Pharmacy Technician Certification Review and Practice Exam

Whether you are studying for one of the national pharmacy technician certification exams for the first time or need practice for recertification, the Pharmacy Technician Certification Review and Practice Exam is your reliable resource for exam prep. 

What’s new in the fourth edition: 

• Expanded content to reflect the revised Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE) 
• Brand new and updated self-assessment questions and exercises 
• Two new practice exams containing over 200 questions
• Pop quiz questions throughout 
• New chapters on medication safety, inventory management, and billing and information systems 

Alone or with the updated Manual for Pharmacy Technicians, 5th Edition, and the Workbook for the Manual for Pharmacy Technicians, the Pharmacy Technician Certification Review and Practice Exam is your trusted resource to help you achieve certification!

Barbara E. Lacher, BS, RPh Tech, CPhT

Barbara E. Lacher is an Assistant Director of the Pharmacy Technician Program at North Dakota State College of Science, Wahpeton, ND. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Pharmacy Technician Educators Council.

[REVIEWER'S EXPERT OPINION]

Nistha Shah, PharmD (Institute for Safe Medication Practices)

Description

This book covers a variety of topics that pertain to today's pharmacy practice and, hence, gives a holistic presentation of the skills and knowledge pharmacy technicians require to perform their tasks. The first edition of this book was published in 1998. Since then, there have been a lot of changes and updates in pharmacy workflow. This book presents current topics that are easy for readers to follow, and examples and pop quizzes that ensure frequent knowledge checks. 

Purpose

The purpose is to prepare pharmacy technicians for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) exam. Certification is becoming increasingly important for pharmacy technicians to perform their tasks, and this book, along with other resources, is intended to help with exam preparation. The objectives are clearly indicated and expressed throughout the book. In addition to the overall objectives, learning objectives are listed in each chapter to keep the book focused and easy to follow. 

Audience

This book is intended for students and current pharmacy technicians seeking board certification. The book meets the needs of its intended audience as it is written in simple language that is easy to understand by new students (who, many times, are recent high school graduates). The author is credible as a certified pharmacy technician. She has created an effortless read for students.

Features

This book is comprehensive of all the major concepts pharmacy technicians must be familiar with to be successful in their jobs. It describes medication safety concepts in an effective, easy-to-understand way for individuals without experience. It also concisely and efficiently explains complicated risk-reduction strategies, contributing factors to medication errors, and safe practice recommendations. Bullet points, tables, gray boxes, and a pop quiz in each chapter help emphasize important concepts for the exam. The book presents the information well by dividing it in sections to avoid long paragraphs, which can be mundane and difficult to follow. The chapter on pharmacy law and quality assurance is particularly useful for understanding the history of the FDA and drug regulations in the United States. For completeness purposes, it would have been helpful to include a chapter on roles and responsibilities of different healthcare professionals so technicians could learn what each member contributes to the team. Emergency medications stocked in the code cart could also be explained in detail to emphasize their severity and urgency.

Additionally, a detailed explanation of the forthcoming USP 800 would be helpful for pharmacy technicians to understand hazardous medications and corresponding safety precautions.  

Assessment

This book presents all the information necessary to effectively prepare for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board exam. A series of exams at the end of every chapter enables readers to evaluate their understanding, while pop quizzes throughout the chapters ensure constant knowledge checks and highlight the areas that need more practice or review. Many of the other books available on this subject assume readers already understand some basic concepts, but this book forms the base for every concept and builds on it. This fourth edition update was required as there are always new additions to the pharmacy workflow that pharmacy technicians must be aware of to perform their duties diligently. 

Weighted Numerical Score: 87 - 3 Stars