Washington State Requirements

You must hold active certification before working as a pharmacy technician in Washington. Note that submitting an application does not authorize you to begin practicing. An individual completing an on-the-job training program may work only within the Pharmacy Assistant role after obtaining a Pharmacy Assistant registration.

Washington issues two separate pharmacy support credentials: Pharmacy Assistant registration and Pharmacy Technician certification. A Pharmacy Assistant performs a more limited range of support duties and is not considered a certified pharmacy technician or a separate pharmacy technician-in-training tier.

Pharmacy technician applicants must be at least 18 years old.

You must have a High School diploma or GED before applying for pharmacy technician certification.

You must complete a Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission-approved pharmacy technician training program. Acceptable documentation may come from an on-the-job program, a formal academic or college program, or qualifying military pharmacy technician training.

Programs accredited, approved, or administered by ASHP, ACPE, PTCB, or the United States Armed Forces are treated as approved. Other programs must meet Washington’s curriculum and training-hour requirements.

A qualifying employer-based program must provide at least 520 hours of on-the-job training and 12 hours of instructive education. The trainee needs a Pharmacy Assistant registration while performing pharmacy-assistant duties and cannot perform the full duties of a certified technician until certification is issued.

A vocational or technical program generally requires 800 hours, including 160 hours of supervised practice. A formal academic program must cover two academic quarters with 30 credit hours per quarter and include 160 hours of supervised practice.

Certification applicants must document 8 hours of guided Washington state and federal pharmacy-law study completed with the coordination and oversight of a Washington-licensed pharmacist. These hours may be included in the approved training program.

You must pass a national pharmacy technician certification examination approved by the Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission. The exam normally must be passed within one year of completing the approved training program and applying for state certification, unless otherwise authorized.

Holding a pharmacy technician credential in another state does not provide automatic reciprocity. Note that out-of-state applicants must meet the same education, training, law-study, and examination requirements as applicants trained in Washington.

Applications are submitted to the Washington State Department of Health. Applicants must provide the required identity, education, training, law-study, examination, and personal-history information before certification can be issued.

The initial certification fee is $140. A Pharmacy Assistant registration has a separate $70 initial fee.

Pharmacy technician certifications must be renewed every two years and expire on the credential holder’s birthday.

The biennial pharmacy technician renewal fee is $140. Pharmacy Assistant registration also renews every two years and has a $70 renewal fee.

Vaccine administration is not automatically authorized by pharmacy technician certification. A pharmacist may delegate vaccine administration to a properly trained technician only when the activity is covered by the pharmacy’s approved ancillary-personnel utilization plan and performed under the required pharmacist oversight. The pharmacist remains responsible for deciding whether the patient should receive the vaccine.