GCISD’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program launched a pharmacy course at the start of the 2023-2024 school year, which is providing students the opportunity to get real-world experiences through practicums at local pharmacies and earn their certification as a pharmacy technician before they graduate from high school.
“What we first did was engage student interest through surveys,” CTE health sciences teacher Kristi Mordhorst shared.
With students showing interest in the class, the CTE team in 2022 began developing the course description for this senior-level class that is part of the Health Sciences program of study. However, there was one more element that Mordhorst felt was needed: practicum opportunities.
She created a list of potential partners and “literally just ‘cold called,’” she explained. “We already had the course approved; we knew we were going to do it; and I wanted my students to have the opportunity to participate in practicums.” The response from the pharmacies was a resounding ‘yes.’
“The support that we’ve received from the pharmacies in our areas has been amazing,” she added. “We definitely could not do it without our partners because there is only so much I can recreate in the classroom. When they get out into the pharmacies, it gives them that real-world experience that just brings it all together and they can see the connection between the classroom learning and what they need to know to pass their test and to know what it’s really like to be in a pharmacy.”
Two days out of the week, they intern at local pharmacies, some of which include Albertsons Pharmacy, Bedford Pharmacy, Grapevine Drug RX, Market Street Pharmacy, MidCities Pharmacy, Pharmacy Plus, Super Value Pharmacy, Tom Thumb Pharmacy, Trail Creek Pharmacy, and the outpatient and hospital pharmacies at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center.
Grapevine High School senior Cole Burtzlaff, who is doing his practicum at Grapevine Drug RX and wants to pursue a career as an anesthesiologist, feels that the practicum and the class “will help me a lot, as knowing medications will be a big part of my future.”
The rotations started in the later part of October with students working alongside a pharmacy technician or the pharmacist. In preparation to do so, they had to apply for and receive a technician trainee license through the Texas State Board of Pharmacy.
In the classroom, students are learning everything that will prepare them to take the Exam for the Certification of Pharmacy Technicians, or ExCPT, in the spring. Their studies include the top 200 drugs used, along with their brand and generic names, the safety side of the dispensing process, as well as different indications for different types of medications and their purpose.
“We also learn about the legal side of pharmacy,” Mordhorst stated, adding that is important “since pharmaceuticals are one of the most regulated industries in the country due to the controlled substances.”
Additionally, they learn about the different organizations that oversee pharmacies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as well as the continuing education credits that are needed to maintain their licenses and professional organizations that they can join.
“I just want our students to have options for their future,” Mordhost said. “A pharmacy technician certification is something that they can earn while they are in school. It’s just one more stepping stone that can lead to a future healthcare career.”
For more information about GCISD’s additional CTE programs of study, please visit the CTE page on gcisd.net.