PTCB to introduce updated exam in November

WASHINGTON — The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board will introduce its updated certification examination later this year, the group said Thursday.

The PTCB said the updated exam, scheduled for introduction on Nov. 1, would measure the knowledge pharmacy techs need to effectively support pharmacists and advance patient safety. Candidates can take the updated exam if they apply on or after Nov. 1.

"The PTCE is the foundation of PTCB's certification program," PTCB executive director and CEO Everett McAllister said. "We continually strive to ensure the PTCE is current and accurately tests the knowledge required in all sectors of pharmacy practice. The updated PTCE is psychometrically sound and reflects the results of our latest study across all practice settings, including community, hospital and federal."

The updates to the exam were based on the group's latest Jobs Analysis Study of 25,712 pharmacy techs from every state and practice setting. The new exam places greater emphasis on knowledge areas such as medication safety and pharmacy information systems, and extensive work went into reorganizing the test and creating more specific knowledge domains, each with sub-domains; the updated exam has nine domains instead of three, with revised proportions of emphasis, but the number of questions — 90 multiple-choice — and exam length will not change.