While a high school diploma is all that is required of pharmacy tech job applicants, employers expect employees to do their best to increase their professional and employment value while working.
Passing the pharmacy technician certification exam (or simply PTCE) will help ensure you keep your job as long as you want it and open up doors for promotion. Heres some information to help you get ready.
What is the PTCE?
Its a computer-based exam taken in Pearson VUE test centers. Your score will reflect your knowledge level and will serve as a determinant of whether you are fit to practice as a technician or not.
The exam consists of 90 questions. Eighty (80) questions are scored and the remaining 10 questions are un-scored. For every question, you can pick a choice from four answers, only one of which is correct. The 10 un-scored questions are distributed randomly throughout the test. Scores are based only on correctly-answered items from the 80-scored group of questions.
What does it assess?
The exam evaluates knowledge in nine domains: Pharmacology, Pharmacy Law, Sterile and Non-sterile compounding, Quality Assurance, Medication Safety, Inventory Management, Billing and Reimbursement, Information System Usage and Application, Medication Order Entry and Fill Process (MOEFP).
Each of these domains has a designated content percentage in the exam. The highest content percentage (17.50%) belongs to (MOEFP) while the lowest percentage (7.50%) belongs to Quality Assurance.
How many times can you take the exam?
There is a retake policy. For the first two retakes, the applicant is required to wait 60 days. If you fail the first two, you will have to wait 6 months to take the exam again. Failing the exam for four times will require you to make an appeal to the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) to get an approval for another retake.
Does PTCB provide study materials?
PTCB does not provide study materials for review or endorse any books, manuals or training programs for such purpose. Applicants are free to choose their mode of review.
Do you have to complete a training program to be eligible to take the exam?
There are no other requirements for taking the exam other than the ones stated in the PTCB website. You can take the exam and apply for certification as long as you have the following:
* A high school diploma * Full disclosure of criminal and licensure actions * Compliance with every applicable PTCB certification rule * Passing score for the PTCE
How can your employer verify your certification status?
Once the official results become available and you have confirmed you passed the exam, you may direct your employer to the verification/certification page of the PTCB website to check your certification status.
There are five certification statuses shown in that page: active, expired, uncertified, suspended, and revoked. Kindly ask your employer to take note of the expiration date of your certification. Important Notes:
* PTCBs main office is located in Washington, DC. * Exam payments to be made by mail should be addressed to their office in Maryland. * The PTCE can be taken any time of the year.