The complete guide to the PTCB exam (PTCE) for CPhT certificati…

If you’re intrigued by the world of pharmacy and envision a career that combines patient care with a fast-paced work environment, becoming a certified pharmacy technician (CPhT) could be the perfect fit for you. A PTCB certification is the key to unlocking this exciting career path

The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) is a non-profit organization that offers the Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) credential. This credential is the most widely recognized and respected credential for pharmacy technicians in the United States.

As a PTCB-certified pharmacy technician, your vital role includes accurately processing prescriptions, managing medications, providing patient counseling, and handling billing and insurance. You’ll review patient information, prepare medications, manage inventory, educate patients on medication use, and handle insurance claims. The tasks that are integral to ensuring efficient pharmacy operations and promoting patient safety.

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World Sikh Organization of Canada /

/ “Pharmacist in front of Shelves with Medicines” /

To earn the CPhT credential, you must pass the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE). Functionally, the PTCE is the PTCB test or CPhT test. This comprehensive exam assesses your knowledge and skills in various areas crucial for pharmacy technicians. Let’s delve into the key aspects of the PTCE, including its content, duration, and cost.

The Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE) is a comprehensive assessment of the knowledge and skills required of pharmacy technicians. The exam covers four major sections:

Medications

Patient Safety and Quality Assurance

Order Entry and Processing

Federal Requirements

Each section delves into specific areas of expertise. The medications section evaluates knowledge of generic and brand names, therapeutic equivalence, drug interactions, dosage forms, administration routes, storage requirements, and medication indications. Patient safety and quality assurance examines principles of patient safety, error prevention techniques, quality assurance procedures, patient engagement, and education. Order entry and processing assesses the ability to calculate and convert doses, ensure proper drug administration, and manage medication returns. And federal requirements cover knowledge of regulations related to hazardous substances and waste, controlled substances, restricted drug programs, and FDA recall requirements.

Let’s dig into what comprises each section in more detail below:

The Medications section of the PTCB exam evaluates your knowledge of various aspects of medications, including their generic and brand names, therapeutic classifications, therapeutic equivalence, potential drug interactions and contraindications, dosage forms, routes of administration, storage requirements, indications, and safety considerations. This section accounts for 40% of the overall exam score.

Generic and brand names, classifications of medications: This subsection evaluates your ability to identify and differentiate between generic and brand names, as well as classify medications into their respective therapeutic categories.

Therapeutic equivalence: This subsection assesses your understanding of the concept of therapeutic equivalence, which refers to the interchangeability of different brands of the same medication.

Common and life-threatening drug interactions and contraindications: This subsection assesses your ability to identify the appropriate uses of medications, recognize potential contraindications, and anticipate potential drug interactions.

Medication dosage forms, routes of administration, and storage requirements: This subsection evaluates your knowledge of various dosage forms, such as tablets, capsules, liquids, and injectables, along with their respective routes of administration and storage requirements.

Indications of medications and dietary supplements: The indication of a medication or dietary supplement is the condition or disease that it is used to treat, prevent, or diagnose. Some medications and dietary supplements have multiple indications.

Medication safety and quality assurance: This subsection evaluates your understanding of medication safety practices, such as proper labeling, dispensing, and monitoring, as well as quality assurance procedures to ensure medication accuracy and patient safety.

The Medications section is the core of the PTCE, and requires a lot of memorization. Study the material in this section early and often to be successful on the exam.

The Patient Safety and Quality Assurance section of the PTCB exam assesses your understanding of patient safety principles, error prevention techniques, quality assurance procedures, patient engagement, and education. This section is crucial for ensuring that pharmacy technicians are able to provide safe and effective care to their patients.

Patient Safety: Preventing harm to patients is the cornerstone of PSQA. This includes measures to address medication errors, healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), surgical complications, and other adverse events.

Quality Assurance: Ensuring high-quality care involves continuous monitoring of processes, outcomes, and patient satisfaction. This includes evaluating the effectiveness of treatments, identifying areas for improvement, and implementing corrective actions.

Error Prevention and Root Cause Analysis: Identifying and analyzing the underlying causes of errors and adverse events to implement preventive measures and prevent recurrence.

Quality Monitoring and Improvement: Continuously monitoring healthcare processes and outcomes to identify areas for improvement and implement corrective actions.

Patient Engagement and Education: Actively involving patients in their care and educating them about safety measures to promote patient empowerment and shared responsibility.

The Patient Safety and Quality Assurance section comprises some of the most important, life saving material that you will learn when preparing for the pharmacy technician exam. These things are so important and can have a real impact on your customer’s health and well being, so be sure to treat it with the care it deserves.

The Order Entry and Processing section of the PTCB exam covers the essential tasks involved in accurately processing and dispensing medications. It assesses your ability to calculate and convert medication doses, ensure proper drug administration, and manage medication returns.

Calculating and converting doses: Pharmacy technicians must be able to accurately calculate and convert doses of medications, taking into account factors such as the patient’s age, weight, and renal function. They must also be familiar with Sig codes, abbreviations, and medical terminology.

Ensuring proper drug administration: Pharmacy technicians must be able to identify and select the appropriate equipment and supplies for drug administration, such as package size, unit dose, diabetic supplies, spacers, and oral and injectable syringes.

Managing medication returns: Pharmacy technicians must be familiar with the procedures for identifying and returning dispensable, non-dispensable, and expired medications and supplies.

While not glamorous, getting Order Entry and Processing right is also a crucial part of doing your job as a pharmacy technician. The dosages and administration instructions you give to customers are a key part of keeping them safe when taking prescription medications.

The Federal Requirements section covers the federal requirements for healthcare substances and waste. It includes regulations for controlled substances, restricted drug programs, and FDA recall requirements.

Hazardous Substances and Waste: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the handling and disposal of hazardous substances and waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

Controlled Substances: The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulates the prescribing, dispensing, and handling of controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Restricted Drug Programs: The DEA also regulates restricted drug programs and related medication processing under the CSA.

FDA Recall Requirements: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) establishes recall requirements for medications and other FDA-regulated products under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).

This section can be challenging for some because it involves a lot more law text than other sections. However, ensuring that your work follows federal guidelines is extremely important and failure to do so could cost you your pharmacy technician job in the future.

In order to successfully pass the PTCB exam, candidates must have a strong understanding of all the content above. This exam is a comprehensive assessment of the knowledge and skills required to be pharmacy technicians.

The PTCE, or Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam, is a computer-based exam that consists of 90 multiple-choice questions. The exam is administered by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB). The length of the exam is approximately 2 hours long, with a breakdown of:

5-minute tutorial

1 hour and 50-minute exam

5-minute post-exam survey

There are no breaks on the PTCE, so the time above is the total time you’ll have to complete the questions.

The current registration cost of the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam is $129.

Rescheduling is free of charge, but must be done at least 24 hours in advance.

Candidates who miss their exam appointment will forfeit all fees.

In the event of an emergency, candidates may submit an emergency withdrawal request and receive an extension or refund. Documentation of the emergency is required. Requests must be submitted within 48 hours of the last day of the candidate’s authorization period.

The PTCE is a difficult exam, but it is passable with the right preparation. There are many resources available to help you prepare for the exam, including study guides, practice tests, and online courses.

The PTCB exam is hard because it covers a lot of different topics related to pharmacy, and all of them have important rules and guidelines that can endanger patients if not followed correctly. You need to know things like how to identify medications, do calculations for medicines, keep patients safe, and follow rules and regulations. There’s a lot of information to learn and remember, so it’s best to have a plan for memorizing the material.

Even though the PTCB is tough, it’s not impossible to pass. If you prepare and use the right tools, you can increase your chances of doing well. There are many study materials available, like books, practice tests, and online courses, that can help you learn what you need to know. Taking a special class for the exam can also be helpful because you’ll have teachers who can answer your questions and give feedback.

In the end, the key to passing the PTCB is to have good knowledge, prepare well, and stay determined. If you study the exam’s content thoroughly, practice with realistic questions, and use good strategies for taking tests, you can feel confident when you take the PTCB and achieve your goal of becoming a certified pharmacy technician.

Jose Ismael Espinola /

/ “Woman in a Pharmacy” /

The PTCB is scored on a scale of 1,000 to 1,600. The passing score is 1,400. This means that you must correctly answer at least 70% of the scored questions to pass the exam. The PTCB exam consists of 90 multiple-choice questions, but only 80 of those questions will count towards your final score.

The remaining 10 questions are unscored and are used for pretesting purposes. This means that your performance on these 10 questions will not affect your overall score, but you will not be able to identify which questions are unscored, so it is important to give your best effort on every question.

The PTCB exam is scored on a scale of 1,000 to 1,600. To pass the exam, you must score at least 1,400, which means correctly answering at least 70% of the scored questions.

The passing score for the PTCB is 1,400. This means that you must correctly answer at least 70% of the scored questions to pass the exam.

To pass the PTCB, or Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam, you need to be thoughtful about your preparation. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get prepared:

Read the PTCB’s Exam Content Outline. It tells you what topics the exam will cover, and gives you a good idea of what you’ll need to learn.

Find good study material, whether that’s books, practice tests, online courses, a tutor, or a combination of those options. When researching PTCE prep material, make sure the material matches what’s in the PTCB Exam Content Outline. These resources will explain the test concepts to you and, ideally, give you practice questions that will help you prepare for the real exam.

Make a study plan that sets aside enough time for each topic and includes reviewing what you’ve learned. Be sure to allocate time over multiple weeks (more on that later), as this is too much material to cram for at the last minute. Try different ways of learning, like summarizing important ideas, making flashcards, or studying with friends.

Practice answering multiple-choice questions with a time limit. This will help you get better at taking tests, manage your time, and find out what you need to work on.

Lastly, stay positive and believe in yourself. Stay calm and focused when you take the exam.

If you follow these steps, you’ll have a better chance of passing the PTCB and becoming a certified pharmacy technician.

In 2022, the PTCB pass rate was 70%. As you can see from the table below, the PTCB pass rate varies from year to year, but has been at or around 70% for the last three years.

CPhT Exam YearCPhT Exams AdministratedCPhT Exams PassedCPhT Pass Percentage 2018 Exams48,86228,05857% 2019 Exams51,76829,91058% 2020 Exams33,63423,52270% 2021 Exams42,61530,13471% 2022 Exams42,34429,80570%

Towfiqu barbhuiya /

/ “Close-up Photo of Red Pins on a Calendar” /

The Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE) is offered continuously throughout the year at Pearson VUE test centers.

This means that there is an “unlimited” number of exam appointment dates. Available exam appointment times will be available to view and schedule after your application is approved and you receive your authorization to schedule via email. Most test centers offer exam appointments Monday through Friday, with some offering Saturday appointments as well.

The amount of time you need to study for the PTCB will vary depending on your prior experience and knowledge. However, most experts recommend studying for at least 6-8 weeks. This will give you ample time to thoroughly review the exam’s content, practice with realistic test questions, and develop effective test-taking strategies.

If you have a strong background in pharmacy principles and practices, you may be able to get by with studying for a shorter period of time. On the other hand, if you have limited experience or are feeling less confident, you should allow more time for studying.

Below is an example 8-week PTCB study schedule that you can use to prepare for the exam:

Review the PTCB Exam Content Outline

Choose your test preparation materials

Study Medications

Practice answering multiple-choice questions

Finish studying Medications

Take practice questions on Medications

Study Patient Safety and Quality Assurance

Take practice questions on both Medications and Patient Safety and Quality Assurance

Take a practice exam (or lots of practice questions), just focusing on what you’ve studied so far

Identify areas that you’ve studied so far where you struggled to answer questions

Revisit the areas you’ve studied so far and struggled with

Take more practice questions on the topics that you revisited

Review key concepts from previous weeks

Study Order Entry and Processing

Take practice questions on Medications, Patient Safety and Quality Assurance, and Order Entry and Processing

If you have time, take extra practice questions on areas where you struggled with your first practice exam

Review key concepts from previous weeks

Study Federal Requirements

Take practice questions on all topics

If you have time, take extra practice questions on areas where you continue to struggle

Review key concepts from the entire exam. We recommend making a ‘cheat sheet’ for key terms to help facilitate this.

Take a full PTCE practice exam

Identify the areas where you are not getting the questions correct

Review the areas where you are weakest

Take more practice questions (not another exam) on the areas that you are weakest and have reviewed

Review key concepts from the entire exam

Take a full PTCE practice exam

Identify the areas where you are not getting the questions correct

Review the areas where you are weakest

Take more practice questions (not another exam) on the areas that you are weakest and have reviewed

Remember, the most important thing is to be consistent with your studying and to make the most of the time you have. If you have more or less time than the above schedule shows, then adjust the schedule to match your needs.

With dedicated preparation, you can increase your chances of achieving a passing score on the PTCB and fulfill your aspirations of becoming a certified pharmacy technician.

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/ “Person reading on Papers preparing for Exam” /

Navigating the path to becoming a certified pharmacy technician requires dedication, perseverance, and a well-structured study plan (check out our sample study plan right above this paragraph if you didn’t already). As you embark on this journey, here are some practical tips to help you effectively prepare for the PTCB exam and achieve your certification goals.

The PTCB exam covers a wide range of topics, but some topics are more heavily tested than others. Focus your studies on the high-yield topics, such as pharmacology, pharmacy practice, and medication safety. These topics are more likely to appear on the exam, so you’ll get the most bang for your buck by focusing on them.

Practice tests are a great way to assess your knowledge and identify areas where you need to focus your studies. There are many different practice tests available online and in books. Take a practice test every few weeks to track your progress and see how you’re doing.

After taking a practice test, review your mistakes carefully. This will help you to understand why you got the answers wrong and to identify areas where you need to improve. If you’re struggling with a particular concept, go back and review the material in your textbook or notes.

If you are struggling with a particular topic, don’t be afraid to ask for help from a friend, family member, or teacher. You can also find helpful resources online and in books. There are many people who are willing to help you succeed, so don’t hesitate to reach out.

To sign up for the PTCB, you must create an account on the PTCB website. Once you have created an account, you can log in and register for the exam.

When registering for the PTCB, you will need to provide the following information:

Your name, address, and date of birth

Your contact information, including your email address and phone number

Your education and work experience

Your payment information

Yes, you can take the PTCB online. The PTCB is offered at Pearson VUE testing centers, which are located throughout the United States. You can find a Pearson VUE testing center near you on the Pearson VUE website.

On the day of your PTCB exam, you will need to bring the following items:

A valid government-issued ID, such as a driver’s license or passport

Your PTCB confirmation email

You are not allowed to bring any other items into the testing room, such as cell phones, calculators, or food and drinks.

The first step of being ready for your PTCE is to take care of your body. Your brain is a muscle, and just like the rest of you, its performance can be affected by your actions. The number one tip: prioritize getting a good night’s sleep before the exam. You should also eat healthy, light foods the day before the exam and enjoy a healthy breakfast on the day of the exam. We also recommend avoiding alcohol or similar substances the day before and day of the exam, as these can reduce your brain’s sharpness on test day.

On the day of your PTCB exam, it is crucial to be well-prepared and organized. Arrive at the testing center early to allow yourself ample time to relax and focus. Ensure you have a valid government-issued ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, and your PTCB confirmation email. Additionally, a sweater or jacket can provide comfort in case the testing room is chilly.

Check-in begins 30 minutes before your appointment time. If you are more than 15 minutes late past your scheduled exam time, you will not be allowed to begin your exam and will forfeit all fees. Approach the exam with a positive attitude and confidence in your abilities. Carefully read the exam instructions and answer each question to the best of your ability. Once you complete the exam, thoroughly review your answers to ensure you have addressed all the questions.

It takes approximately 1-3 weeks for your official score report to be posted to your PTCB account.

The PTCB certification is valid for two years. After two years, you must complete continuing education (CE) credits to renew your certification.

You can reference your PTCB license on your resume by listing it in the “Licenses and Certifications” section.

You can take the PTCB up to three times before additional requirements apply. Your first PTCB exam attempt can be taken any time. For the second and third exam attempts, there is no waiting period before you can retake the exam. However, for each subsequent retake beyond the third attempt, you will need to wait six months between attempts. In the event that you are unable to pass the PTCB exam after four attempts, you will be required to complete and provide evidence of preparation activities before you can reapply.

To renew your PTCB certification, you must complete 20 hours of Continuing Education (CE) every two years. You can earn CE (Continuing Education) credits by attending workshops, taking online courses, or reading articles and books related to pharmacy practice.

What is Continuing Education (CE)?

Continuing education (CE) is a structured educational activity designed to help pharmacy technicians maintain their competence and enhance their skills. CE activities must cover topics that are relevant to pharmacy practice and be approved by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE).

CPhT certificants must complete 20 hours of CE during each two-year recertification cycle. One hour of CE must be in the subject of pharmacy law and one hour must be in the subject of patient safety. A maximum of 10 hours of CE can be earned by completing a relevant college course.

You can apply for recertification online from your PTCB Account. You will need to submit your CE records and pay a $49 recertification fee and reinstatement fee for $89.

You will receive an email when your recertification window has opened. The deadline to apply for recertification is the first day of the certification expiration month. You can apply for recertification up to 60 days before your certification expiration date.

If you miss the deadline to apply for recertification, you will incur a $25 late application processing fee. Your recertification application will still be processed, but PTCB cannot guarantee that your application will be processed before your certification expiration date.

Your recertification application may be returned if it is incomplete, contains errors, does not meet CE requirements, provides inadequate CE information, or is accompanied by an incorrect payment amount. You will have 30 days to submit corrections and pay a $10 nonrefundable reprocessing fee.

We hope this post was helpful and gave you all the information you needed to pass your PTCE and become a certified pharmacy technician. If you have any suggestions for what could be added to make this guide even better, please share them in the comments below. Be sure to check out other CPhT posts on our blog as well!