Must renew PTCB?

[KMIMSM]

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If I already received my state license for pharmacy technician do i still need to renew my PTCB certificate? I received an email to renew it by Novemeber or it will expire.

 

[SmKN808]

i think you do because the board of pharmacy requires an active PTCB or ExCPT certificate as long as you wish to maintain an active pharmacy technician registration in that state... but, i dunno =/

 

[TABOULI]

This is how Texas works which I think most states would be similar. If you don't renew your PTCB you have to submit CE credits to the texas board of pharmacy. The downside of that is if I moved to Kansas lets say, I will have to reinstate my PTCB certification in order to have a valid licence (ie not a training licence). If the PTCB remains expired for too long you will have to retake the exam. So you need the PTCB in order to get a license in most states, but you wont need to maintain it. But if you move your screwed. Hope that helps, but you could just call your state board.

 

[tm79602]

OK. I am not sure what the other posts were trying to say, but here is the lowdown. PTCB is a national certification. You take a test and if you pass, you are nationally certified. I repeat: Nationally Certified. It has nothing to do with a state license. You have to do 20 CE credits every 2 years in order to renew your PTCB certification. I believe it is free if you turn in your CE credits within those two years. If you past the two year mark, you have to pay for reinstatement, which I think is $80.00. After 3 years since your last renewal, if you do not reinstate or renew your certification, you have to take the test all over again. Which one sounds better: paying anoth $120-150 taking the exam all over again or sucking it up and finding a website to do your CE credits. There are plently of websites that offer CE credits. Out of the 20 CE credits that you need, at least 1.0 has to come from pharmacy law. I was told by civilian technicians that it looks good that you have your PTCB certification. I think some might get paid more if they are certified. I was in the military, so even though it did not affect me, it still looked good to the military. I know Texas is one of those states that you have to have a state license to work as a pharmacy technician. Like I said, PTCB certification is different from state license, as it is nationally certification and the license is in that state. If you move, you might have to apply for that state's license, but the PTCB certification is nationwide. Good luck!

 

[pearljam5a1]

From my experience (Virginia hospital) the PTCB and the state certification are both required for employment. This is probably not the case in every state, so you'll have to check with your state's pharmacy board. I think being nationally and state certified was only a requirement for the hospital I worked at but I'm unsure. If you are PTCB certified then all you have to do is pay for the state certification and the test is waived. The state certification is renewed annually and the PTCB is every 2 years. The PTCB requires more CE credits than the state but both certifications allow you to claim college classwork (chemistry/biology) as CE.

I would recommend renewing your PTCB if you are not planning on getting accepted to pharmacy school in the next year. It looks good on school apps and lets you put CPhT after your name 👍. After you get into school then you can throw away both certifications because you will be classified as an intern with the state.

 

[pharm B]

And like others have mentioned, it's not hard to get your 20 hours of CE. If I remember right, you get 15 hours off the bat for taking a science course. I don't know if Pharmacy Technician's Letter is free for everyone, but I knocked out my other 5 hours of CE there in a heartbeat.