Certification Exam Review for Pharmacy Technicians, Third Edition

This exceptional textbook provides students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and confidence to pass a national certification exam. This third edition is fully aligned with the new PCTB exam domains.

Students using the textbook and Study Partner CD will:

• Learn about pharmacy laws and regulations
• Strengthen pharmacy calculation skills with a new practice test
• Understand sterile and nonsterile compounding regulations and procedures
• Review and expand knowledge of the commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals
• Understand infection control and requirements for handling disposal of pharmaceutical and hazardous wastes
• Know up-to-date information on billing, reimbursement, and healthcare reform
• Gain essential knowledge of professional standards, electronic medical records, e-prescribing, new technologies, and information management
• Learn about pharmacy ordering and receiving, management of outdated and recalled pharmaceuticals, and quality-assurance procedures in pharmacy settings
• Review medication errors and gain prevention strategies

Each textbook includes a Study Partner CD!

The Study Partner CD supports student learning with:

• A Pretest that assesses students’ strengths and identifies areas for further study
• Practice Exams that feature more than 1,000 exam-style questions, enabling students to generate a nearly unlimited number of unique, randomized 90-question exams in Practice and Reported modes
• Flashcards that help students memorize the top 200 generic and brand name drugs
• A link to the Internet Resource Center that provides in-depth reference information and additional resources

Practice Tests

Practice tests provide students with an opportunity to gauge their knowledge, identify areas for additional study, and hone their test-taking skills. This edition includes more than 1,000 exam-style questions, including:

• A 90-question pretest at the end of Chapter 1 that allows students to assess current knowledge and identify areas for additional study
• NEW! A 50-question calculations test that includes problems on weights and measures, dosage, dilution, alligation, mark-up, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) verification, and more
• NEW! A 25-question pharmacology test that covers brand and generic drugs, adverse reactions and drug interactions, auxiliary labeling, over-the-counter medications, and dietary supplements

Chapter Features

• Learning Objectives establish clear goals for students as they begin their chapter study, helping them focus on the information that is most critical to their success.
• Tables highlight important information related to the chapter topics and serve as a study aid.
• Figures provide students with additional detail and visual reinforcement of chapter topics.
• Skills Quiz questions at the end of every chapter focus student review on key concepts included in the exam.
• Thinking Beyond the Exam scenario-based questions challenge students to think critically about the role of the pharmacy technician in real-world environments.

Chapter 1: The Importance of Certification and Taking a High-Stakes Test.
Chapter 2: Pharmacy Calculations.
Chapter 3: Pharmacology for Technicians.
Chapter 4: Pharmacy Law and Regulation.
Chapter 5: Sterile and Non-Sterile Compounding.
Chapter 6: Medication Safety.
Chapter 7: Pharmacy Quality Assurance.
Chapter 8: Medication Order and Entry Process.
Chapter 9: Pharmacy Inventory Management.
Chapter 10: Pharmacy Billing and Reimbursement.
Chapter 11: Pharmacy Information System Usage and Application.
Appendix A: Practice Tests
Appendix B: Top Prescribed Drugs Answer Keys Index

Cheryl Aiken, BS, PharmD, RPh, is a staff Pharmacist at the Brattleboro Retreat Pharmacy in Brattleboro, Vermont. Besides working in the psychiatric pharmacy field, she has worked in retail, chain, and privately owned pharmacies as well as serving as a staff pharmacist at the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, a local acute care hospital. In 2002, she helped establish the Vermont Technical Colleges Associate Degree and Certificate Pharmacy Technician Training program.

Robert J. Anderson, PharmD, is a professor emeritus at the Southern School of Pharmacy at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia, with more than 30 years of experience in academia and practice. Dr. Anderson has been a clinical pharmacy specialist at Kaiser Permanente, Southeast Region, in Atlanta. He is also a part-time community pharmacist in both independent and chain community pharmacies.