Studying for PTCB Exam

[triplerox]

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I got my book yesterday (Mosby) and was skimming through it. there are a ton of information and i was wondering what should i be emphasizing on? drug names and calculations? what about stuff like the laws and acts etc? tips guys? 🙂

 

[confettiflyer]

know the math, skim the laws, you will pass the test.

 

[rx27563]

^^what he said..... its soo flippin easy!

 

[Mizab]

Brush up on calculations for sure most people I have talked to say get a lot of questions dealing with that. Try to know as many of the common drug generic to brand names and good to know what some of the most common ones are used for. Review the laws and it is good to understand some inventory controls.

I would suggest just going out and buying a book to help study with it's best to find one that has some kind of pretest or practice test those really help a lot of people I think because shows them where they are weak at.

 

[Bez604]

I also have Mosby's book as well. Haven't really opened it yet tho. My testing date is December 19th.

 

[RaginCajun]

I have mine on 12/1 and associating generic with brand is crazy. I could not see anyone knowing all of these. Am I wasting time even making an attempt?

 

[Murphy005]

know your calculations. that's the only thing i remember because it's the only thing i had to actually open my eyes to do. i wouldn't worry about it.

 

[sunwarrior86]

Like everyone else said, know your calculations: specifically how to use them in proportions, thats mainly the only type of calculation you will have to do, although there are some other kinds. The Mosby's is a great review, I don't know which one you have, but "Mosby's Review for the PTCB" is an excellent review book, that is the one I used. There is some stuff about brand/generic, and parenteral preperation (i.e. Laminar Flow hood). Also, can't forget the laws. Good luck to all who take exam, you will do fine.

 

[triplerox]

thanks guys. i do have the mosby book that you mentioned.

so it seems laws are important to know as well as calculations. does that mean not a lot of emphasis is put on drug names? like i just got to the part about schedule 1-5 drugs and there is a huge list of common and generic names. im suppose to memorize all of that?

by the way i checked the ptcb site and apparently the registration for an exam around december is closed. is that right? i just wanna double check1

 

[ADN1226]

Just wanted to know if i've only got a few month's pharmacy experience - will the exam be really tough? should I wait for... say more than 6 months experience before I look into taking the test? thank you!

 

[sunwarrior86]

You should be fine with just a few months of pharmacy experience, I only had about 3 months. This will help with brand/generic identification and a few logistical pharmacy applications, such as restocking and when to pull out of dates, etc. To triplerox, you dont have to memorize the entire list, just be familiar with common brand/generics. I can only recall a small percentage of questions that dealt with brand/generic identification. Really concentrate your time on calcuations and laws and pharmacy logistics (such as restocking, pulling out of dates, and other normal pharmacy activities.) Hope that helps! Studying a review book with calculations and sample test questions will be a great aid.

Also look for field tested questions on the actual PTCB, they like to include some on every standardized test. Be sure to concentrate some of your time on identifying drug classes: i.e Levaquin is a floroquinolone, alprazolam is a benzodiazapene, etc and particular characteristics of each drug class (such as no dairy with cyclic antibiotics like doxycyline) These are just some tips that I can offer. Again, good luck to those that will take the exam, and you will do fine!!

 

[pharmcas514]

i am taking the exam on 11/28th and starting to freak out. i have tried to concentrate mainly on laws and calculations, but what about others such as medical equipment? or the different automated dispensing systems such as AcuDose-Rx, baker cells, etc. i can't seem to remember which is which! should i freak out?

 

[sunwarrior86]

Never freak out!! That is what I couldn't think of when I was making my last post, do remember to review baker cells and other automated dispensing systems. But, again, those questions are far and few between. These types of questions will show up, but I don't recall a heavy emphasis on these. Calculations and laws are the main items I recall. I don't think they have changed a whole lot since they transitioned to computer based testing, but I don't know for sure. Good luck!!

 

[triplerox]

You should be fine with just a few months of pharmacy experience, I only had about 3 months. This will help with brand/generic identification and a few logistical pharmacy applications, such as restocking and when to pull out of dates, etc. To triplerox, you dont have to memorize the entire list, just be familiar with common brand/generics. I can only recall a small percentage of questions that dealt with brand/generic identification. Really concentrate your time on calcuations and laws and pharmacy logistics (such as restocking, pulling out of dates, and other normal pharmacy activities.) Hope that helps! Studying a review book with calculations and sample test questions will be a great aid.

Also look for field tested questions on the actual PTCB, they like to include some on every standardized test. Be sure to concentrate some of your time on identifying drug classes: i.e Levaquin is a floroquinolone, alprazolam is a benzodiazapene, etc and particular characteristics of each drug class (such as no dairy with cyclic antibiotics like doxycyline) These are just some tips that I can offer. Again, good luck to those that will take the exam, and you will do fine!!

thanks for the advice! i was about to ask about this. there was a list of 200 most common prescription drugs on the back of the book, should i concentrate on those instead of everything else? i just went over the antibiotic drugs and there are soooooo many generic and brand names, how do i know which one is more important to learn?

im so relieved the test does not emphasize on the drug names, all this time i thought it was!

 

[cassiegal21]

Anybody ever bought and of the test prep material from PharmacyTrainer Web Store. Are their study guides and flash cards any good?

 

[sunwarrior86]

I have been browsing around this forum for info about the new computer exam, and from what I can tell most of the types of questions that you will see have not changed. However, I have found some that say there are quite a few placing a particular controlled substance in their correct schedule (i.e. Hydrocodone/APAP is a schedule III). So be sure to review some of those (I took the paper exam, so they might have changed that a little since I took it!) However, from what I can tell, most of the other members say there is still a heavy emphasis on calculations. As far as antibiotic drugs, I would be familiar with the most common: Flagyl-metranidazole, Biaxin-clarithymycin, Omnicef-Cefinidir, Zithromax-azithromycin, and others of the more common ones. Just study a review book with sample questions and you will do fine. Cassiegal21, I have never used those prep materials, so I am not sure. Good luck to all, you will do fine!

 

[triplerox]

there's online exam now?? does that mean you can take it anytime you want?

 

[BADD281]

I took the old exam (you know, the one with that ancient paper and pencil thing?) and I found it to be really easy! BUT, if I had to take it on a computer I think it would be harder for me because I tend to get bad eye strain and lose my concentration fast . Did you guys get a break?

 

[BADD281]

there's online exam now?? does that mean you can take it anytime you want?

No, I believe you have to take it at a testing center between certain dates. I do not believe you can take it online at your own will.

 

[JONDLOU]

Blessings to all the new CPhTs out there.

This may help size-up an average test at the end of 2007. I just took the PTCE at the end of November. It was like what everyone had described, so don't panic.

Once I got home and I couldn't stop thinking about what I may have missed. So, I began to make vague notes to see if I was right on ones I wasn't sure about, which also lead to writing down as many as I could remember in general. This way I had some good with the bad.

Amazingly, about 40 questions came to mind out of 100. None of these were math since I wasn't interested in recalling the simple algebra, which composed approximately 50% of it altogether. I would have to say I was a little hung on processes that weren't covered obviously enough for me in the book, like: known more about the different types of flow hoods (vertical and horizontal), storing temperatures of various medications, and some more medical terminology outside of my exam guide would have eliminated some educated guessing.

I would do all the math right. Plus, remember the drug's classifications and what they do to you.

Anyways, I found I probably missed close to 15 for sure, and the math should be heavily weighted (or curved) since it is basically impossible to do a good job without it (on the test or in the pharmacy).

Hope you pass, and post if you have any more questions/facts.

Thanks for reading,

😎Jon

 

[Nova6287]

Hi,

Did you study from any books in particular? Can you please give me the name and author. I looked for books on Amazon, but after reading the comments from reviewers I was discouraged. Can you please give any advise. Thank you.

 

[kthomp]

Hi,

Did you study from any books in particular? Can you please give me the name and author. I looked for books on Amazon, but after reading the comments from reviewers I was discouraged. Can you please give any advise. Thank you.

I used the Pharmacy Technician by Perspective Press http://www.amazon.com/Pharmacy-Tech...bs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197654300&sr=1-2
and Complete Math Review for the Pharmacy Technician
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Revi...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197654455&sr=1-2

But I only used those ones because work gave them to me for free. 🙂 I really like the math book though. I know a lot of people have recommended Noah Riefman's book, but I couldn't justify spending another $60 when I already had two books. Hopefully those will have been enough, I should know after I take the exam on Tuesday.

Hope that helps a little!

 

[Bully Worm]

I just took a few hours ago.

On my test:

Very basic stuff about:
-Flow hoods
-Schedule I-V (know the common ones like Codiene/Xanax/Valium)
-Assisting a pharmacist(these should be common sense)
-Know a few Laws. Again, just the basic ones.(HIPAA)
-Know the very common drugs both generic and brand. (Top of my head - Penicillin,Cepha-, Vicodin, Singulair, Norvasc, Anti-hypertensive, etc etc.)
-Know the basic sig codes. (qid, tid, stat, gtt, po, au, ou, q etc)
-Touch up on the section about which drugs require package inserts
-Know the different basic kinds of pharmacy books(Orange, red book etc)
-Know what should be needed on a label of a presciption
-Know basic terminology like hydrophobic, buccal, elmusion, levigation, MSDS etc.
-Know your math. Basically, its probably a good 98% that all of them are proportion/rates. There are some flow rates and I encountered 1 allegation problem.
-Know your conversions from pints-quarts-lbs-ounces.
-Know your DEA forms. Particularly 222 and 106 and when they should be used.

I bought this PTCB exam book :

Also, the author of this book held a seminar at my school. That helped alot.
But with this book, you should pass with flying colors easily. Don't bother buying those thick 36inch exam books. This one is very concise, less then 200 pages with just about everything you need to know, practice tests included. I sound like I'm promoting this book. 😛

Anyways, if your interested in this book, it can be obtained here:
http://www.techprepsolutions.com/