The pharmacy profession is worthwhile and promising. Its operational scope is vast, with numerous opportunities for career advancement. Statistics reveal that the future job outlook is promising for pharmacists.
Indeed, there are numerous pharmacy technician positions. Such includes roles in the hospital, community, military, government, and other varied settings.
As a pharmacy technician, you can also pursue an advanced pathway in research centers and pharmaceutical labs. Working in this rewarding industry, you have plenty of opportunities to increase your pay and credentials.
You can grow your career by studying, earning your relevant certification, and enrolling in any of the specialty programs. The specialty programs you can learn and sit for exams include:
- Sterile products
- Compounding
- Vaccines and more
Other opportunities for career advancement with top-paying positions include instructor technician or day lead technician. But, before you get to all the worthwhile pharmacy-related posts, there are steps you must follow.
One crucial step is to sit for the PTCB exam. Before we discover more about the scope of the test, let’s find out how you can prepare to excel in your final examination.
How to Prepare Well to Excel in Your PTCB Exam
Passing the exam is no magic! You must prepare well to shine in your final tests. It doesn’t matter if you’ve completed a pharmacy tech program or had many hours of work experience. You cannot expect to show up on the exam day and pass the exam.
The truth is that; many people fall victim. They go into the exam room unprepared. Perhaps this explains why only 58% of people in the U.S pass their tests. Well, it sounds scary. But, you don’t have to worry.
The examination isn’t often as tough as you could believe. The only issue is that most students don’t know how to prepare right. Most rely on giant textbooks, which are hard to memorize.
It helps to know that you can prepare well with some best PTCB practice tests. The free PTCB practice quiz tells you precisely what you should know about the exam. It equips you best to walk into the exam room confidently. So far, the students’ pass rate with the pharmacy technician test prep is 98%.
Indeed, taking the medical hero practice test online is a great place to start. The practice questions you attempt will give you an idea of which knowledge domains you should focus on to excel in your final paper.
So, instead of trying hard to find out how to study for the PTCB exam, you have the best way out. The free pharmacy technician practice test forms the best way to get set. It truly reflects everything you should expect in your final paper.
Why Is It Necessary to Attend Pharmacy Tech School and Sit for the PTCB Exam?
It’s a brilliant idea to attend pharmacy technician school before you sit for the certification exam. You need to know much to be a qualified pharmacy tech.
You have to understand deeper about pharmacy operations. This includes software and technology, plus other procedures. As a practicing pharm tech, you also need the basic knowledge of medications and their impact on the body.
Such knowledge is crucial to help you explain symptoms, hand out prescriptions, and explain medicine side effects to clients. Most importantly, you must understand HIPAA regulations to conduct your job efficiently.
So, generally, it’s a good idea to attend a pharmacy technician program, which helps you prepare to excel in your certification exam. The PTCB exam is a test that will determine whether or not you’ll qualify to work as a pharmacy technician.
The board certification ensures that pharm techs are fit enough to handle medication and assist the chief pharmacists. This is essential because pharmacy errors can cause life or death situations.
If a patient goes home with the wrong medication, it could be disastrous to their health. Now, let’s find out what you should anticipate regarding the scope of the PTCB exam in the coming days.
What Should You Expect in the Pharmacy Tech Exam?
● Format of the PTCB Exam
The Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam or PTCB exam entails a computer-based test. It comes with 90 multiple-choice questions. Out of these, 80 questions are scored, and ten are unscored.
The unscored questions are randomly placed throughout the exam paper. So, you won’t know which they are. Every multiple-choice question comes with four possible answers. For every question, you need to select one which you think is the correct answer.
● Topics Covered in the PTCB Exam
The Pharm Tech Certification Board executed its most recent exam updates in 2020. The questions category spread across four knowledge domains.
Queries are distributed randomly. They are not placed in the order of the domains below:
- 40% of the exam content entails medications
- 5% concerns federal requirements
- 25% is about patient safety and quality assurance
- 25% regards order entry and processing
● Time-Span for the PTCB Exam Paper
The PTCB exam is a timed test, with an average 2-hour time frame per paper. Often, you’re given 1 hour and 50 minutes to answer the queries, but the whole exam paper is 2 hours long.
At the start, you’re given 5 minutes to read the tutorial (this contains essential instructions on how to get through the exam questions). Again, you’ll have 5 minutes at the end of the paper for a post-examination survey.
Key Takeaways
The pharmacy industry is a promising profession with an excellent growth rate. As the healthcare industry continues evolving and expanding, so will the role of pharmacy technicians.
Operating as a certified or licensed pharm tech can help you stand out among other potential employers. It’s also beneficial if you decide to relocate to another state.
To start right, it helps to enroll in a pharmacy school and undertake the necessary courses. Afterwards, you’ll take the pharmacy technician certification board exam, which prepares you for actual job practice.
Nowadays, you no longer have to fear the exams; preparation is becoming easier. There are excellent ways to get set for your final test, and be sure to excel the first time you sit for the paper. Our discussion above guides you best!