Back in the '60s and '70s, a number of experts saw that there would be a growing demand for pharmacy technicians. With pharmacy techs taking care of the administrative tasks in the office, pharmacists are able to take care of the decision-making in the pharmacy.
In the beginning of the 20th century, there wasn't really much recognition of the pharmacy technician profession. During the '70s, there were several factors that played a role in the recognition of pharmacy techs.
Back in 1975, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, or ASHP, developed guidelines for training personnel within hospital pharmacies. Then in 1979, a pharmacy technician program was developed by the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy.
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists developed the standards required for accreditation of pharmacy tech programs, back in 1982.
The Pharmacy Technicians Certification Board, or PTCB, was created by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists in 1995. Since then, the PTCB has certified well over 250,000 pharmacy techs.
