PTCB Blueprint (Exam Structure)
Table of Contents
The Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE), administered by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), is a comprehensive test designed to assess the knowledge and skills required for entry-level pharmacy technicians. Here’s a breakdown of PTCB exam:
PTCB Exam Format
- Total Questions: 90 questions (80 scored + 10 unscored pilot questions).
- Time Limit: 1 hour and 50 minutes (110 minutes).
- Question Type: Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) with four answer options.
- Passing Score: Scaled score of 1,400 (on a scale of 1,000 to 1,600).
PTCB Exam Content
The PTCE is divided into four knowledge domains, each with a specific weighting:Medications (40%):
- Focuses on drug names (generic and brand), classifications, therapeutic uses, side effects, and interactions.
- Includes high-alert medications and look-alike/sound-alike (LASA) drugs.
Federal Requirements (12.5%):
- Covers federal laws and regulations, such as the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), HIPAA, and FDA regulations.
- Tests knowledge of DEA requirements and drug scheduling.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance (26.25%):
- Emphasizes medication safety, error prevention, and quality assurance.
- Includes pharmacy calculations, compounding, and hazardous drug handling.
Order Entry and Processing (21.25%):
- Focuses on prescription processing, insurance billing, inventory management, and pharmacy technology.
- Tests communication skills and customer service.
Key Points
- Computer-Based Testing: The exam is administered at Pearson VUE testing centers.
- Unscored Questions: 10 pilot questions are included for future exam development and do not affect your score.
- Immediate Results: Candidates receive a preliminary pass/fail result at the testing center.
- Official Score Report: A detailed score report is available online within 2-3 weeks.
PTCB Preparation Tips
- Study the PTCB Blueprint: Focus on the four domains and their weightings.
- Practice Calculations: Pharmacy math is a significant part of the exam.
- Memorize Drug Names: Learn generic and brand names, especially the Top 200 drugs.
- Understand Laws and Regulations: Review federal requirements and patient safety guidelines.
PTCB Blueprint
| S.No. | Knowledge Domains and Areas | Flashcards | Practice Test |
Medications (40%) | |||
| 1.1 | Generic names, brand names, and classifications of medications | Yes | Yes |
| 1.2 | Therapeutic equivalence | Yes | Yes |
| 1.3 | Common and life-threatening drug interactions and contraindications (e.g., drug-disease, drug-drug, drug-dietary supplement, drug-laboratory, drug-nutrient) | Yes | Yes |
| 1.4 | Strengths/dose, dosage forms, routes of administration, special handling and administration instructions, and duration of drug therapy | Yes | Yes |
| 1.5 | Common and severe medication side effects, adverse effects, and allergies | Yes | Yes |
Indications of medications and dietary supplements | |||
| 1.7 | Drug stability (e.g., oral suspensions, insulin, reconstitutables, injectables, vaccinations) | Yes | Yes |
| 1.8 | Narrow therapeutic index (NTI) medications | Yes | Yes |
| 1.9 | Physical and chemical incompatibilities related to non-sterile compounding and reconstitution | Yes | Yes |
| 1.1 | Proper storage of medications (e.g., temperature ranges, light sensitivity, restricted access) | Yes | Yes |
Federal Requirements (12.5%) | |||
| 2.1 | Federal requirements for handling and disposal of non-hazardous, hazardous, and pharmaceutical substances and waste | Yes | Yes |
| 2.2 | Federal requirements for controlled substance prescriptions (i.e., new, refill, transfer) and DEA controlled substance schedules | Yes | Yes |
| 2.3 | Federal requirements (e.g., DEA, FDA) for controlled substances (i.e., receiving, storing, ordering, labeling, dispensing, reverse distribution, take-back programs, and loss or theft of) | Yes | Yes |
| 2.4 | Federal requirements for restricted drug programs and related medication processing (e.g., pseudoephedrine, Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies [REMS]) | Yes | Yes |
| 2.5 | FDA recall requirements (e.g., medications, devices, supplies, supplements, classifications) | Yes | Yes |
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance (26.25%) | |||
| 3.1 | High-alert/risk medications and look-alike/sound-alike [LASA] medications | Yes | Yes |
| 3.2 | Error prevention strategies (e.g., prescription or medication order to correct patient, Tall Man lettering, separating inventory, leading and trailing zeros, bar code usage, limit use of error-prone abbreviations) | Yes | Yes |
| 3.3 | Issues that require pharmacist intervention (e.g., drug utilization review [DUR], adverse drug event [ADE], OTC recommendation, therapeutic substitution, misuse, adherence, post-immunization follow-up, allergies, drug interactions) | Yes | Yes |
| 3.4 | Event reporting procedures (e.g., medication errors, adverse effects, and product integrity, MedWatch, near miss, root-cause analysis [RCA]) | Yes | Yes |
| 3.5 | Types of prescription errors (e.g., abnormal doses, early refill, incorrect quantity, incorrect patient, incorrect drug) | Yes | Yes |
| 3.6 | Hygiene and cleaning standards (e.g., handwashing, personal protective equipment [PPE], cleaning counting trays, countertop, and equipment) | Yes | Yes |
Order Entry and Processing (26.25%) | |||
| 4.1 | Procedures to compound non-sterile products (e.g., ointments, mixtures, liquids, emulsions, suppositories, enemas) | Yes | Yes |
| 4.2 | Formulas, calculations, ratios, proportions, alligations, conversions, Sig codes (e.g., b.i.d., t.i.d., Roman numerals), abbreviations, medical terminology, and symbols for days supply, quantity, dose, concentration, dilutions | Yes | Yes |
| 4.3 | Equipment/supplies required for drug administration (e.g., package size, unit dose, diabetic supplies, spacers, oral and injectable syringes) | Yes | Yes |
| 4.4 | Lot numbers, expiration dates, and National Drug Code (NDC) numbers | Yes | Yes |
| 4.5 | Procedures for identifying and returning dispensable, non-dispensable, and expired medications and supplies (e.g., credit return, return to stock, reverse distribution) | Yes | Yes |
