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How to Pass the PTCE (PTCB) in 90 Days or Less Without Stress

Written by Prof. Lorinda Lohner on March 18, 2020

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Here’s the truth…

Your chance of passing the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCB) decreases in 2020. Only 57% of test takers pass the PTCE. Why? Many test takers don't have formal pharmacy technician training; They don't know exactly what to study for; They do not know what resources to get or they do not have the proper guidance; Many do not have money to enroll in a $20,000 Pharmacy Technician program. That's not the end of the problem, it actually gets worse.

Before I continue, I need your attention, please. Get off of Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, or whatever social media platform you are in because if you're an aspiring pharmacy technician and are serious about passing the pharmacy technician certification exam the next 3 minutes minutes will change your life and will DEFINITELY help you pass the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam by the PTCB (Pharmacy Technician Certification Board).

Here's the real problem you're facing -- the rules have changed in January 2020. This came from the PTCB website:

A lot of things changed starting January 2020. PTCB changed CPhT Program eligibility requirements and test blueprint.

In the last 10 years, pass rates continued to decline and we can expect that these numbers will keep plummeting because of these changes.

Also, this year, the test blueprint changed to about 65% drugs and clinical application and 20% Math. With this, more test takers are expected to fail the test. Here’s another snapshot from the PTCB website:

In the new blueprint, medications will be about 40% of the test. Patient safety and quality assurance will be 26.25%. That’s a Pharmacology-heavy test! So, if you did not go to school or practice as a pharmacy technician, this will be a real problem. Also now, you will not be allowed to take the test without having gone to an accredited program.

So here's my promise to you: In the next couple of minutes, I will show you exactly how to become a certified pharmacy technician without having the test anxiety and being overwhelmed.

Also, if you read until the end, I will give you my book, “Top 200 Drugs: Memorizing Made Ridiculously Easy,” that helped hundreds of my students pass the PTCE and ExCPT and access to off-the-record tips on how to pass the PTCE or ExCPT.

Hi, my name is Lorraine Lohner and by now you're probably asking, who I am, why and how I can make these claims and promises to you.

I have been a pharmacist for over 20 years and have taught thousands of students nationwide and worldwide for over 10 years, as a professor. I have a record of 100% student pass rate on the PTCE. Here’s the official record from the PTCB of our 100% pass rate:

My students are scoring high in each of the major categories, each of the nine (9) knowledge domains. I run pharmacy classes every single day in a university, a state college, and a private medical school.

I have developed the mobile app, CPhT Prep, that helped lots of pharmacy technician students pass their national certification exam.

I have developed curricula for pharmacy technicians for a college, a private medical school, and the Nevada Department of Education for magnet and technical high schools that landed me a spot on the Vegas' Top 100 Women.

This year, I was honored and privileged to be recognized by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) and Elsevier, as Master Teacher.

Here are a couple my students:

On the top is Brittany, Melissa at the bottom. They became bestfriends and to this day, they work together in a specialty pharmacy.

Elisse doesn't have schizophrenia. She heard my voice in her head while taking the exam.

Alyssa messaged me, not too long ago, telling me how I changed her life. It’s nice to be remembered by students. My students are always grateful. Angie was one of my pharmacy technician students. She went back to Minnesota after finishing the program. She worked as a pharmacy technician and was later on required to take the test by her employer. Four years later, she still passed. She remembered a lot of things from class. What a retention?! Hye Min focused on studying from the lecture packets, handouts , and notes that I have given my students.

I will teach you what I taught all my students. I will teach you the three (3) secrets on how to pass the pharmacy technician certification exam without stress.

Secret #1: You can remember all the top 200 drugs.

You can remember all the Top 200 Drugs by grouping them, based on their use, the organ or system they affect, and by knowing the most commonly used prefixes, roots, or suffixes.

Secret # 2: You can solve math problems without memorizing a single formula.

Secret # 3: All the topics in the PTCE blueprint overlap and can be divided into just 4 major topics.

Let me tell you a little bit more about each secret I shared to my students....

Secret No. 1: You can remember all the top 200 drugs by grouping them based on their use, the organ or system they affect, the prefixes, roots or suffixes used on the generic names of drugs.

Most aspiring pharmacy technicians think that it is really difficult to remember all the drugs so they say, just memorize whatever you can. There is a way or a "hack" to remember all the 200 drugs. You can do this by grouping them based on their use, the organs or systems they affect, knowing the most commonly used prefixes, roots, and suffixes used in generic names of drugs. What do I mean by that? Here's an example: -afil, a common suffix for drugs like tadalafil and sildenafil. These drugs fall under the category PDE inhibitor or phosphodiesterase inhibitor. These are drugs that are used for erectile dysfunction or ED.

Another example is -sone, a suffix for a drug called fluticasone. Fluticasone is a corticosteroid. Corticosteroids are anti-inflammatory drugs so, it is safe to make the educated guess during a test that drugs that end in -sone (applies to generic names only) are steroids. Barbiturates, group of drugs used as anesthetics or anti-epileptics, have the root -barb. Examples of these drugs are: phenobarbital and secobarbital. The suffix -olol is used for beta blockers. Beta blockers are drugs used for hypertension. Another one would be -statin, atorvastatin and simvastatin are used to lower elevated cholesterol levels and these drugs are classified as antihyperlipidemics or HMG Co-enzyme A Reductace Inhibitor. Statins are used to lower elevated cholesterol levels in the blood. Are you learning some tricks here? Here’s a Top 200 Cheat Sheet I created for my students:

Secret No. 2: We can solve math problems without memorizing a single formula.

Solve math problems without memorizing a single formula, are you kidding me? Pharmacy technician students think it is really difficult to remember formulas and solve word problems. You can actually solve most math problems using ratio and proportion.

I remember when I was in pharmacy school, one of my professors told us that any problem in pharmacy can be solved using ratio and proportion. It’s been more than 20 years now and I still haven't proven her wrong. Here's an example of a prescription that calls for 25 mg diphenhydramine, which is a generic name of Benadryl. Benadryl is available in liquid form and comes in 12.5 mg per 5 ml strength. Without knowing any formula, and by setting it up using ratio and proportion:

You may set it up as 12.5 mg / 5 ml = 25 mg / X . Next, cross multiply 25 mg by 5 then divided by 12.5 mg. This should give you the answer, 10 ml. This means that you have to give or administer to the patient 10 ml of 12.5 mg/5ml strength diphenhydramine (Benadryl). This is the correct dose of the drug based on the given prescription. No formula to memorize, just ratio and proportion.

Secret No. 3: The nine (9) major topics in the PTCB exam blueprint overlap and can be divided into only four (4) major topics.

Yes, there are nine (90 knowledge domains in the PTCE blueprint before the changes happened but, the nine knowledge domains in the PTCE overlap and can be divided into 4 major topics only. What do I mean by that?

If you only master these four (4) major topics or subject matter:

- Top 200 Drugs

- Pharmacy Math

- Laws and Regulations

- Compounding, which includes both sterile and non sterile compounding

you have a really great chance of passing the PTCE. The Top 200 Drugs fall under pharmacology, which is not just simply memorizing the brand and generic names of drugs and their therapeutic classes. You have to know what each drug is for and important information about the drugs. But remember, there's a way to make remembering these drugs easily and you’re already one step ahead because I just taught you that!

Let me ask you a question, are you getting lots of “a-ha” moments here? I thought so!

I’ll sweeten it up for you even more, here’s a video recording of all the secrets I have just shared with you so, you can keep it handy.

If you like more of these tips and info, subscribe to the CPhT in 90 Blog and if you are ready to take things to the next level and tell yourself, “I will be a CPhT in 90 days or less,” go to CPhT in 90 Challenge . Let’s do this together.

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About CPhT in 90 Challenge

The CPhT in 90 Challenge is a call to aspiring and current pharmacy technicians to become nationally certified within 90 days. Is it possible? Yes, it is! I have hundreds of students who are now CPhT and have done it in 90 days or less.