Top 3 Things to Know About PACE for Pharmacy Technician Applicants

This fall, the College will be transitioning from the Structured Practical Training (SPT) program to the Practice Assessment of Competence at Entry (PACE) model for pharmacy technician applicants.

Pharmacy technician applicants who are not already licensed in another Canadian province/territory will be required to successfully complete PACE alongside other College entry-to-practice requirements to register as a pharmacy technician.

Here are the top three things to know about PACE for pharmacy technician applicants.

It’s an assessment, not training

• PACE focuses on measuring a candidate’s readiness to safely and independently practise the authorized acts of the profession.
• PACE assessors do not provide training; rather they supervise and observe a candidate to determine if they can practice in a safe, effective and independent manner.
• Because PACE is not training, candidates should be familiar with the scope of the pharmacy technician profession and/or practiced in a similar scope before applying for PACE.

Assessors and candidates must not know each other

• To support a fair and objective assessment, assessors and candidates must not have an existing relationship.
• The PACE site can be part of a candidate’s current employer’s organization (e.g., same hospital group or pharmacy chain) as long as the candidate hasn’t trained, worked or volunteered at that site, and has no prior relationship with staff.
• The College supports candidates in finding an available assessor based on their geographical location.

PACE can be completed in less than a month

• PACE supports efficient access to registration when practice competence is demonstrated.
• After being issued an intern technician Certificate of Registration, candidates can complete PACE in 3 to 4 weeks (compared to SPT which is a minimum 12-week program). There is no cost to complete PACE.
• Candidates may continue to work part time in a different pharmacy while they complete PACE (as long as it is feasible with your PACE commitment).