Guest guest Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Dear , If your state accepts both/either PTCB or ExCPT exams it should not matter which one you take as they are deemed equivalent in a court of law over two years ago. HOWEVER that being said a hospital has the right to require either or ONE of the two exams if the state accepts both. I am not personally able to answer your question regarding your state because the state of Florida has recently changed its laws regarding technicians (last year) and I do not know the current trends as a result of the changes. So if anyone out there does know the trend in the state of Florida please let us know. As for most states that accept either, I would say that the hospitals have had more requirements before the states have accepted both to require PTCB only because it has been around longer....so habit prevails. For example: The state of CA is looking at accepting both ExCPT and PTCB. Currently is has accepted PTCB or graduation of a pharm tech program as its requirements for tech registration. IF CA suddenly adds ExCPT as an alternative to the PTCB exam hospital employers that have been requiring CPhT via PTCB may either go the way of the state change OR continue to require only PTCB. Please note everyone this is not a change in CA and may or may not change. Simply an example of what may happen since CA is considering the ExCPT exam. I would put money on the hospitals in CA continuing with PTCB and gradually accepting both in about 5 yrs from the time of any changes in CA state law to accept either. ExCPT is the newer of the two exams and has continually had to 'prove' itself. In retail I think you will find if the state accepts either, that you will see retail accepting either within 2 - 5yrs. ExCPT has its historical roots in retail/community pharmacy. However the courts have deemed that it is equivalent to PTCB exam in its content. I do not know what books you are studying from so I can not say what would be better than the books you are currently using. May I suggest the following books: " Complete Math Review for the Pharm Tech by A.Hopkins,Jr. " Complete Review for the Pharm Tech " by L.Micheal Posey for your math study IF you are having difficulty. Please take a look at the/my book recommendations and my comments in the Files section. I think it is Folder # 2. But if not just scroll through the titles of the Folders and you will find one that says Study Books Study Guides or something like that. Hope this helps, Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS Founder/Owner of this site > > Which is the better choice? I work in a hospital setting and for a retailer pharmacy at the corporate level. My question is do all hospitals in FL recognize the excpt, it is cheaper seems to focus on the material I am most familiar with. > > Also I am currently studying 3 nights a week for the exam from several different books. Is there a better book to study? > > Finally I am not the greatest in math what do you recommend to buff up more on the calculation part? > > Thanks for all of your help. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Florida Board of Pharmacy does not accept either now. You must complete a training program to be registered (this changed 1/1/11). If you are already registered, then you only need certification if the employer requests it. At our hospital, if you are in a lower level tech position, you do not need certification, however, if you want an advanced position, in the past PTCB has been required. I am not sure if our administration has ever looked at the ExCPT. Joy PharmD Gainesville, FL > > > > Which is the better choice? I work in a hospital setting and for a retailer pharmacy at the corporate level. My question is do all hospitals in FL recognize the excpt, it is cheaper seems to focus on the material I am most familiar with. > > > > Also I am currently studying 3 nights a week for the exam from several different books. Is there a better book to study? > > > > Finally I am not the greatest in math what do you recommend to buff up more on the calculation part? > > > > Thanks for all of your help. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2011 Report Share Posted January 9, 2011 Thank you Joy Pharm D, site resident pharmacist! I really thought Fl had now required in addition to the training PTCB. So I am wrong about that?! Interesting! Secondly is the training an on the job training only or is it a formal classroom with mock labs or is it a formal classroom with mock labs PLUS and externship? OR is it a combination of these or some other description? Thank you for your time and expertise! Looking forward to your ansswers, Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS Founder/Owner > > > > > > Which is the better choice? I work in a hospital setting and for a retailer pharmacy at the corporate level. My question is do all hospitals in FL recognize the excpt, it is cheaper seems to focus on the material I am most familiar with. > > > > > > Also I am currently studying 3 nights a week for the exam from several different books. Is there a better book to study? > > > > > > Finally I am not the greatest in math what do you recommend to buff up more on the calculation part? > > > > > > Thanks for all of your help. > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 The Pharmacy Technician training program can be either an ASHP accredited program, one registered under Florida Board of Education (so those at colleges or high schools), military training OR employer sponsored training approved by the board. I think they should have stopped after the first 3 but the pressure from some businesses was too great. The fourth option is only 160 hours and can be whatever combination the employer feels is important. They didn't really give many guidelines. The board was much more concerned we have a certificate to give at the end and how many questions we were going to ask than what the actual content is. I wrote the application package for my employer and our program got approved in December. We are now trying to put meat in the classroom sessions but that part of it will only be about 20 hours taught by multiple pharmacists and technicians, the other approx 140 hours will just be hands on training in the location where they will be working. Once we give them the certificate of completion, they can apply to be registered with the state. I am giving a final exam at the end (100 questions) that they must pass but our sister hospital is not. They will be doing small quizzes after each of their topics. Their program had no pharmacology in it and still got passed! I think the board is more concerned about law content and reducing med errors but they don't realize that the more techs know about pharmacology, the better the second set of eyes will be to catch errors. We will be hiring them as Pharmacy Technician Trainees and they will have 3 months to complete the 160 hours and the test. They will have 3 tries to pass the test. If they cannot complete the program, they will have 30 days to transfer to another area of the hospital before termination. If they pass, they will get a raise and be a Pharmacy Technician Level 1 and I can't remember if after an additional 3 or 6 months, graduate to Level 2 with another raise. Typically most of our technicians are Level 2 and to get a Level 3 job they must be cross trained in multiple areas, be certified and apply for an open position (which there are very few and tend to have a much lower turn-over rate). The other option for advancement would be to apply for a tech coordinator job. This is a large teaching hospital environment with lots of different areas both inpatient and outpatient. (About 200 employees in our dept, over half would be tech level positions). In 2009/2010, technicians could register with the state with either 1500 hours under a pharmacist OR training OR certification. The hours and certification are now gone and only training remains as the way to register as a tech in the state of FL. This will make it very difficult for techs trying to move to FL from other states. Joy > > Thank you Joy Pharm D, site resident pharmacist! > I really thought Fl had now required in addition to the training PTCB. So I am wrong about that?! Interesting! > > Secondly is the training an on the job training only or is it a formal classroom with mock labs or is it a formal classroom with mock labs PLUS and externship? OR is it a combination of these or some other description? > > Thank you for your time and expertise! > > Looking forward to your ansswers, > > Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS > Founder/Owner > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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