September 19, 2024

In 2024, PTCB conducted a comprehensive job analysis study to ensure that the Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) credential remains relevant and aligned with current pharmacy practice. This periodic study plays a critical role in guiding updates to the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam^® (PTCE^®) and refining PTCB’s requirements for the CPhT credential. The primary goal is to maintain a fair, valid, and job-related certification process that meets the evolving needs of the pharmacy profession and upholds high standards for pharmacy technicians. 

A panel consisting of 11 CPhTs and two pharmacists, representing a variety of pharmacy practice settings, served as subject matter experts (SMEs) throughout the process. The panel met twice in person (October 2023 and April 2024) and conducted work remotely as well. The panel’s main responsibilities included developing the content for national surveys of pharmacy technician practice, reviewing analyses of the survey data, and making recommendations to the PTCB Certification Council, an autonomous standing committee responsible for the establishment and administration of PTCB’s credentialing programs.  

The panel developed two surveys, one consisting of tasks performed by pharmacy technicians and the other focusing on knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) required to effectively perform the pharmacy technician job. Non-certified pharmacy technicians and all PTCB CPhTs nationwide were invited to participate. Due to the length of the surveys, participants were randomly assigned either the task or KSA survey. In total, 6,327 respondents completed the task survey, and 6,563 completed the KSA survey.

The PTCB Certification Council reviewed the panel’s recommendations in August 2024 and approved an updated PTCE Content Outline and CPhT Knowledge Reference for implementation in January 2026. Similar to the current PTCE Content Outline, the updated PTCE Content Outline will continue to focus on core KSAs applicable to both of the largest sectors of pharmacy: community/retail and hospital/health-system practice settings. The updated PTCE Content Outline retains the same four domains and total test length. A list of notable changes is provided below.

• Content pertaining to nonsterile compounding is removed, specifically, knowledge areas 1.9 and 4.1 of the current content outline as well as “alligations” from 4.2.
• Knowledge area 1.8, Narrow Therapeutic Index (NTI) medications, is removed. Information about NTI medications may still be covered in other areas, if relevant.
• A knowledge area pertaining to the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) is added.
• The content distribution across the four domains has changed, such that the percentage of content in the Medications and Patient Safety and Quality Assurance Domains is reduced, and the percentage of content in the Federal Requirements and Order Entry and Processing Domains is increased. 

The PTCE is anticipated to undergo these updates in January 2026.

 

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To obtain information, schedule an interview, or request a comment, contact mediarelations@ptcb.org.