This turned out to be more than my response to the original author! Re: Exam

[Guest guest]

After reading your Message #15709 of August 30 and then this one, I

believe the 'truth' actually lies somewhere in between!

I have been advocating specific exams for retail techs vs hospital

techs for a long time. The MAIN reason is/was as long as we will test

before we educate then we are testing from experience and bits and

pieces of education training and sself study. Therefore we must

consider the fact that those techs who do only retail or only

hospital will not know the other areas resepctively. Just as you have

written and I have before.

I had hoped to see education a requirement much sooner but that is

not the case and who knows when that will be. But if all techs were

educated and trained in all areas then an all encompassing test would

be 'fair' or 'fairer'.

On the other hand I do not want to see schools teach ONLY retail or

ONLY hospital and not all areas. That would be gouging the tech and

taking their money and they would not hve the benefit of choosing

what is right for them. i would liken this to specializing after the

fact = a nurse or doctor studies the basics and then may specialize

either by more specific study or veering off into one direction.

Thuse we have MD gynecologist and Surgical nurses etc. But they all

took basic MD or Rn or Lvn examinatiosn after studying the OVERALL

general basic healthcare/medicine practices etc.

So specialization in my opinion or specialized certification exams

should come after the education and specialization in retail,

hospital or managed care etc. However as it stands now we have techs

who are not required by laws of their states to go to formal

schooling or education and yet they are required to be CPhT's.

Therefore an overall exam is used hoping ot catch all techs in all

areas. This is why some educators feel that the exam is 'watered down

version' of what it should be. Also perhas it is now a strategy to

make a stronger harder exam so that less people who are not prepared

who have not been formally educated will pass! Why? MAYBE just MAYBE

that is a tactic used to get the big drug companies that support

retail to see that less people are passing and that MORE needs to be

taught in these retail crash courses to pass the exam. MORE hospital

information needs to be known/taught. That would be a good way to

get the retail industry to see that formal education is required IF

the exams both exams PTCB and ExCPT, require more specific knowledge

to pass. The SAME knowledge that is required of those who pass formal

educational program site finals like my students do.

I do not know if this makes sense, but IF I were PTCB and I tried in

l994 and l995 to get states to make PTCB mandatory and tried to get

education mandatory and I could not get it to happen 10 yrs later in

2004/2005 and even now only a handful require PTCB in some way, I

would do it another way. And by that I mean I would make the

questions harder that match what schools accredited by ASHP expect

techs ALL techs to know! and then when the retail only trained tech

or the hospital only trained tech or the self-educated tech can not

pass the exam and there is a shortage of formally trained techs who

can pass the CPhT exam, perhaps laws would change to require techs to

go to formal schools to learn about all aspects of pharmacy

technician work, all basic information of both retail, hospital and

yes even managed care! Perhaps that is the way PTCB and ExCPT need to

go! MAKE the exams HARDER for the non-educated tech and ACCEPTABLE

challenging for the formally trained at ASHP accredited school

tech!!!!

I hope PTCB and ExCPT are reading this. Because if either takes my

advice they BOTH have to in order for each to be considered equal to

each other, as recently deemd by the courts in December 2007 since

they both can certify pharmacy technicians!

Fair is Fair!

Nurses study it ALL then test!

Md's study it all then test!

Plumbers study it all then test!

They all extern/intern/journey!

What patient or consumer would want otherwise?

What patient would want it different for pharmacy technicians? (if

they only knew the truth God help us all! the outcry! oh yeah they

are just now hearing about it via the heparin baby deaths...so that

will take at least another 5 years right?)

What pharmacist would want to work and trust a tech who is not

educated and trained to the fullest capacity before hiring him or

her? Why do pharmacists allow it?

What doctor wants a minimally trained adn educated or self-educated

nurse or medical assistant to assist him or her? What gives with

Pharmacists?

Sad really!

Any way I am GLAD that you have come to the realization that more

education and externships is/should be required. I hope all others

come to the same conclusion. This is NOT 1970, 1980, l995 any more!

It is 2008 and we still do not educate technicians who are making the

very IV's that are put into YOUR loved ones ARMS/veins! Go figure!

Respectfully to ALL, including but not limited to:

a. those who have been techs for many years, who came up through the

ranks, over the many years, who learned it all on the job who still

believe that that way was good enough for them and therefore it

should conintue, and is good enough today in 2008,

b. newbies who disagree with me because they can not afford college

or vocational school education.

c. those who do not see what all the fuss is about

d. those went to college or vocational training, but felt it did not

prepare them or they learned only a little, but have or had a large

debt to pay off in the end,

e. those who passed the CPhT exam but could not find a job later

f. those who passed the CPhT exam after self - education, this site

help, books and internet being self-taugh reaped the benefits of

being CPhT and do not believe formal education is necessary,

g. those who passed the CPhT exam after being self-taught, are

employed CPhT's, but do believe that formal education is/should be

necessary,

h. those who went to college or vocational training, are employed

CphT's and still believe, even with a debt of the cost of education

that education is worht it and needed,

i. those who believe that a national standard of education for

pharmacy technicians shoud be mandated and surveyed/policed and

governed.

Is there any other way but to say

Respectfully to ALL those who believe that formal education, training

and externship is NECESSARY to become the BEST techs and should be

required before taking the certification exams (PTCB and ExCPT)?

In not trying to offend anyone I am including all beliefs including

those who just don't know which way to VOTE!

Get out there and let us hear what you are thinking!

" daddysranger " <texasbluecoyote " just did! YOU CAN Too!

You do not have to agree with me! and in fact you probably don't!

After all there are at least 6 ways to disagree with me posted above!

But you have a voice! POST it here!

What do you think?

If you are going to post your opinion on this topic please let us

know your background first:

Are you a CPhT?

Are you currently studying to be a CPhT?

HOW are/did you preparing/studying to take the exam

What test will/did you take and why?

How old are you?

What state are you in and what are the laws/requirements to become a

tech in that state?

Are you currently working in a pharmacy? which type? how long?

What is your OPINION?

The above helps us to 'understand' what ever your opinion is and

perhaps how it was shaped and influenced.

Thank you for your time in reading this,

It started out as a reply to " daddysranger " , and then branched out to

call upon YOUR opinions as " daddysranger " posted his/hers.

Respectfully,

Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS

Founder/Owner

>

> now that a few days has passed since I took the exam, I can finally

> think rationally again.

>

> Jeanetta, you are probably right, during the exam seeing all the

> math, I guess my brain froze...

>

> I can't give you good examples of what was on the test because it

> stressed me and I can't remember....

>

> Mainly, my trouble was that given a word math problem I could not

> decide what formula to use to get the answer...

>

> proportions? ratios? dividing? multiplying?

>

> there were questions that I felt came out of the blue....on

> maintenance of equipment, blood pressures in reference to a

> particular script...

>

> Did I get a test that was half math? I think I did, but I can

finally

> realize that the problem was in the fact that I froze and became

> befuddled....

>

> The test covers such a wide range of topics because Pharmacy

> Technicians are used in so many different areas of the pharmacy

> field...if you have on-the-job training only in one aspect covered

by

> the test, the test would probably be difficult...

>

> One of the techs I work with took the test about two weeks before I

> did and he had about two years experience in retail pharmacy...He

> found the test difficult because his test had numerous questions

> about hospital termilogy and techniques....I did not have any

> questions on hospitals...

>

> I thought I was prepared when I went to take the test, I had taken

a

> class that said it was preparation for the test, I had worked part-

> time in retail pharmacy, I studied, took sample tests...yet I was

> devastated when I finished the test...

>

> Maybe for most of you that doesn't seem like much preparation or

> education, but as far as education goes in Texas, there is little

out

> there other than on-the-job training and that varies with the field

> you go into and each job setting...

>

> In the job that I did choose, the only math that we have ever used

> has been figuring out how many ml were required to fill a

> prescription or days supply....we don't make IV's, calculate drip

> flows, or even do compounding (the head pharmacist sends people

with

> those scripts to another pharmacy)

>

> I am not saying that these skills are not important, just that I

> didn't have enough background on them to really understand the

> calculations required by the word problems. I knew how to convert

> measurements but what to do with them once they were converted was

> the problem...

>

> After working in a pharmacy, I certainly agree with many of you in

> this group that there should be more formal learning available and

> required...but I am glad there are groups like yours where I hope

to

> finally grasp the math even if I never am required on the job to

use

> it.

>