Difficulty of the exams -Don't limit your study!

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

I can not STRESS enough NOT to let your guard down when it comes to

STUDYING and PREPARING for certification exams. Everyone's EXPERIENCE

and PERCEPTION of difficulty WHEN they took the exam is DIFFERENT and

VARIES WIDELY.

PTCB has claimed in the past that only one - the SAME exam is given

during the SAME window of testing. This would mean only four

different exams during one year.

Some people believe that the testing sites can use any one of many

alternative exams at any time. But I have no written statement to say

either is true. No statement either way is on their site that I know

of today. (if you find one please let me know)

I have had members of this site state that they had lots of math and

others say lots of law and others say lots of pharmacology etc etc

during the SAME open testing window(s). Again perception varies

widely!

In addition to this, EVEN IF the SAME exam is given to the groups of

people during the SAME specific time or open testing window, everyone

has a DIFFERENT math, pharmacy and otherwise academic as well as

employment background to influence their indivdidual perception of

difficulty of the exam (that they took).

So even if ONE person RECENTLY had only a few math questions (say 20

out of 90) that does NOT mean that the person sitting right BESIDE

hime/her had the same exam and it may have 40 math out of 90! What

if the questions were the same 20 math questions out of 90 and one

person found them difficult and the other found them easy! Should

this make any difference is HOW YOU should STUDY? Or WHAT to study?

The ONLY way you will know exactly what is on the exam is WHEN YOU

take the exam! I (we) invite you to SHARE your experience to see if

there are trends or changing trends, but we also want you to be

aware that you may get a DIFFERENT exam than who ever posts their

experience.

I will also let you know that knowing trade generics is not the same

as knowing pharmacology. BUT you will have to now the names of the

drugs to answer the questions about the side effects or drug

interactions.

WHO will hire you if you passed the CPhT exam, but you do not know

the drugs? More over WHO will KEEP you as an employee?

KNOW DRUGS!

KNOW how to help the pharmacist!

Know operations and flow of pharmacy both community and hospital.

KNOW your math!

Go to the PTCB FAQ section or the IPT ExCPT FAQ section to see what

types of questions or topics will be asked.

Be ALL that you CAN be! Do not study to pass the exam!

Study to KNOW ALL that you CAN to be the BEST tech you can be to

ASSIST the RPh the BEST you can, to HELP the patient the bet you can,

to PROTECT the PUBLIC the Patients the BEST you can!

OTHERWISE may I say politely you do not belong in this healthcare

field.

What will you learn on the job?

MORE operations than a book can teach you! MORE procedures than a

book can teach you! But not more pharmacology than an education can

provide! You may learn it, but it will be SLOWLY! Not more math than

an education/study can provide! You may learn only what you need to

perform a specific job or duty, but you will not learn it all on the

job.

There are books that have very little in them.

There are books that have everything in them except the kitchen sink.

There are books that are right on the money.

ALWAYS study with two different books, along with this site.

Better yet two different books and this site PLUS at least one more

site.

Do NOT limit yourself in resources or what to study that pertains to

being a technician. The only area that I would say will not be on the

exam is 'specific insurance plans', because they change and are so

different. However the test question could give you a scenario with

the insurance information that you need to answer the question.

This is not just my two cents!

What I am writing and advising comes to you because and by way of my

YEARS of experience being a/an:

Pharmacy Technician

pharmacy Technician TEACHER

Award winning Rx Tech Teacher

Award winning Technician

National Advocate for Technicians

Rx Technician Association Member

Rx Technician Association Officer

CE Author

CE Presentor

Rx Tech Magazine Article Author

RPh Magazine Article Author

Rx Tech Magazine/Newsletter Editor

TUTOR for this site

DEVELOPER of this site

OWNER of this site

I have followed ALL of the INPUT over the YEARS on this site (and

many other tech sites) and my classroom students regarding PTCB

exams.

I am in touch with an ICPT/ExCPT repesentative to know/learn more

about it.

I was in touch with the PTCB representative when I first began this

site, which was scrutinized before it was allowed to be a link on

their site.

I am ADVISING you ONE more time to STUDY ALL that you CAN before you

take the exam to become certified.

Most Respectfully,

Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS

Pharm Tech Educator/Program Director

Founder/Owner of this site