After completing your formal education, your opportunities for further education do not cease. People who work in the field of pharmacy technology are engaged in an ongoing process of acquiring new knowledge and enhancing their existing skill set.
Pharmacy technicians are required to maintain their certification through the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (also known as PTCB) or the National Healthcareer Association (also known as NHA) by earning Continuing Education (CE) credits every two years. This requirement is mandated by the majority of state boards of pharmacy in the United States). In this article, we will discuss PTCB CE requirements.
What is Continuing Education?
Continued pharmacy education is defined as “a structured educational activity planned or intended to assist the continuing growth of pharmacists and/or pharmacy specialists to preserve and increase their proficiency,” as stated by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Continuing pharmacy education (CPE) should encourage critical and imaginative thinking, as well as problem-solving, and it ought to be relevant to the ethical practice of pharmacies.
Continuing Education (CE) Documentation
PTCB certificants are liable for maintaining their personal documentation of the total number of hours of continuing education they have received throughout each renewal period. Additionally, they are required to keep these documents for at least 1 year after the certifying cycle has concluded. The submission of either a grade report or a transcript to verify attendance in a college class is considered to be acceptable proof. PTCB certificants are chosen at random for an assessment of their continuing education (CE), and the board has the right to conduct an audit of a certificant’s qualification for renewal at any time.
PTCB CE Requirements
CPhT Certificants are expected to complete a minimum of 20 hours of continuing education (CE) each time they go through the recertification process every two years. This CE must comprise content that is stated within the PTCB’s Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE) Content Outline. Recertification candidates are required to spend 1 hour of the required 20 hours on the subject of pharmacy law and 1 hour on the subject of patient safety (for a definition of patient safety, candidates should refer to the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Policy and Procedures Manual).
In order to be eligible for readmission, applicants must complete 20 hours of continuing education with a minimum of two of those hours devoted to the study of pharmacy legislation and one hour devoted to the study of patient safety. The successful completion of a relevant college course that is equivalent to 3 academic credit hours and earning a grade of “C” or above counts for a maximum of 10 of the required 20 continuing education hours.
The PTCE Content Outline stipulates that any related courses must include the topics and concepts that are outlined in that document.
No. | Requirements |
---|---|
1 | Must complete 20 hours of continuing education every 2 years |
2 | Must include at least one hour of pharmacy law |
3 | Max 15 hours of relevant college courses will be accepted |
4 | Max 10 hours in-service continuing education allowed |
5 | All course work must have pharmacy technician subject matter |
Approved Activities for PTCB CE Requirements
Conferences, Seminars, Workshops, and other Events
Attendance in conferences, workshops, seminars, or other educational programs that cover subjects specified within the PTCB Certification Program’s Exam Content Outline is eligible for credit and may be gained by the student. These events could take the form of a live, web-based, or videotaped lecture; a webinar; a virtual conference; a roundtable discussion or training; or all of these things together.
College Courses
The successful completion of a relevant college course that is equivalent to 3 academic credit hours with a grade of “C” or above will award the student a maximum of 10 hours toward their degree. Relevant courses must cover topics that are included in the PTCB Certification Program’s Exam Content Outline in order to be considered acceptable.
Service to PTCB
Participation in unpaid PTCB events and duties that are necessary to the upkeep of the Certification Program might earn participants a credit toward their certification requirements. The PTCB Certification Council has the authority to determine both the kinds of pursuits and operations that qualify for continuing education credit and the total number of hours of CE that will be awarded.
Administers of Pharmacy Technician CE
Pharmacy technicians have a wide variety of options to choose from when it comes to extending their education. However, before you sign up for the class, you need to ensure that it has been approved by the PTCB, the NHA, or the Board of Pharmacy in your state. This research has to be done before you enroll in the class. As long as the curriculum is relevant to the job that pharmacy technicians do, the majority of national and state pharmacy and pharmacy technician organizations provide training programs that are acknowledged and approved by the main certifying bodies. The following is a list of institutions that are typical of those who give credit for continuing education:
- FreeCE.com
- Pharmacist.com
- National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA)
The PTCB will accept continuing education programs that are presented by companies that have been granted accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) provides a system that may assist pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in keeping track of the continuous continuing education credits they are required to complete in order to maintain their licenses. Since the beginning of the year 2013, the NCPA has mandated that all pharmacists and CPhTs must register with the CPE Monitor Service via the NABP in order for their continuing education to be monitored.
PTCB CE requirements are the first and foremost thing you should keep in mind to maintain your PTCB certification. We hope that this article can be beneficial for you!
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