PTCB question

[clarity]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone who has taken the PTCB can share about the difficulty of the test. I'm thinking of signing up for the November test (the deadline's been extended), but am still unsure, as I will be incredibly busy this coming school term and am not confident that I will have time to study for the test ... however, the next one's not until March, and it is also computer-based (which I do not like). So if this test is manageable I would prefer to take it in November, so I would like to know how much time is needed to invest in studying/preparing, as well as the relative difficulty of the test ...
Thanks!

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[greatdeals225]

I took mine this past July.

The difficulty of the test all depends on whether or not you have pharmacy experience, and in what area.

I would say that for my test, a lot it was dosage calculations such as IV doses, compounding different strengths of creams together to get one, .... and you had to know the different schedules of drugs I-VI

I had 1.5 years of experience as a retail tech, I just read my book twice, did a couple practice tests and flew by with no problem.

Even though the test also has questions on the hospital-tech job, it wasn't really that many, mostly calculations again. You can always get to the test center ahead of time and start talking to the ppl who are also waiting there. Get some tips as to how they perform their daily job so you have any idea if a question comes up.
I got 850/900 so for me, it wasn't that hard.

 

[TennisBoy78]

I had three months of tech experience prior to taking the exam, and got a 750 (650 is passing). I studied a few things from a book (a few calculation type problems, and pharm law) the night before. I felt so unprepared because I didn't know what to expect, but when I got the test, I realized that working in a pharmacy made all of the difference. There were a lot of questions that were just plain common sense if you work in a pharmacy because you encounter them on a daily basis.

 

[mizpah]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone who has taken the PTCB can share about the difficulty of the test. I'm thinking of signing up for the November test (the deadline's been extended), but am still unsure, as I will be incredibly busy this coming school term and am not confident that I will have time to study for the test ... however, the next one's not until March, and it is also computer-based (which I do not like). So if this test is manageable I would prefer to take it in November, so I would like to know how much time is needed to invest in studying/preparing, as well as the relative difficulty of the test ...
Thanks!

I did took the ptcb test and I passed . I just did self study. Borrowed books from friends and I passed.Just try it, to ease your worries.You can take up to three times if you fail.

 

[disboifan]

I did took the ptcb test and I passed . I just did self study. Borrowed books from friends and I passed.Just try it, to ease your worries.You can take up to three times if you fail.

you can only take it up to three times if you fail?

 

[jshelzz]

I took it in july and passed, i had no prior technician experience. I just got a self study book(pharmacy tech. certification exam review 2nd edition by p. anthony, delmar learnings) and took the test. i studied for about a month, make sure you know how to do the calculations, that was about 65% of the test.

 

[iamallen0620]

I would like to know whether there is anyone who can share the book list with me. I really want to know which book I should buy and how to prepare the PTCB. Thank you.

 

[chewy2008]

how much time do you have to take the ptcb examination? is it 140 questions long? how do they grade it?

 

[Cubez]

The exam is 100 questions (10 of which don't count towards your score) and you have two hours to finish. There are three types of questions relating to various functions in the pharmacy (ie assisting the pharmacist in serving patients) and you'll get a score for each section. The sections aren't evenly distributed, with roughly two-thirds of the exam on the topic I mentioned earlier. Your overall score (If I'm not mistaken...) is based on the three section subscores, but its scaled based on their distribution on the test (ie if you do well on the assisting the pharmacist in serving patients section, it'll have a bigger impact on your overall score than another subsection that may have accounted for ~12% of the exam).

 

[Farmer83]

I didn't study much for the test, except study the volume conversions, which helped alot for the PTCB exam. About 50% of the questions were math problems. So practice your math, and think through each question. Most of the questions are common sense. I passed with a 718, and I had no previous experience as a pharm tech.