Pharmacist’s Assistant Course Overview
The course for Pharmacist’s Assistant, both basic and post basic, is registered and regulated by South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC). Basic is at NQF Level 3 while Post basic is at Level 4. The learner needs to be a matriculant with English, Mathematics/Maths Literacy and Life/Natural Science subjects passed.
The learner needs to be placed to an accredited pharmacy and assigned to a tutor then register with an accredited service provider and with South African Pharmacy Council. Once registered with South African Pharmacy Council a learner is issued with a learner certificate from the council which needs to be displayed at the pharmacy where the learner is trained.
The minimum training period is twelve months and maximum is eighteen months. Once eighteen months has lapsed then the learner needs to be re-admitted with the service provider for the next six months. South African Pharmacy Council registration as learner expires in 30 months. The learner will be training at the pharmacy for twelve months. During this time the learners attends workshops via Audio Visual Presentation or flash disk then develop Portfolio of Evidence.
There are eight subjects for Learner Basic and Post Basic Pharmacist’s Assistants. These subjects are made up of one to six modules. The total credits for Leaner Basic is 147 credits and Post Basic is 144 credits. The grouped modules are called sessions. They start from Session 1 to 8.
The assigned tutor guides and support the learner from the start till the end of experiential training. The tutor marks the learner POE and then when the learner is ready for an external assessment, the service provider books the learner for writing final assessment per Session until the learner finishes the training.
What You Get
Classroom Education
PPHC established a Training Academy in 2009. The following courses are offered:
More Info
Course Content: Revised Basic Level Pharmacist’s Assistant course:
Unit Std |
Module |
Modules per session |
Credits |
Session 1: Basic language and communication skills |
|||
119457 |
1 |
Interpret and use information from texts |
5 |
119465 |
2 |
Write/present texts for a range of communicative contexts |
5 |
119467 |
3 |
Use language and communication in occupational learning programs |
5 |
119472 |
4 |
Accommodate audience and context needs in oral communication |
5 |
Session 2: Basic number skills |
|||
9010 |
5 |
Use of different number bases and measurement units |
2 |
9012 |
6 |
Investigate life and work related problems using data and probabilities |
5 |
9013 |
7 |
Describe, apply, analyse and calculate shape and motion in 2- & 3-dimensional space |
4 |
7456 |
8 |
Use maths to investigate and monitor financial aspects of personal, business and national issues |
5 |
Session 3: Basic workplace safety understanding and skills |
|||
116520 |
9 |
Apply safety, health & environmental principles and procedures in the workplace |
2 |
13915 |
10 |
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of HIV/AIDS in a workplace |
4 |
120496 |
11 |
Provide risk-based primary emergency care/first aid in the workplace |
5 |
Session 4: Basic pharmaceutical healthcare understanding and skills |
|||
256475 |
12 |
Explain pharmaceutical concepts and terms |
5 |
256477 |
13 |
Define health promotion in the South African context |
5 |
256485 |
14 |
Apply ethical and legally compliant behaviour in pharmaceutical and health environments |
8 |
Session 5: Basic customer service |
|||
256476 |
15 |
Interact with clients in a health and pharmaceutical environment |
6 |
243680 |
16 |
Take orders from customers (Only CPS, DPS & MPS) |
12 |
256482 |
17 |
Sell products or services to clients in a pharmacy (Only CPS & IPS) |
6 |
114911 |
18 |
Resolve customer queries/complaints (Only CPS & IPS) |
8 |
243712 |
19 |
Address customer queries in a wholesale environment (Only DPS) |
10 |
Session 6: Basic stock control skills |
|||
256497 |
20 |
Receive, count and store pharmacy stock |
10 |
256479 |
21 |
Monitor, handle and dispatch pharmacy stock |
7 |
117899 |
22 |
Pick stock in a distribution centre (Only DPS) |
12 |
256478 |
23 |
Pack pharmaceutical products (Only IPS & MPS) |
7 |
256484 |
24 |
Display products in a pharmacy (Only CPS & IPS) |
6 |
Session 7: Basic manufacturing skills |
|||
256480 |
25 |
Define concepts and terminology related to large-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing (Only MPS) |
3 |
256483 |
26 |
Weigh raw materials in large scale pharmaceutical manufacturing (Only MPS) |
4 |
256481 |
27 |
Manufacture pharmaceutical products on a large scale (Only MPS) |
12 |
256496 |
28 |
Compound, manipulate, prepare and pack pharmaceutical products (Only CPS & IPS) |
12 |
Session 8: Basic self-enrichment skills |
|||
116945 |
29 |
Use electronic mail to send and receive messages |
2 |
116931 |
30 |
Use a Graphical User Interface (GUI)-based web-browser to search the Internet (Only CPS, DPS & IPS) |
4 |
242811 |
31 |
Prioritise time and work for self and team |
5 |
13912 |
32 |
Apply knowledge of self and team in order to develop a plan to enhance team performance (Only DPS, IPS & MPS) |
5 |
244589 |
33 |
Identify causes of stress and techniques to manage it in the workplace (Only CPS & IPS) |
2 |
244611 |
34 |
Apply problem-solving techniques to make a decision or solve a problem in a real life context |
2 |
TOTAL CREDITS CPS (Community Pharmacy Sector) |
147 |
||
TOTAL CREDITS DPS (Distribution Pharmacy Sector) |
140 |
||
TOTAL CREDITS IPS (Institutional Pharmacy Sector) |
147 |
||
TOTAL CREDITS MPS (Manufacturing Pharmacy Sector) |
140 |
Course Content: Revised Post-basic Level Pharmacist’s Assistant course:
Unit Standard |
Module |
Modules per session |
Credits |
Session 1: Basic language and communication skills |
|||
119457 |
1 |
Interpret and use information from texts |
5 |
119465 |
2 |
Write/present texts for a range of communicative contexts |
5 |
119467 |
3 |
Use language and communication in occupational learning programs |
5 |
119472 |
4 |
Accommodate audience and context needs in oral communication |
5 |
Session 2: Advanced language and communication skills |
|||
119459 |
5 |
Write/present for a wide range of contexts |
5 |
119462 |
6 |
Engage in sustained oral communication and evaluate spoken texts |
5 |
119469 |
7 |
Read/view, analyse and respond to a variety of texts |
5 |
119471 |
8 |
Use language and communication in occupational learning programmes |
5 |
Session 3: Advanced number skills |
|||
9015 |
9 |
Apply knowledge of stats and probability to critically interrogate and effectively communicate findings on life related problems |
6 |
9016 |
10 |
Represent, analyse and calculate shape and motion in 2- and 3-dimensional space in different contexts |
4 |
7468 |
11 |
Use mathematics to investigate and monitor the financial aspects of personal, business, national and international issues |
6 |
Session 4: Advanced workplace safety understanding and skills |
|||
242665 |
12 |
Apply technical knowledge and skill in order to manage risk in occupational health and occupational hygiene |
8 |
256536 |
13 |
Apply the principles of asepsis and sterility in a healthcare environment |
12 |
120348 |
14 |
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of basic toxicological principles |
3 |
Session 5: Advanced customer service |
|||
256495 |
15 |
Identify common conditions and ailments and provide information relating to health and medicine |
10 |
256557 |
16 |
Issue prescribed medicines to a patient (Only CPS & IPS) |
15 |
114491 |
17 |
Educate and work closely with the community with regard to STIs including HIV/AIDS (Only CPS, DPS & IPS) |
10 |
118028 |
18 |
Supervise customer service standards (Only DPS & MPS) |
8 |
Session 6: Advanced stock control skills |
|||
256535 |
19 |
Order and reconcile pharmaceutical stock |
8 |
256556 |
20 |
Issue, dispatch and receive returned specified scheduled medicines in a distribution centre (Only DPS & MPS) |
10 |
Session 7: Advanced manufacturing skills |
|||
256555 |
21 |
Implement quality assurance in a pharmaceutical manufacturing environment (Only MPS) |
10 |
Session 8: Advanced self-enrichment skills |
|||
114589 |
22 |
Manage time productively |
4 |
114215 |
23 |
Mentor a colleague to enhance the individual’s knowledge, skills, values and attitudes in a selected career path |
3 |
242819 |
24 |
Motivate and build a team |
10 |
115855 |
25 |
Create, maintain and update record keeping systems |
5 |
TOTAL CREDITS CPS (Community Pharmacy Sector) |
144 |
||
TOTAL CREDITS DPS (Distribution Pharmacy Sector) |
147 |
||
TOTAL CREDITS IPS (Institutional Pharmacy Sector) |
144 |
||
TOTAL CREDITS MPS (Manufacturing Pharmacy Sector) |
147 |
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