When picking up a prescription at a drugstore, have you ever wondered about the pharmacy technicians behind the counter? When you think about it, being a pharmacy technician looks like a pretty good job—they get to work in the growing field of healthcare and help connect people with the prescriptions that let them live happier and healthier lives. But how do they get started in that job?

One important step for landing one of these positions iseducation, but an important factor to consider is earning a pharmacy technician certification by passing the药房技术人员Certification Board’s（PTCB）药房技术人员认证考试（PTCE）。

正如我们仔细看看考试中所期望的内容一样阅读。

Is the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE) required?

这个问题的答案将因国家而异。但即使你的州不需要考试，那并不意味着通过考试是浪费时间。根据a survey conducted for the PTCB, the public overwhelmingly wants pharmacy technicians to be certified.* In fact, 85 percent said certification is “very important” in the study. Additionally, certification is an excellent way to stand out to employers and show that you’re serious about your work.

What to expect when taking the PTCB exam

The format of the PTCB exam consists of 90 multiple choice questions. But there’s a small catch to keep in mind—only 80 of the multiple-choice questions are scored, while 10 are not. Of course, as the test taker, you won’t know which ones count and which ones don’t, as they’re spread randomly throughout the test. Test takers are given one hour and 50 minutes to complete, so, with 90 questions to answer, that gives you a minute and 22 seconds per question on average. To be on top of your game, you need to know your material. So what can you expect from the exam? Let’s take a look.

PTCB考试中涵盖的主题

The PTCB exam tests students in nine categories, which are referred to as “knowledge domains” by the board. Within each of the knowledge domains are more specific subdomains. Test takers can expect to cover questions related to these topics:

• 技术人员的药理学
• Pharmacy law and regulations
• Sterile and non-sterile compounding
• 药物安全
• 药房质量保证
• 药物命令输入和填充过程
• Pharmacy inventory management
• Pharmacy billing and reimbursement
• Pharmacy information system usage and application

有关考试中所涵盖的主题的更详细信息，请看前瞻性测试者应该看看PTCE蓝图.

PTCB exam prep resources

如果你要采取PTCE，那么你需要进入一些认真的学习时间。幸运的是，来自药房技术人员认证委员会和外部来源的学生有几个良好的资源。以下是一些需要考虑的选项：

1.官方PTCB实践考试

Practice makes perfect—and what better practice exam is out there than the one created by the PTCB itself? The Pharmacy Technician Certification Boardhas compiled a practice examthat mirrors the actual exam in both content and format. So when a student sits down to the real exam, there should be no surprises as to the type of questions and the look of the exam. Just like the official exam, the practice version contains 90 questions, allowing students to pace themselves against the clock at home.

2. Official PTCB Calculations Practice App

Have some spare time while riding the bus or relaxing at home? Simply take out your phone and try out the Official PTCB Calculations Practice Questions App—available for bothAppleandAndroiddevices. The app gives users the opportunity to practice typical calculation questions found on the exam. These questions are actually pulled from earlier versions of the exam, giving students a very realistic look at what they will encounter during the real thing. Like the actual exam, the app includes 90 questions. The app also contains detailed explanations of how the correct answer was determined.

3. Pharmacy technician training

对于一些学生来说，注册计划是一个明智的选择。例如，拉斯穆森学院提供了一个药房技术人员的证书program that prepares students to take the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam. The coursework focuses on essential skills along with real-life scenarios for pharmacy technicians. The fee for taking the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam the first time is included in each student’s program costs. The Rasmussen College Pharmacy Technician Certificate program may be completed in as few as nine months.

PTCB exam advice from a pharmacy technician

To prepare for the PTCE, Jared Leonard, a Minnesota pharmacy technician and pharmacy student, recommends practice tests that resemble the actual test. Additionally, Leonard says there are a couple of focus areas that test takers may struggle with.

“I think the most challenging part of the exam, and where I’d recommend students spend most of their time preparing, is with the calculations,” Leonard said. “It’s the highest-rated part of the exam. You need to calculate things like going from grams to milliliters and fluid ounces to milliliters. You’ll do a lot of calculations from the royal to metric systems of measurement.”

Leonard also recommends spending some time studying pharmacy law—know the major laws and regulations guiding pharmacy workers and what they do.

Be prepared to succeed with the PTCB Exam

毫无疑问,医疗领域不是going away and becoming a pharmacy technician may be a great place for you to be. It’s a profession that has a lot going for it, including job growth and stability. While you could always try your hand at preparing for the PTCB exam on your own, you may want to consider a structured educational program designed to help you master the concepts and materials needed to pass. Check outRasmussen College’s Pharmacy Technician Certificate program page要了解有关该计划的更多信息以及如何帮助您为令人兴奋的医疗保健作用做好准备。

*PTCB Public Perception Survey, 2016