Course Conventions and Content

the coming ten years. This is a great sign that you will be able to secure a job fairly quickly upon certification.

The employment outlook for pharmacy technicians in particular is expected to develop rather quickly. This is because the use of medications is rising across the board. Also, the number of middle aged and elderly people is increasing. People in these age groups tend to use more healthcare services, including, of course, pharmacies.

With suitable experience and training, you can expect to get promoted from pharmacy technician to other supervisory roles if, of course, that is in your plans. You may also seek specialization in different areas like informatics or sterile compounding. Or you can simply continue your studies and eventually become a pharmacist.

To become a pharmacy technician, the first step is to earn the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, or PTCB degree. Here's where the PTCE comes in; you must pass the test to continue along the road to certification. Upon passing the PTCE and attaining certification, you can continue to support your pharmacy team as an even more valuable asset.

The PTCE exam is a computer based test that includes ninety multiple choice questions. These questions can either be stand alone or based on scenarios. You have two hours to complete the test. The exam helps confirm that you have all the skills necessary to become a certified pharmacy technician.

In just a bit, I will provide you with an overview of what I will cover in this course. But before I do that, I want to let you know what to expect as you go through this audio course material. I would also like to thank you again for taking an interest in the PTCE course.

Now, if you are ready, let's get started.

COURSE CONVENTIONS AND CONTENT

Welcome to the section on course conventions and content. When I say course conventions, I mean the methods and concepts that I will use to convey the course material to you.

This PTCE course has been divided into chapters. Some of these chapters are divided into smaller sections. Whenever I switch to a new chapter, I will tell you about what we will cover. I will also let you know when I begin a new section of material.

During the course, you will get small quizzes near the end of every chapter. The material for these quizzes along with answer explanations will be in the Follow Along PDF Manual. I will tell you more about that in just a little while. What you will do is to take a quiz and check your answers against the answer key. This will help you to understand how well you are retaining the information from this course. Your performance can also help to direct your studies and preparation.

If you do not wish to check your answers yourself, don't worry. Near the end of every chapter, I will go over the correct answers and explanations for the quiz. So, you can pause the audio when I ask you to take a quiz, then resume it and listen as I provide the questions, correct answers, and explanations. One final option: listen to the quiz and answer the questions directly from the audio. This is a bit more challenging because you will hear the questions and answer choices only once. Of course you can pause and replay the audio, but you may find this a bit cumbersome. Regardless of the method you choose, take the quizzes seriously. They are a great supplementary learning tool along with the lectures. As, I mentioned, quizzes are normally found near the end of every chapter and will be comprised of ten questions.

To help improve your retention of the course material, I will provide a list of takeaways. They are the important points from each chapter that you must absolutely remember. You'll hear your list of takeaways at the very end of a chapter.

I mentioned a Follow Along PDF Manual a few minutes ago. This manual is our signature supplemental study guide, included with every AudioLearn test preparation course. Print out the manual or read it in its digital format. Do what works best for you, but, by all means, use it.

In the Follow Along PDF Manual are summaries of important material, the chapter quizzes, and the final exam. Yes, you'll have a final exam at the end of the course. We have made it as close as possible to mimic the PTCE. That way, you can be prepared for the real thing. Our final exam will also help you to gauge your progress after completing

this course. If you decide to print out the manual, use it to jot down any additional comments or information. This is another great study tool.

Many people need constant repetition to learn effectively. Therefore, you may find me repeating several concepts and terms. Please remember that this repetition is not because I do not have enough knowledge to share. I am just trying to help you retain what you get from this course. The more you hear something, the more likely you'll learn and retain it.

While I am on the subject of repetition, I also recommend that you listen to every chapter at least twice, even more. Each chapter is loaded with a lot of information, techniques, terminologies, and facts. For some people, it might be difficult to digest so much knowledge in one go. The more you listen to the course lectures, the more you'll get from them.

To make the retention process easier, you can also consider taking notes. You will get more out of some of the chapters if you listen to them while following along in the PDF manual. Now, I know you may not always be someplace where you can do this practically and safely. Try to come back to the manual at a more suitable time. Remember you can still extract useful information by simply hearing what I am explaining to you. But make it a point to listen to the entire course at least once with the Follow Along PDF Manual close at hand.

Right now, I will tell you about the way this course is structured. Remember, it is just a brief overview to make you understand what you can expect. I hope what you are about to hear motivates you to get right into the course. I hope it inspires you to pursue the career of a certified pharmacy technician.

My lectures will begin as I provide you with the basic profile of a pharmacy technician. I will tell you about the primary role, duties, and responsibilities; I will also touch upon the skills that you'll need to assume such a role.

From there, I will explain the procedure for applying to take the PTCE exam. Some areas that I will discuss are the eligibility criteria and how to register for the test. I will explain how to prepare for it and the rules and regulations in effect at the test centers.

Once your application to sit for the written exam gets accepted, what should you do next? Remember, the written exam is only the first step in the hiring process. If you do not pass the test, your path to becoming a pharmacy technician ends. So, I will provide full guidance on how to best succeed on the test.

Next, I will discuss the written exam in detail. This is where you will encounter most of the pharmacy related material and quizzes. After a brief introductory overview regarding the structure of the test, I will talk about general test taking. How can you answer multiple choice questions most effectively? What good study habits can you follow? What else can you do to increase your chances of success? I will go through it all.

As I discuss specific topics, I will be talking about various aspects of the PTCE exam in each chapter.

First, you will hear about the classification of medications. I will tell you about brand names and generic names of some of the most important medicines. This type of information may appear on your test. Additionally, I will present material on the idea of therapeutic equivalence.

Next, I will talk about some common and extremely dangerous drug interactions and various contraindications. I will also tell you about doses, dose forms, strengths, special handling, and routes of administration.

After that, I will talk about some common side effects present in most drugs. You will hear about allergies and how they form. I will also tell you about drug stability and what factors can affect it.

As we move forward, I will introduce some narrow therapeutic index medications to you. I will also talk about chemical and physical incompatibilities of various drugs. I will let you know about the optimal conditions in which to store medicines so they don't lose their efficacy.

I will disclose federal requirements for the handling of hazardous and nonhazardous drugs and waste materials. We will further explore dealing with controlled substances and their

DEA schedules. I will talk about their receipt, storage, ordering, labeling, dispensing, reverse distribution, "take back" programs, and loss.

Next, I will cover high risk medications along with sound alike and look alike medicines. I will also discuss error prevention strategies such as "Tall Man" lettering and bar code use.

Then I will focus on patient safety by discussing event reporting procedures. Some examples are root cause analysis, MedWatch, and medication errors. You will learn different types of prescription errors and the different standards of hygiene that you must follow at work.

From there, I will talk about compound non sterile products and their methods of preparation.

And lastly, you will hear about some miscellaneous topics. For example:

• How to receive drugs;

• How to make returns when a product arrives damaged;

• How to deal with expired medications;

• And much more.

The course will end with a summary of all the steps you need to follow once you pass the PTCE exam. When you receive your exam results, what must you do next to become a pharmacy technician? Finally, you'll have a chance to take the final exam to put everything you've learned into one neat package. Discover how much you retained from the lectures. Plan future study and preparation based on how you score on our test.

By now, you must have realized that there is a lot to cover. But don't worry. To make things go smoothly, choose a pace that you can handle comfortably. Don't try to take in too much at once. Listen to the lectures as much as you can. Retake the quizzes again and again, especially if you get any questions wrong.

Remember, the primary aim of your taking this course is to prepare for the PTCE. If you follow along and pay close attention, you'll be in a good position to succeed on the exam. The more you know the relevant material, the more well prepared you will be.