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SALT LAKE CITY — Hannah Basha said she couldn't be any happier after she found a training program in an area of the health industry in which she had experience, available at no cost.
She started the pharmacy technician program at University of Utah Health in December and is part of the first group of students participating in the program that completely covers tuition for each student.
"I am loving the moment. It is something I wanted to do for so long," she said.
She said funding had prevented her from moving into the medical field for so long. She has worked in quality control for pharmaceuticals in the past, but now she can move forward in her career with a specific degree.
The program is also flexible with her schedule. She said going back to school while caring for three daughters was not an option before, but now they are able to take care of themselves — so the timing of this program is perfect for her.
Kavish Choudhary, chief pharmacy officer at U. Health, said the system has struggled to find pharmacy technicians for a long time. He said it opened more advanced roles over the last five to seven years, leaving many openings in the basic positions and not enough people to fill them.
The program initially began about five years ago, when free tuition was offered to other employees at the U., but Choudhary said although it was helping to fill positions, it was taking staff members away from other places in the organization.
After this realization, the free tuition program was put on hold until the Utah Refugee Center reached out asking if Choudhary had a way to help refugees with health care backgrounds find work. Choudhary said they were glad to already have the infrastructure from their previous program to help accommodate a new program.
Students in the program complete 400 hours of online curriculum and 180 hours of work — which can be completed through a paid internship at U. Health.
"This is not just standing behind a counter counting pills," Choudhary said. "Pharmacy technicians are patient advocates and do work that has a dramatic impact on patient care."
He said the program aims to help refugees and others for whom cost is a barrier to education, while helping fill a national shortage of pharmacy technicians. Typically, tuition for the degree is between $2,000 and $7,000, according to Choudhary.
U. Health had about 100 applicants since the program began in May 2022, and has accepted 34 students, 24 of whom are already working for the university while they attend school.
"They're getting real-life, on-the-job training and experience and they're learning quite a bit about how to become a technician," he said.
Basha is working as an in-patient pharmacy tech as she works through the program. She said the hours are flexible and the program works perfectly for her. She said she can't wait to learn more about pharmaceuticals.
She previously volunteered with the Utah Refugee Center and was asked to spread information about the program — but she ultimately signed up, too. Basha said she came to the United States from Sudan 22 years ago at 18 years old.
Choudhary said there are a variety of people enrolled in the program — some are U. students looking for an on-campus job, while others are using the program as a way to make a career change. He said people can go through the program while they are working another job, or they can work on the program while doing a paid internship with U. Health.
This program is leading to a wider range of people with different backgrounds entering the pharmacy field in Utah, he said.
He said it is fairly common for schools to sponsor students with an agreement that they will work for the university for a certain amount of time after graduation, but their program does not have that requirement — students are only encouraged to apply. The hope, Choudhary said, is students will want to stay, but he said they are glad to train pharmacists for other facilities as well as to decrease the overall shortage.
Choudhary said most people are not really aware of the variety of pharmacist jobs available — they picture the person who fills prescriptions at a grocery store pharmacy, but there are many other job opportunities for people with a pharmacist license.
"It's not just the guy behind the counter, and it's not just the main (U. Health) campus. There are facilities all over the valley," he said.
Choudhary said leaders hope to keep the program in place long-term, but it is being assessed on a year-by-year basis as the university continues to evaluate the cost.
