Connecticut State Requirements

To obtain a pharmacy tech license in Connecticut, the State Board has issued their
own requirements for candidates to meet. These include:

• Registration: You must register with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection before regularly working as a pharmacy technician. Connecticut permits an individual to begin employer-directed initial training, but the technician must register no later than 30 days after starting that training. Initial training must be completed before the regular performance of assigned technician duties.
• Registration tiers: Connecticut distinguishes between a standard registered pharmacy technician and a certified pharmacy technician, who holds an approved national certification. Note that Connecticut state law has also created an Advanced Pharmacy Technician designation, but the Department currently states that its application is unavailable pending the development and approval of implementing regulations.
• Employment requirement: You must have a pharmacy position within Connecticut to apply for pharmacy technician registration.
• Age: Connecticut does not specify a minimum age for standard pharmacy technician registration. Employers and national certification programs may impose their own requirements.
• Education: Connecticut does not specify a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent education requirement for standard registration.
• Training: The pharmacist manager determines the technician’s initial training based on the tasks the technician will perform. Training may include on-the-job and related education and must be completed before the technician regularly performs those tasks. The pharmacist manager must also provide continuing in-service training and maintain written training records.
• National certification: National certification is not required for standard pharmacy technician registration. A technician holding active PTCB certification or another equivalent certification approved by the Commission may be recognized as a certified pharmacy technician. National certification is required for certain expanded activities, including vaccine administration.
• Background check: The standard Connecticut pharmacy technician registration requirements do not expressly require fingerprinting or a state or federal criminal-background check.
• Application: Applications are submitted online through the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection’s licensing system. Note that applicants must already have a pharmacy position in Connecticut.
• Application fee: The initial pharmacy technician registration fee is $100.
• Renewal: Pharmacy technician registrations expire annually on March 31, regardless of the original issue date. The annual pharmacy technician renewal fee is $50.
• Vaccinations: Under Connecticut Public Act 23-19 and Connecticut General Statutes § 20-633(c), a certified and registered pharmacy technician may administer vaccines at a pharmacy at the direction of the pharmacist on duty. Pharmacy technicians must hold active PTCB or equivalent certification, complete ACPE-certified hands-on immunization training, receive pharmacy-specific training, and be evaluated by the managing pharmacist.
• Advanced pharmacy technician: Public Act 24-73 and C.G.S. § 20-598b created an advanced designation that may permit qualified technicians to perform additional delegated activities, including certain final-product-verification and vaccination functions. However, the Department continues to list advanced registration as unavailable while implementing regulations are developed and approved. Applicants should not represent themselves or work as advanced pharmacy technicians until the registration becomes operational.

Connecticut Continuing Education Requirements

• Standard registration: Connecticut does not impose a separate fixed number of CE hours for renewal of a standard pharmacy technician registration.
• Employer training: The pharmacist manager must maintain technician competency through continuing in-service training and retain written documentation of initial and continuing training.
• National certification CE: Technicians who maintain PTCB or another national certification must satisfy that organization’s separate CE requirements (20 CE hours every two years, including at least 1 hour of pharmacy law and 1 hour of patient safety).
• Vaccination CE: Certified technicians who administer vaccines must complete at least one hour of continuing education concerning immunization each year.