Pharmacy Technician Certification Board Updates Its Certification Exam

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) introduces its updated Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE). The updated exam measures the knowledge technicians need to effectively support pharmacists and advance patient safety in today's pharmacies.

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These updates resulted from PTCB's latest Job Analysis Study, which involved over 25,000 pharmacy technicians from every state and a wide range of practice settings. Consistent with industry best practices and National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) standards, PTCB evaluates the evolution of pharmacy technician roles by conducting this study on a regular basis. Based on the newest data collected, PTCB analyzed the requirements of the occupation to update the PTCE.

"The PTCE is widely recognized and trusted to accurately reflect the current knowledge, skills, and abilities required for pharmacy technicians to effectively perform their duties, support pharmacists, and advance patient care," said PTCB Executive Director and CEO Everett B. McAllister, MPA, RPh. "The November 1^st updates in the PTCE are based on our latest study across community, hospital, and federal settings, with an increased focus on patient safety."

The updated PTCE more strongly emphasizes certain knowledge areas, including medication safety and pharmacy information systems. PTCB put extensive effort into reorganizing the test and creating more specific knowledge groupings, or 'domains,' each with sub-domains or 'areas.' The updated exam has nine domains instead of three, with revised proportions of emphasis. The time allowed for the exam (110 minutes), the quantity of questions (90 multiple-choice), and the $129 test fee will remain the same.

The PTCE is administered at 237 Pearson Professional Centers nationwide and military test centers. Detailed information on PTCB's program and the updated PTCE are available at PTCB's website.

About PTCB

The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) advocates a single national standard for pharmacy technician certification that is recognized and supported by the profession. The goal of PTCB's national certification program, which services the more than 274,000 currently active certified pharmacy technicians (CPhTs) nationwide, is to enable pharmacy technicians to work more effectively with pharmacists to offer safe and effective patient care and service. PTCB was established in 1995 and is governed by five pharmacy organizations—the American Pharmacists Association, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists, the Michigan Pharmacists Association, and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Pharmacy technicians may apply for certification online at www.ptcb.org.

SOURCE Pharmacy Technician Certification Board