PTCB Exam Study Guide 2019: Pharmacy Technician Certification

Since my original review, I have done 3 similar test prep books cover-to-cover and Passed My Exam! Important note: since they're changing the rules and maybe restructuring the exam in Jan. 2020, Get It Done in 2019 if you can. If you won't be ready for the exam until 2020, make sure you get a book geared to the new exam.This book: PTCB Exam Study Guide 2019, Wilson Test Prep. If you're starting from zero - no pharmacy experience, no prior interest in medical topics - this is the right book. It has the basics in just 178 pages and it won't blow you away with excessive depth. 2 practice tests x 90 questions each and they are reasonably faithful to what was on the real exam. But I don't know if I would have passed if this was the only book I used. But it was definitely the correct starting point for me. Bad: A lot of typos, mostly annoying and inconsequential. But they should have been caught and corrected. No index. And I wonder if the Top 200 Drugs appendix is outdated.Book #2: Test Prep Books "Pharmacy Technician Certification 2019 & 2020". The table of contents follows the current exams 9 topic areas outline so I'm not sure about 2020. There are no Practice Exams, only a dozen or so Practice Questions at the end of each topic area. 180 pages. No index. I picked up some new knowledge from this book but overall it wasn't worth it because of No Practice Exams. I guess it would have been an okay second choice for a beginner book.Book #3: Barron's PTCE Ph. Tech. Cert. Exam. Pretty good. 292 pages with Index. Solid PreTest at the start; skip it if you are coming in as a cold beginner. Pharmacology chapter is at about the right level but don't even try to learn every drug or the dosage strengths. Maybe skim it, then do the rest of the book (easier topics/shorter chapters) and then come back to Pharmacology. Practice questions at the end of each chapter on just that chapter's topic. Then two decent practice exams at the end. I think I could have passed the exam after doing the Barron's book but for the crazy expensive $130 testing fee + outrageous $30 for official practice exam, I needed to be more certain, therefore...Book #4 - Mosby's Review (Third Edition, but I see there's a Fourth now). Big fat 370 pages with index. Also, a pretest but if you're brand new, don't worry if you can't answer the questions. Table of Contents needs to be more detailed, especially the monster Chapter 1, Pharmacology. It's important but I couldn't learn more than about half of it. There's a trick to picking out what's essential and what you can ignore. And that goes for the later chapters, too. Like, don't try to memorize the full page of description of the 16 Sections in a Safety Data Sheet (which apparently officially changed name from Material Safety Data Sheet but only the Mosby book reflects that). Great end-of-chapter question sets, far more than the other books. SEVEN full 100-question practice exams at the end of the book plus TEN more 100-question practice exams online. (But I found several errors or disputable questions in the online exams, maybe as many as 5 out of 100 in some, and some that you just know would never in a million years be on the exam.) The included Errata was helpful in fixing all the errors in the book's practice tests. I think the Mosby questions might over-prepare you for the real exam. My score on the official $30 PTCE Practice was 91% but I only averaged 85% on the Mosby book practices. I found about forty or fifty other minor typos which they may or may not have corrected or rewritten in the new edition.ALSO, I got the laminated 6-page $7 foldout from QuickStudy by Sarah Liu. Good for a beginner and I'll keep it, even after I throw away all my index cards and books.BEWARE ON THE EXAM - I asked for real scratch paper and all they had were the flimsy slippery erasable plastic junk with the Pearson logo and a fine point marker. Terrible writing surface and not enough room - you have to erase, then erase the smudges, and reuse. Please, somebody, industry or government, it's time to knock Pearson down a few notches. For $130, I expect real paper and a paid proctor who can count out one, two, three sheets of paper and collect it and shred it when my 1 hour and 50 minutes is up. I think they're still using their old software engine to display the questions, too, in a slightly fuzzy serif font.

Pretty helpful so far. I have found a lot of typos and the math question about eye drops on page 72 is a train wreck. Good for a quick study before exam

I liked that information was easy to find. There is good detail in the Table of Contents. My confidence in this book was shot to hell with the disclaimer on the very first page. I went to the first practice test where 2 questions were repeated. I wouldn't recommend this book when there are other options out there.

Has really helped me through nurse tech classes, and I’m sure it will be of great help through Nursing school. Very easy to understand, would recommend for someone coming from 0 pharmacy background

Great detailed book

Starting a new career at this is a great learning aid for the courses that I need complete my certification excellent book

bought for my grand daughter. She says that it is full of useful information. exactly what she wanted.

To study for pharmacy technician test grest book