Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT)
Introduction
If you are looking for a healthcare career, Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) from the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) is an important first step towards a rewarding career in the field of healthcare. You can work effectually to support your pharmacy team and ensure the provision of first-rate patient care.
The certification will add great value to your career as employers prefer and require pharmacy technicians to be CPhT certified to perform various tasks to support pharmacists and patients. Comparing the pass rates for the exam over a decade shows that the PTCB exam has gotten more difficult with a 58% pass rate in 2019 compared to 72% in 2009.
About the exam
Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) is a computerized test offered by the PTCB. The exam is referred to as PTCB or PTCE, both acronyms are used interchangeably. On completion of the exam with passing results, the candidate receives a CPhT certification. Since the PTCB is the most trusted pharmacy technician credentialing organization, it is the only credentialing organization solely devoted to pharmacy technicians and support of patient care.
This certification will benefit you by helping you to pursue more opportunities for career advancement and prestige in the workplace. It gives the potential for a higher salary, career growth, validated achievement, and prestige among co-workers. It will give you personal satisfaction by delivering the highest quality of care.
Who should take the exam?
Certified Pharmacy Technician is an exam offered by the PTCB, which is designed for two groups of pharmacy technicians:
- Firstly, Current pharmacy techs who are yet to pass the exam to legally work in their state with a license or recent graduates of pharmacy tech programs.
- Also, Already working pharmacy techs who are willing to strengthen their resume and improve job prospects.
Prerequisites
- Firstly, Completion of a PTCB recognized training program
- Secondly, Enrolled in a PTCB training program that will be completed within 60 days of the exam date
- Thirdly, a Minimum of 500 hours of work as a pharmacy technician
- Lastly, Knowledge requirements must be met
Exam Details
| Exam Name: | Certified Pharmacy Technician |
| Administered by: | Pearson VUE |
| Mandatory Pre-requisite | Completion of PTCB recognized program |
| Credential Earned: | Certified Pharmacy Technician |
| Exam Duration: | 2 hours |
| Number of Questions: | 90 multiple-choice questions (10 unscored questions) |
| Passing marks | 1400 above |
| Language: | English |
Exam registration steps
You need to pay $129 to take up the exam
- Firstly, create a PTCB account
- Secondly, Log into your PTCB Account and apply for certification
- Thirdly, you will receive an email with authorization to schedule your exam once your application is approved.
For More Details See – CPhT FAQ | Certified Pharmacy Technician certification
Course outline/syllabus
The PTCB examination will test your knowledge in 4 key areas which are officially called knowledge domains. Each knowledge domain will contribute a different percentage of score to your total score.
Medications
This section takes up 40% and the biggest percentage of the exam as dispensing medications is a vital part of the job. Questions regarding names and classifications, therapeutic equivalents, drug interactions, and side effects, drug stability, proper storage, strength and dosages, proper handling, and similar topics will be asked.
Federal Requirements
This covers 12.5% of the examination where federal regulations for pharmacies, including handling and disposing of, restricted drug programs and rules for prescriptions will be covered.
Patient Safety and Quality assurance
Questions regarding high-risk medications, event reporting procedures, how to prevent errors, pharmacist intervention for certain events, types of prescription errors, and cleaning and hygiene standards will be asked. This domain covers 26.25% of the examination.
Order Entry and processing
This section covers 21.25% of the examination, which tests the knowledge on formulae, calculations, ratios, conversions, and other points of the procedure as well as identifying and returning expired or otherwise unusable medications, expiration dates, lot numbers, and more
Preparation guide
In preparation for an exam, there is a great deal of hard work and discipline. Also, it is the path to your lucrative career and opens up different possibilities for you. Because it takes time, commitment, enthusiasm, devotion, and an open mind, certification can not be done overnight. You will be escorted at all times during the trip through this Preparatory Guide. Follow our guide to get a better understanding of the steps to prepare for the Certified Pharmacy Technician.
Revise the Exam Objectives
First and foremost, get yourself a clear understanding of what is the course outline and objectives of the exam. You should thoroughly read and understand the areas and topics that are a part of the exam. With this step, you can prepare a pin-pointed preparation strategy. Also, it will save your time and energy which might otherwise go into studying something that isn’t that relevant to the exam. Thus, double-check with the topics, and only after knowing the objectives completely, you should start your preparations.
Following are the Exam objectives for the Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) exam –
- Firstly, Medications
- Secondly, Federal Requirements
- Thirdly, Patient Safety and Quality assurance
- Lastly, Order Entry and processing
Study Resources
As per the official site, PTCB does not endorse or recommend any preparational resources. However, there are several external sources that the candidates can use to prepare for the exam. You can use the following books for the preparations. These have been shared by the PTCB itself for informational purposes –
- Firstly, Manual for Pharmacy Technicians, 5th Edition
- Secondly, The Pharmacy Technician, 6th Edition
- Thirdly, Pharmacy Certified Technician Training Manual, 14th Edition
- Then, Pharmaceutical Calculations, 15th Edition
- Lastly, The Pharmacy Technician’s Pocket Drug Reference, 10th Edition
Official PTCE Exam Prep App
You can use the PTCE exam preparation app on both iOS and Android platforms. This app is a digital way to assist you with the exam preparations. It covers several aspects of different exams that come under the PTCB. You can select the topics that you wish to study and the app will provide you the resources accordingly. It is one of the convenient ways of staying connected with the studies while you are on the go.
Take up practice tests
Lastly, it’s the time to take up practice tests. Taking up practice tests will help you go across all kinds of possible questions that have chances of appearing in the examination. With practice tests, you will get a great idea of what to expect in the actual exam. Also, you can keep a track of your preparations. Further, having an understanding of a real examination setting is very helpful as it will make you more secure and stable when appearing for the actual examination. Therefore, always aim to take multiple practice tests.
