Pharmacists
Per California State Board of Pharmacy Regulations, all California licensed pharmacists are required to have 30 hours of continuing pharmacy education (CE) every two years in order to renew their pharmacist license. Reference section 4231 of the Business and Professions Code (page 60) and section 1732.5 of the California Code of Regulations (pages 103 - 105).
CE coursework must pertain to the practice of pharmacy and be obtained from a provider who is recognized by one of the two accreditation agencies approved by the California State Board of Pharmacy: California Accreditation for Pharmacy Education (CAPE) or Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Additionally, coursework that meets the standards of relevance to pharmacy practice and has been approved for continuing education by the Medical Board of California, the California Board of Podiatric Medicine, the California Board of Registered Nursing or the Dental Board of California is considered approved continuing education for pharmacists. For more information about continuing education regulations, please visit the California State Board of Pharmacy’s website.
Pharmacy Technicians
The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) now requires ACPE-accredited providers to designate their CE programs separately for pharmacists and technicians (with a “P” or a “T” at the end of the Universal Program Number). While this new designation may affect Technicians in other states, it does not seem likely that Technicians in California will be affected unless the California State Board of Pharmacy and/or the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) change their current regulations:
At this time, the California State Board of Pharmacy does not require Technicians to submit CE statements for license renewal.
Technicians that are certified by PTCB must complete 20 hours of CE every 2 years for recertification but those hours do not necessarily have to be from ACPE-accredited programs. At this time, PTCB is not requiring Technicians to only submit statements with the “T” designation; they will accept statements of credit that have a “P” designation as long as the program falls within the scope of practice for Pharmacy Technicians. PTCB certified technicians should visit the PTCB website or call (800) 363-8012 if they need further clarification.