Jan M. Keresztes, BSPharm, PharmD, FASHP
Senior Educator, Pharmacy; Talent First, PBC; Highland Park, IL
Jan Keresztes is dedicated to all issues involving pharmacy technicians. For over 3 decades, Dr. Keresztes was the coordinator of an ASHP/ACPE accredited Pharmacy Technician Program at an Illinois community college, South Suburban College, offering courses to both adults and high school students. She lectures extensively at local, state and national meetings for the promotion of pharmacy technicians as a profession with a definite career ladder to benefit not only pharmacy but the patients as well. In addition, Dr. Keresztes was an APPE preceptor for the college of pharmacy students from five different colleges of pharmacy. Dr. Keresztes has been an active member of the Pharmacy Technician Accreditation Commission (PTAC) with responsibilities to both ASHP and ACPE. Her past recognitions include an originator of the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board’s (PTCB) national exam, a founder of the Pharmacy Technician Educators Council (PTEC), the first U.S. graduate of the non-traditional PharmD program through Purdue University as well as a consultant editor for the journal of Pharmacy Technology (jPT). Another of Dr. Keresztes' publications in 2020 included her contribution on the chapter for “Pharmacy Technicians” in Pharmacy Management Essentials for all Practice Settings.
Dr. Keresztes is an active member of the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists (ICHP) working now with the marketing, technician and education committees. For her work with technicians, ICHP granted her the Pharmacist of the Year award as well as two ICHP President's awards. Dr. Keresztes also received national recognition for her work on credentialing by being awarded the Lillian D. Terris Award for the public promotion of exam credentialing and her work with PTCB. In recognition of educating pharmacy technicians, Jan was awarded the PTEC’s Roy Kemp Award as the Pharmacy Technician Educator of the Year and was granted a lifetime membership to the PTEC organization.
Currently, as a senior educator in pharmacy, Dr. Keresztes is involved with Talent First PBC whose primary overall goal is to attract gifted people from underserved backgrounds to the profession of pharmacy and to examine ways in which the education and effectiveness of pharmacy technicians can be advanced. With Talent First PBC becoming a recipient of grants for that purpose, a pathway has been formed to set this foundation. The use of apprenticeships that would incorporate the ASHP/ACPE accreditation standards as part of the apprenticeship requirements is a project goal of Talent First PBC.
