What Continuing Education (CE) Opportunities Are Available Through PharmacyTechnician.com?

Updated

PharmacyTechnician.com is the public site of AAPT (the American Association of Pharmacy Technicians), and its continuing education offerings fall into four visible buckets: Club CE (topic-picked courses), AAPT University resources, the Annual National Convention, and free CE events such as the National Pharmacy Technician Day session. Access to at least some of these requires an AAPT account or membership, so the practical first step is to decide whether you are browsing as a non-member or logging in as a member.

The Four CE Channels on the Site

Channel What the site says it offers How you engage
Club CE "CE topics picked just for you" — a curated selection of CE topics Navigate to Club CE from the main menu
AAPT University Listed as a resource alongside Convention Information Access via the AAPT University link
Annual National Convention Convention information plus a "Register to Attend" action Register to attend
Free CE events A free CE offering in honor of National Pharmacy Technician Day (October 20), plus a free CE seminar Register to attend

The site's stated mission supports this: AAPT says it "provides continuing education programs and services to help technicians update their skills to keep pace with changes in pharmacy services." That is the organizing purpose behind the channels above.

Free CE: What Is Actually Announced

The clearest, most concrete free opportunity described on the page is the National Pharmacy Technician Day CE session on October 20. According to the site, you can attend either:

  • Live at 12 noon CST, or
  • The live recording at 7 pm CST

Both require registering in advance ("Register to Attend"). A separate free CE seminar is also listed with its own registration link. If cost is your main constraint, start with these two, since they are the only offerings the page explicitly labels as free. The page does not state prices for Club CE, AAPT University, or convention attendance, so treat those as unknown rather than assumed free.

Step-by-Step: Registering for a CE Offering

  1. Open the site and locate the CE area. The homepage navigation includes Continuing Education, Career Center, Education & Training, and Convention Information. Use Continuing Education or the specific event link.
  2. Pick your format. For the October 20 session, choose the noon CST live broadcast or the 7 pm CST live recording.
  3. Register. Follow the "Register to Attend" link tied to that event. Expect to provide your details and, for member content, to log in.
  4. Verify your access level. If a page asks you to log in or join, that is the membership gate — the site has separate LOGIN and JOIN actions, and membership tiers include Individual, Partner, and Lifetime.
  5. Confirm your registration. After submitting, check that you received a confirmation for the correct session time (noon vs. 7 pm CST), since the two are easy to mix up.

Membership and the Credential Listing

Beyond courses, the site maintains an In-D Credential Holder Listing & Renewal section. If you hold that credential, this is where you list and renew it — a separate task from taking CE courses, but part of the same continuing-education picture. Membership also feeds the CE side: AAPT promotes an "Elite Membership" as a résumé credential, and member benefits are organized under Individual, Partner, and Lifetime tiers. The site does not publish tier pricing, so compare tiers by the benefits listed rather than by cost.

Common Sticking Points

  • Assuming everything is free. Only the National Pharmacy Technician Day session and the free CE seminar are labeled free. Other channels may require login or membership.
  • Missing the time zone. Both October 20 sessions are given in CST; convert to your local time before registering.
  • Confusing registration with membership. Registering for a free event is not the same as joining AAPT; the JOIN action is separate.
  • Overlooking the convention. The Annual National Convention is a CE channel in its own right, with its own registration, and is easy to miss if you only scan the course listings.

A Practical Starting Order

If you want CE credit quickly and at no stated cost, register for the October 20 session (noon or 7 pm CST) and the free CE seminar first. Then log in to browse Club CE for topic-specific courses and check AAPT University for structured training. If you plan to attend the Annual National Convention, register through its dedicated link. Finally, if you hold the In-D credential, handle listing and renewal in that section so your CE record and credential stay aligned.