Study Tools for Pharmacy Techs

Pharmacy technicians work in hospitals and drug stores. The technician receives and prepares prescriptions for patients, takes inventory, stocks medication, handles patient paperwork and prepares insurance claims. Pharmacy technicians typically must pass a Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE) to find employment. There are several study tools prospective pharmacy technicians can use to prepare for this exam.

Flash Cards

• Pharmacy technicians deal with many medical terms in addition to a number of drugs. Flash cards provide you with small bits of information for memorization. The flash cards are particularly useful when learning typical dosages, medical terminology and what drugs treat what illnesses. Flash cards can be provided with a text book, or you can write out your own. You can also use a free online program such as Flash Card Generator to create the cards you need to study.

Quizzes and Games

• Quizzes give you the opportunity to check your knowledge on small bits of the material. Practicing working questions often helps puts the material in perspective. The more you practice, the better you will be at working through the answers. Another set of tools comes in the form of games. Whether learning vocabulary words by playing hangman or practicing matching terms, games make the process more interactive. This helps keep your mind looking at the subject from different angles.

Exam Prep Books

• Exam preparation books take you through all the topics covered in the pharmacy technician exam. The books break everything down in easily digestible categories. The organization of these prep books is meant to help your brain find commonalities in the information and ease your recall when you take the test. These books also provide reasons and rationales for information to deepen your understanding.

Practice Exam

• A practice exam is a way to judge where you are in the learning process. A practice exam is typically divided into sections and timed the same way the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE). The score is a fairly accurate representation of what you can expect to get on the actual exam if you were to take it the same day. If your score comes in lower than expected, you know you have more studying to do. Your scores allow you to see in which areas you are lacking so you can rework your focus to cover those topics.