Pharm tech certificate

[laura_mideon]

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Does anyone know if you can get a pharm tech certificate online from a reputable school or something? Or is it all just a gimmick? I've seen some ads for it, like this site

http://medassistant.org/pharmtech.html

Thanks! 😀

 

[Modnar]

To be honest, I wouldn't recommend going to any school to get a pharm tech certificate. It's not necessary. Just talk to your state's board of pharmacy or www.ptcb.org and order prep books and study off those. The next certification test isn't till November, so you have plenty of time to study. Good luck!

 

[meister]

I took the PTCB test and studied for it with a study guide I bought off of Amazon.com and passed the test with ease. I've worked in a pharmacy for a couple years though, so that undoubtedly helped. But I would highly recommend doing that, rather than taking some class to learn how to do really basic metric conversions and generic/brand name stuff.

 

[wusiwug04]

meister,
Do you think the study guide was helpful? If it was, could you give me the title?

Thanks

 

[meister]

I used the older version of this guide. Come to think of it, if you haven't worked in a pharmacy it might be a good idea to go ahead and take a class unless you have a lot of free time to study.

The experience I gained was absolutely responsible for me passing.

 

[wusiwug04]

Thanks!

 

[Modnar]

Come to think of it, if you haven't worked in a pharmacy it might be a good idea to go ahead and take a class unless you have a lot of free time to study.

I disagree. I have no pharmacy experience and I passed the exam without taking a class. Starting a couple of months before the exam, I set aside 2-3 hours each week to study with my prep materials. I was desperate to get out of the job I had at the time, so that kept me motivated.

 

[meister]

That makes sense Modnar. I didn't really study all that much for the exam except for the week or so before the test, so I guess my view is kind of skewed.

Did you actually memorize all the drug brand and generic names and the drug classes? Seems like that would take forever.

 

[Modnar]

Did you actually memorize all the drug brand and generic names and the drug classes? Seems like that would take forever.

No, I didn't have the time. I tried to find patterns in the naming of drugs in each class (e.g. anything that ends with "cillin" is probably an antibiotic) and I memorized those. Luckily, I'd learned a lot about antidepressants, anxiolytics, and antipsychotics as a psych major, so I didn't need to go over those.