The following sample questions are illustrative of those found in the Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination.

1. A prescription order for an antibiotic preparation includes the directions, "ii gtt AU q.i.d." What auxiliary label should be affixed to the prescription order container?

• 1. Take With Meals.
  2. For the Eye.
  3. For Rectal Use.
  4. For the Ear.

2. To dispense an order calling for: prednisone 5 mg, one t.i.d. X 3 days; one b.i.d. X 3 days; one q.d. X 3 days, the total medication needed is:

• 1. 15 tablets.
  2. 18 tablets.
  3. 21 tablets.
  4. 24 tablets.

3. An example of a major drug-drug interaction would be:

• 1. warfarin-aspirin.
  2. digoxin-diltiazem.
  3. penicillin-cephalexin.
  4. hydrocodone-codeine.

4. A physician orders 125 mg/5 mL Dilantin suspension to replace an order reading, "Dilantin 100 mg, Dispense: #30, Sig: i t.i.d." What quantity of suspension should be dispensed?

• 1. 100 mL
  2. 120 mL
  3. 300 mL
  4. 360 mL

5. Heparin 25,000 U in 250 mL D5W is running through an administration set delivering 60 drops/mL. The flow rate required to deliver a heparin dose of 15 U/min is:

• 1. 0.9 drops/min
  2. 54.0 drops/min
  3. 9.0 drops/min
  4. 90.0 drops/min

6. A common name for an inventory process that relies on pharmacy staff to write down items to be reordered is:

• 1. a formulary system.
  2. a want list.
  3. bar-coding.
  4. bulk storage.

7. Hospitals or managed health-care organizations list drugs that have been approved for use on the basis of therapeutic and economic considerations. What is the common name of such a list of drugs?

• 1. Therapeutic compendium.
  2. Controlled drug compendium.
  3. Investigational drug list.
  4. Formulary.

8. The appearance of crystals in mannitol injection would indicate that the product:

• 1. was exposed to excessive cold.
  2. has settled during shipping.
  3. contains impurities and should be returned.
  4. was formulated using sterile saline.

9. A device that detects the signals and controls the flow of information between two computers communicating via a telephone line is the:

• 1. monitor.
  2. modem.
  3. optical scanner.
  4. archive.

10. Upon receipt of a phone call regarding accidental poison ingestion, the pharmacy technician may do all of the following except:

• 1. recommend contacting the emergency room.
  2. ask the pharmacist to handle the call.
  3. recommend contacting the regional/local poison control center.
  4. recommend induction of vomiting.
• 
  
  Answers:

• Question Number	Answer
  1.	4
  2.	2
  3.	1
  4.	2
  5.	3
  6.	2
  7.	4
  8.	1
  9.	2
  10.	4

• Taken from the PTCB Candidate Handbook