NO Experience Pharm. Tech!

[arlington07]

I know there are a dozen threads about "what book should i buy to study for pharmacy tech. certification" but i have a specific question. WHAT book do you guys suggest for someone to study if they have no EXPERIENCE WHAT SO EVER. I have Delmer's Pharmacy Technician Certifican Exam Review 2nd.ed but it this book is recommended for already existed techs in training. SO PLEASE GUYS! DO YALL DO ANY BOOKS THAT WILL TEACH ME EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW!!! THANKS

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[Avelox]

I would argue thats all you need but I worked in a pharmacy for over a year before I took the test. The test is really mostly math and its similar to those practice questions.

 

[Moxxie]

I had never worked in a pharmacy before and I used Delmar's as my study book. I passed the PTCB with almost a perfect score (some of the law stuff got me). Most of the exam really is just math and some basic questions about drug classes.

 

[mochiko]

I don't have any pharmacy experience and just took the PTCE last week... easily half the test was pharmacy calculations. I used Mosby's Review for the PTCB Exam to study for about 3 weeks and would highly recommend it. It includes a CD-rom that has 6 practice tests on it, which is very similar in format to the actual test. In fact, there were a few questions that were identical to ones found on the actual test. If you already have a book though, it should work fine. Most PTCE review books are said to be for practicing techs because the information is a lot more compact. I would argue that it works in your favor because it would leave out a lot of filler material you won't need for the test.

The most important things to do are to get the calculations and conversions down and to memorize signa abbreviations (bid, tid, qod, etc.). If you know how to do stoichiometry and proportions, the math will be cake. You should also read about pharmacy protocol and law, but no need to sweat every single detail. Don't worry too much about memorizing trade/generic drug names, as it'll just overwhelm you without contributing much to your score.

Edit: Here's a link that parabolic found that can give you more practice with pharmacy calculations:
http://www.emcp.com/product_catalog/resourcefile.php?ID=1457

 

[Avelox]

100% agreed, dont even bother learning drug and names, and to be honest dont even worry about classes, its really not worth it. Almost the entire test is calculations (which are simple if you do practice problems) and maybe learn some laws and random other junk that you see on practice tests. Overall, you don't have to worry about acing it, just doing well nuff to pass cause nobody will ask for your score =) .. they'll just wanna see that you passed heh.

 

[PharmDstudent]

I remember having some brand/generic questions on the test.

You might be able to narrow down the brand/generic stuff. Doctors write the brand names for medications that have a new generic. Maybe you could focus on the medications that just went generic or combination types, like Protonix--> Pantoprazole, Flonase--> Fluticazone propionate, Augmentin--> Amoxicillin/Clavulanate.
You can't learn every drug in the pharmacy, so this is just what I would do.

Tessalon Perles is a good one too; it's generic name is Benzonatate. Doctors usually write the brand name for that one.

 

[LoKoTe]

http://www.amazon.com/Pharmacy-Tech...bs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202996245&sr=8-3

 

[mochiko]

http://www.amazon.com/Pharmacy-Tech...bs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202996245&sr=8-3

This book is a textbook. It will teach you everything you need to know from the ground up, but is filled with way more information than you will need to know to pass the PTCE. Honestly, I think it's better to get a PTCE review book rather than a general pharm tech textbook since you will learn all the little details better on the job anyways. It will be a lot more time-efficient to use a book that only tells you what you need to know for the test and nothing extraneous.