(+27) 031 303 1014 pphc@pphc.org.za

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

i

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

 

Register Today

Accredited Courses

Learnership programmes in alignment with the National Skills Development Strategy to bridge skills gaps in different employment levels including employed and unemployed categories.