Becoming a PTCB registered pharmacy technician isn’t as difficult as it might sound. You will need to ensure that you get registered before you get to practice. But then, getting registered isn’t that easy. There’s a lot that you need to do to ensure you meet the set requirements.
Understanding the path to become a PTCB registered professional can be challenging, especially if you are a beginner. But, you can use various online resources to learn the steps of growing your professional career and becoming a PTCB-registered pharmacy technician.
Let’s get started with it.
What Is a Certified Pharmacy Technician?
It will be vital to start by understanding what a pharmacy technician does. Before that, you will need to define who a certified pharmacy technician is. That will help you build up to the rest of this article and know what it takes to build a successful pharmacy technician career.
So, who is a certified pharmacy technician?
This is a healthcare professional who works with pharmacists to ensure patients get the right medication at the right dosage. A certified pharmacy technician can work in a wide range of settings. They can work in a nursing home or hospital, or run a retail pharmacy.
But, there’s a cycle that one must go through before they get recognized as a pharmacy technician. They need to learn to do an examination and get certified before being licensed. Remember, you can’t work as a certified pharmacy technician unless you’re licensed.
There are two institutions that you can consider when looking to get certified. You can, for instance, get certified by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB). Also, you can get certification from the National Healthcareer Association (NHA).
Taking the PTCB Practice Test
You will have to undertake an examination to get certified by these institutions. However, passing this examination might not be as easy as it might sound. You need to study carefully and get ready to answer questions correctly to ensure you meet the set threshold.
The best way to prepare for this examination, which can sometimes be daunting, is by doing a practice test. You need to know the potential questions that might be asked in the main examination. Thankfully, a free PTCB practice test can give you a feel for the main exam.
Once you have taken a PTCB practice test, it will be easier to handle the main exam. It will be easier to know the questions you will face. Practice PTCB tests are now vital in the learning process.
If you are wondering how to study for the PTCB exam, all you need to do is find the best pharm-tech certification practice test. The reality is that not all the practice PTCB tests will help you get the desired results. You might need to carefully choose the PTCB test that will best fit your needs and ensure you get ready for your exam.
What Does a Certified Pharmacy Technician Do?
It will be vital to start by understanding what a certified pharmacy technician does. A good background in the role will help you decide whether it is a field you’d like to enter. Also, you will get to understand your roles and responsibilities even before you get into the industry.
So, what does a certified pharmacy technician do? They can:
- Count pills and take measurements to ensure they are complete prescriptions.
- Keep the work area organized.
- Label and package prescriptions.
- Pick up calls from customers and even speak to them in person.
- Confirm patient information and process their medical insurance.
- Accept and process customer payments.
Those aren’t all the roles that a certified pharmacy technician can do. There are a lot more tasks that they can be assigned to do, but those are some of their main roles. Thus, you need to prepare well to do any of these tasks once you get certified and registered.
Also, the role of a certified pharmacy technician might change because of various factors. It can be because of the state they reside in or the work they might need to do behind the scenes. Also, working as one might open more doors to working in other medical fields.
How Do I Become Certified as a Pharmacy Technician?
You might wonder how the process of getting certified as a pharmacy technician works. But then the reality is that this process is simple and easy to understand. We have already talked a bit about what it takes to get licensed to work as a PTCB-registered pharmacy technician.
Taking the pharmacy technician certification exam (PTCE) would be an excellent idea. You can take the exam after undertaking an education program that the PTCB recognizes. Also, you can qualify if you amass a minimum of 500 working hours as a pharmacy technician.
There are some steps that you need to keep in mind when looking to get certified. You might not be able to work as a pharmacy technician if you miss a step in the certification process. It will, therefore, be vital to ensure that you do the following:
- Get your practice license depending on your state’s licensing requirements.
- Gain customer service experience by working as an associate or volunteer.
- Complete your associate’s degree.
- Find similar job titles.
Those are some of the steps that you need to follow to become certified. As you can see, the certified pharmacy technician career path isn’t that difficult. You only need to ensure that you stick to these tips. Getting experience will make it easier to transition to other career paths.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that a lot goes into developing a successful pharmacy technician career. If you are looking forward to becoming one, then you need to learn what it takes to get there. In this post, we have discussed a wide range of things that you need to know as a beginner.
Now you know the path to becoming registered by the PTCB as a pharmacy technician. You only need to start implementing the tips shared in this post in your career. A pharmacy technician course will help you get there, and a PTCB practice test will help you succeed.
