labeling prescriptions, counting medications, simulating aseptic technique, and compounding IV bags. Afternoons were spent working through the PharmTech Ready program, an online curriculum that prepares students for pharmacy technician certification. This program provided the students with a strong head start toward a future career in the field.
Reflecting on the experience, Jane shared, “This program helped me decide that I want to go into pharmacy and what I want to do in college.” Soleil described it as “super interesting and eye-opening,” noting that it gave her the opportunity to see the wide variety of pharmacy specialties in action.
RBHS thanks the Des Plaines Valley Region Cooperative and Loyola Medicine for providing this outstanding opportunity to our students.
