TRAINING PHARMACY TECHNICIANS IN SUPPORT OF RURAL HEALTH INITIATIVES: A SOUTH CAROLINA EXPERIENCE
Don A Ballington and Sharon D Hammett

OBJECTIVE: To provide an overview of pharmacy technician distance learning based on an established program.

SETTING: Technical college pharmacy technician training program cooperating with similar institutions located in remote areas of South Carolina.

DISCUSSION: Midlands Technical College, Columbia, SC, developed a project to provide pharmacy technician training in underserved rural South Carolina. Didactic instruction is by live television broadcast that is received in the students' local technical college. Laboratory instruction is conducted in two auxiliary laboratories geographically located within reasonable driving distances of the students' local college; instruction is scheduled to require a minimum number of trips. Experiential training is received in the students' home community. Midlands faculty make monthly visits into distance communities to review student progress.

CONCLUSIONS: The performance of distance-learning students has thus far matched the performance of Columbia-based students. Student performance, both Columbia and distance-learning, was compared using earned grade points. A statistical analysis was not applied to this comparison. Results from the first two years of this project demonstrated a slightly higher grade-point performance for distance-learning students. Success of distance-learning students has shown that pharmacy technician instruction can be delivered successfully into remote sites in South Carolina.

J Pharm Technol 1999;15:176-80.