Compounding and the PTCB Exam Compounding is an important subject on the PTCB exam – and syringe needles form a core part of any understanding of this subject. You may be asked questions related to compounding from several different knowledge domains of the PTCB exam. These include: Medications Pharmacy Math Federal Requirements There are two types of compounding: sterile and non-sterile compounding. Some medicines need to be prepared in a sterile environment, to reduce the risk of contamination to the medicine. Therefore, sterile compounding is highly regulated. That’s because the risk to t ..read more

Reproductive System Diseases Pharmacy technicians routinely handle and dispense medicines that help patients with diseases that affect the reproductive system. When we talk about the reproductive system, we mean those organs and systems responsible for the reproduction of the species. Men and women have different reproductive systems and different hormone profiles. Therefore, medicines dispensed vary considerably among the sexes. To take one example: the prostate gland. Only men have a prostate gland; a gland responsible for producing nourishing fluid that constitutes the majority of semen. Th ..read more

Syllabus for the 2023 PTCB Exam The PTCB syllabus format remains unchanged for the 2023 exams. Technicians are expected to prepare for the following four knowledge domains: Medications – 40% of the exam Federal Requirements – 12.5% of the exam Patient Safety and Quality Assurance – 26.25% of the exam Order Entry and Processing – 21.25% of the exam The above exam structure was introduced in January 2021 and largely resulted from a reconstitution of the previous syllabus. Some material was left out of the 2021 syllabus on the basis that it lacked relevance for technicians of today. Instead, th ..read more

What are Medical Prefixes? Even if you do not know the answer to a PTCB question, you can often work out the likely answer if you know medical prefixes. Prefixes are used at the beginning of words – for example: Hypo- Brady- An- These words define the meaning of the word. For example: hypo- and tension, referring to low blood pressure. hypo- and thyroidism, referring to low thyroid hormone. hypo- and glycemia, referring to low blood sugar. The opposite of hypo is hyper – which refers to elevated beyond the normal range. Hypertension refers to high blood pressure. Hyperglycemia refers to hi ..read more

Responsibilities and Pharmacy Technician Skills Pharmacy technicians are healthcare professionals who work with pharmacists in either community (retail) or hospital or industrial pharmacy – helping patients with their needs and offering advice when it’s needed. Knowing what pharmacy technician skills to develop is essential for your long-term growth. Of course, not everyone has the skills needed to become a competent and professional pharmacy technician. It often takes time to develop these skills. Pharmacy technicians must develop a diverse range of skills to meet their core responsibilities ..read more

Medication Safety Medication safety is important – one of the most tested subjects on the PTCB exam. Technicians must understand what strategies are used to mitigate against the risk of medication error. The use of tall-man lettering is one such technique. Despite the best attempts of healthcare professionals, medication errors are all too common. There are approximately 1.25 million medication errors in the United States each year. Research suggests that 77 percent of these errors are avoidable. Even with the intense training that healthcare professionals receive, medication errors are freque ..read more

ISMP and the PTCB Exam There are many organizations and bodies that pharmacy technicians are expected to know for the PTCB exam. The ISMP is one of them. The ISMP is the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. As the name suggests, the modus operandi of the ISMP is to promote patient safety and to advocate best practice to health professionals. The ISMP are a non-profit organization dedicated to this stated goal. One of their many functions is to evaluate medication errors. On the ISMP website, for instance, they offer a reporting program where patients, consumers, or healthcare professionals ..read more

Medication and Patient Safety The purpose of a prescription is to ensure that each patient receives the correct medicine, in the safest dose, to treat their condition. However, that’s not always enough. Patients must also know how to safely use, administer, or store their medicines. That’s where auxiliary labels come in. An incorrectly used, administered, or stored medicine can severely impact the patient’s therapeutic outcomes. Medicines that are sensitive to sunlight, for example, can decay or deteriorate into more toxic compounds. At the very least, the medicine loses its therapeutic potent ..read more

PTCB Concentration Calculations Pharmacy calculations can be one of the toughest parts of the PTCB exam. PTCB concentration calculations are very common, not least because of the importance for the patient to have the right medicine at the right concentration. If the concentration is too high, the patient can suffer adverse effects and, if the concentration is too low, the patient is not receiving the desired therapeutic effect. In today’s blog, we attempt to break concentration calculations down to the most fundamental level. We will review three different kinds of concentration question that ..read more

200 Must-Know Medicines! Learning the top 200 brand and generic drugs can be daunting. Many medicines have more than one active ingredient – and there are often many different brand medicines for each drug. This makes the learning process a long a gruelling one. The MCQ format of the PTCB exam is in your favor, though. Many medicines have similarities with either the drug name or the disease or condition it is licensed to treat. Once you begin to identify these similarities, it becomes much easier to “match” them on the day of your exam. For example: Medicine: Clozaril; active ingredient: clo ..read more