Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) Unveils New Testing Features For 2009

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 28 Jan 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) - the pioneer in the certification of pharmacy technicians - announced today that on April 1, 2009, the PTCB Examination will be available in continuous testing format at Pearson Professional Centers nationwide. PTCB also announced that exam candidates will receive an official pass or fail result at the test center after the completion of the exam, effective immediately.

The PTCB certification program is the only certification endorsed by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) and other professional pharmacy organizations. The PTCB examination is administered in all 50 states, DANTES testing centers worldwide, and in Guam and Puerto Rico, and is included in the regulations of 30 states. The transition to on-demand, year round exam availability is designed to meet increasing demand from educators, employers and pharmacy technicians. PTCB candidate demographics and numbers have expanded steadily over PTCB's 14 years as the industry leader in certifying pharmacy technicians. In 2008, PTCB tested over 50,000 pharmacy technicians and has certified 330,425 CPhTs since inception in 1995, through the examination and transfer process.

"As industry demand continues to grow and more states like Texas require pharmacy technicians to be PTCB certified as part of the registration process, we recognized the need to evolve our program," said Melissa Murer Corrigan, RPh, Executive Director and CEO of PTCB. "Similar to NAPLEX (the pharmacist licensure exam),pharmacy technicianssoon will be able to take the test on-demand and learn their pass/fail status immediately. These new features will support patient safety and enhance customer service."

The current quarterly administration of the PTCB examination will conclude on March 31, 2009. Eligible exam candidates applying after April 1, 2009 will be authorized to test immediately, and may schedule an exam appointment in the 90 days following approval. Candidates will continue to schedule examination appointments at any of the over 200 Pearson Professional Centers nationwide and internationally at DANTES testing centers in the continuous testing format.

The PTCB national Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination (PTCE) certification program is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA).

About the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB)

PTCB was established in January 1995 and is governed by five pharmacy organizations - the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists (ICHP), the Michigan Pharmacists Association (MPA) and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). The goal of the PTCB national certification program is to enable pharmacy technicians to work more effectively with pharmacists to offer safe and effective patient care and service. PTCB contracts with Pearson VUE, the industry's technology leader, as its computer-based testing vendor. PTCB draws upon the experience and expertise of its 14-year partner, Professional Examination Service (PES) for test development.

Pharmacy Technician Certification Board

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