Test de práctica PTCB
Las preguntas del test siguen en inglés.
Esta es una muestra gratis de 15 preguntas del PTCE, el examen que fija la Pharmacy Technician Certification Board de Estados Unidos, escrita por el equipo de StudyPDF. Sigue los cuatro dominios de conocimiento más o menos con el peso que les da el examen, así que medicamentos se lleva la mayor parte, seguido de seguridad del paciente y garantía de calidad, entrada y tramitación de órdenes, y requisitos federales. Mezcla preguntas de opción múltiple, de marcar todas las que correspondan y de completar huecos. Responde las 15 preguntas, después mira tu puntuación y lee la explicación de cada una.
Metoprolol belongs to which drug class?
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Las 15 preguntas de un vistazo
¿Prefieres leer antes de jugar? Abajo están todas las preguntas de la muestra. Las respuestas y explicaciones quedan plegadas hasta que las abras.
1. Metoprolol belongs to which drug class?
- A. ACE inhibitor
- B. Beta blocker
- C. Calcium channel blocker
- D. Thiazide diuretic
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: B. Beta blocker
The suffix olol marks a beta blocker, so metoprolol, atenolol and propranolol all sit in the same class. Beta blockers reduce the effect of adrenaline on the heart, which slows the rate and lowers the workload. Learning suffixes is the fastest way to handle class questions: pril is an ACE inhibitor, sartan is an angiotensin receptor blocker, dipine is a calcium channel blocker, statin lowers cholesterol and prazole is a proton pump inhibitor.
2. Which brand and generic pair is matched correctly?
- A. Zestril and lisinopril
- B. Zocor and atorvastatin
- C. Prilosec and ranitidine
- D. Glucotrol and metformin
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: A. Zestril and lisinopril
Zestril is a brand of lisinopril, an ACE inhibitor. The other three are scrambled: Zocor is simvastatin while atorvastatin is Lipitor, Prilosec is omeprazole while ranitidine was sold as Zantac, and Glucotrol is glipizide while metformin is Glucophage. Brand and generic pairs are worth drilling because a prescription can arrive written either way and the profile has to end up with the right molecule.
3. Which of the following are recognized look alike sound alike drug name pairs?
Marca todas las que correspondan.
- A. Hydralazine and hydroxyzine
- B. Aspirin and acetaminophen
- C. Clonidine and clonazepam
- D. Metformin and metronidazole
- E. Warfarin and heparin
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: A. Hydralazine and hydroxyzine, C. Clonidine and clonazepam, D. Metformin and metronidazole
Look alike sound alike pairs are names that are easy to confuse on a written order, a spoken phone order or a shelf. Hydralazine lowers blood pressure while hydroxyzine treats itching and anxiety, clonidine lowers blood pressure while clonazepam is a benzodiazepine, and metformin treats diabetes while metronidazole is an antibiotic, so mixing any of them up gives the patient the wrong therapy entirely. Aspirin and acetaminophen and the warfarin and heparin pair get confused for what they do, not for how the names look. The usual defenses are tall man lettering, which prints the differing letters in capitals, separating the products on the shelf, and checking the indication against the drug.
4. Complete the sentence.
USP defines controlled room temperature as _____ degrees Celsius and a refrigerator as _____ degrees Celsius.
Opciones para el hueco 1: 8 to 15, 15 to 20, 20 to 25, 25 to 30
Opciones para el hueco 2: negative 25 to negative 10, 0 to 2, 2 to 8, 8 to 15
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: 20 to 25, 2 to 8
These are USP storage definitions, so they are the same wherever you work: controlled room temperature is 20 to 25 degrees Celsius, a refrigerator is 2 to 8, and a freezer is negative 25 to negative 10. They matter because a product stored outside its range can lose potency without looking any different. Refrigerated items such as many vaccines and insulins also must not be allowed to freeze, which is why pharmacies log fridge temperatures rather than trusting the dial.
5. What is the difference between a manufacturer's expiration date and a beyond use date?
- A. They mean the same thing and the terms can be used interchangeably
- B. A beyond use date is always later than the expiration date
- C. An expiration date applies only to controlled substances
- D. An expiration date applies to the unopened original container, while a beyond use date applies once the product is opened, repackaged or compounded
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: D. An expiration date applies to the unopened original container, while a beyond use date applies once the product is opened, repackaged or compounded
The manufacturer tests the product in its own sealed container and prints an expiration date for that container. The moment a pharmacy opens it, repackages it into a vial, or compounds it into something else, that testing no longer describes what is in the new container, so the pharmacy assigns a beyond use date instead. A beyond use date is therefore never later than the expiration date, and it is often much sooner.
6. How many grams of active ingredient are in 250 mL of a 2 percent weight in volume solution?
- A. 0.5 grams
- B. 2 grams
- C. 5 grams
- D. 50 grams
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: C. 5 grams
Percent weight in volume always means grams per 100 mL, so 2 percent is 2 grams in every 100 mL. Set up the proportion 2 grams over 100 mL equals x over 250 mL, and x is 5 grams. Ratio strength works the same way from the other direction: 1:1000 weight in volume means 1 gram in 1000 mL, which is 1 mg per mL, or 0.1 percent. Getting comfortable converting between percent strength and ratio strength removes most of the difficulty from concentration questions.
7. Which of the following appears on the ISMP list of error prone abbreviations and should be written out in full instead?
- A. mL for milliliter
- B. mg for milligram
- C. U for units
- D. PO for by mouth
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: C. U for units
A handwritten U is easily read as a zero or a four, so 4U can become 40 and a tenfold error follows. Write out the word units. The same list flags QD and QOD, which get read as each other, trailing zeros such as 1.0 mg that can be read as 10 mg, and missing leading zeros such as .5 mg that can be read as 5 mg. The rule is a trailing zero never, a leading zero always.
8. Which of the following are recognized error prevention practices in the dispensing process?
Marca todas las que correspondan.
- A. Relying on the color and shape of the tablet alone to confirm the right drug was pulled
- B. Scanning the barcode on the stock bottle and matching it against the prescription record
- C. Shelving look alike products next to each other so they are quicker to find
- D. A second check of the filled prescription against the original order before it leaves the pharmacy
- E. Filing new prescriptions by prescriber name rather than by patient
- F. Counseling the patient at pickup so they can say whether the medication matches what they expect
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: B. Scanning the barcode on the stock bottle and matching it against the prescription record, D. A second check of the filled prescription against the original order before it leaves the pharmacy, F. Counseling the patient at pickup so they can say whether the medication matches what they expect
Good error prevention adds an independent check rather than a more careful look. Barcode scanning verifies the actual product instead of your reading of the label, a second check catches what the first person's eyes slid over, and the patient is the last check in the chain because they know what they were told to expect. Tablet appearance is unreliable because generics change appearance without warning, and deliberately shelving look alike products together makes the most common error easier rather than harder.
9. Complete the sentence.
USP chapter _____ sets the standards for nonsterile compounding, and USP chapter _____ sets the standards for sterile compounding.
Opciones para el hueco 1: 795, 797, 800, 825
Opciones para el hueco 2: 795, 797, 800, 825
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: 795, 797
Chapter 795 covers nonsterile preparations such as creams, ointments, capsules and oral suspensions. Chapter 797 covers sterile preparations such as intravenous admixtures, injections and ophthalmics, and it is the stricter of the two because a contaminated sterile product goes straight past the body's defenses. That is why 797 adds classified air, garbing and hand hygiene requirements, environmental monitoring, and beyond use dates tied to risk level. Chapter 800 is the related one for handling hazardous drugs safely.
10. A technician notices a filled prescription contains the wrong strength and catches it before the patient picks it up. What should happen next?
- A. Quietly correct the label and say nothing, since nobody was harmed
- B. Correct the prescription and report it through the pharmacy's error reporting process
- C. Report it only if the patient later complains
- D. Discard the prescription and start over without telling the pharmacist
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: B. Correct the prescription and report it through the pharmacy's error reporting process
An error caught before it reaches the patient is a near miss, and near misses are the most useful data a pharmacy has because they show a weak point in the process without anyone being hurt. Reporting is meant to be non punitive and to look for the cause, which is usually something in the system such as two strengths sitting side by side or an ambiguous entry screen, rather than one careless person. Fixing the label without reporting leaves the cause in place for the next prescription.
11. Under the federal Controlled Substances Act, which statement describes a Schedule I substance?
- A. It has no currently accepted medical use in the United States, so it cannot be prescribed
- B. It has the lowest abuse potential of any schedule
- C. It may be refilled up to five times within six months
- D. It can be dispensed without any DEA registration
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: A. It has no currently accepted medical use in the United States, so it cannot be prescribed
The five schedules sort substances by abuse potential and by whether there is an accepted medical use. Schedule I has no accepted medical use in the United States and is limited to research, so nothing in it is dispensed on a prescription. Schedule II has a high abuse potential with an accepted medical use, Schedules III through V descend from there, and refill rules tighten as the schedule number falls. Federal law is only the floor: states set their own controlled substance rules, and where a state rule is stricter, the state rule is the one you follow.
12. Complete the sentence.
A pharmacy orders Schedule II controlled substances using _____, and it reports a theft or significant loss of controlled substances on _____.
Opciones para el hueco 1: DEA Form 41, DEA Form 106, DEA Form 222 or its electronic equivalent through CSOS, DEA Form 224
Opciones para el hueco 2: DEA Form 41, DEA Form 106, DEA Form 222, DEA Form 224
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: DEA Form 222 or its electronic equivalent through CSOS, DEA Form 106
Schedule II drugs cannot simply be ordered on an invoice. They move on DEA Form 222, or through the Controlled Substance Ordering System, which is the paperless version of the same control. Form 106 reports theft or significant loss, Form 41 documents destruction of controlled substances, and Form 224 is the application a retail pharmacy files for its own DEA registration. Knowing which form does what is a common exam target because the numbers are easy to swap.
13. A prescription is written 1 gtt OU BID. What does that direct?
- A. One drop in both ears twice a day
- B. One tablet by mouth twice a day
- C. One drop in the right eye every other day
- D. One drop in both eyes twice a day
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: D. One drop in both eyes twice a day
gtt means drop, OU means both eyes, and BID means twice a day. The eye and ear abbreviations are the ones to get straight: OD is the right eye, OS is the left eye, OU is both eyes, and AD, AS and AU are the matching ear versions. Because those two sets are so easy to swap, ISMP recommends writing the site out in words, and many pharmacies now print right eye or left ear on the label rather than the abbreviation.
14. An order reads 10 mL of an oral solution by mouth twice a day, and the pharmacy dispenses a 300 mL bottle. What is the days supply?
- A. 10 days
- B. 15 days
- C. 20 days
- D. 30 days
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: B. 15 days
Work out the amount used per day first: 10 mL twice a day is 20 mL a day. Then divide the quantity dispensed by that daily amount, so 300 divided by 20 is 15 days. Days supply matters beyond the arithmetic because it drives refill timing and insurance adjudication, and an entry that is wrong here is one of the more common reasons a claim rejects as too soon or fills a patient short.
15. Which statements about a formulary and a therapeutic interchange are correct?
Marca todas las que correspondan.
- A. A formulary is the list of drugs a health plan or a hospital agrees to cover or keep in stock
- B. A therapeutic interchange and a generic substitution mean the same thing
- C. A drug that is not on the formulary can never be dispensed under any circumstances
- D. A therapeutic interchange swaps in a different drug from the same class that is expected to work similarly
- E. A therapeutic interchange needs an approved protocol or prescriber authorization, because the molecule itself changes
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta: A. A formulary is the list of drugs a health plan or a hospital agrees to cover or keep in stock, D. A therapeutic interchange swaps in a different drug from the same class that is expected to work similarly, E. A therapeutic interchange needs an approved protocol or prescriber authorization, because the molecule itself changes
A generic substitution swaps a brand for the same molecule, which is why it is routine and usually allowed by default. A therapeutic interchange swaps in a different molecule from the same class, so it is a clinical decision and needs either a prescriber's approval or a protocol the pharmacy and prescribers have agreed in advance. A formulary is just the covered or stocked list, and a nonformulary drug is normally still obtainable through a prior authorization or an exception process rather than being flatly forbidden.
Qué entra de verdad en el PTCE
El examen al que casi todo el mundo se refiere cuando dice PTCB es el PTCE, el Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam. La Pharmacy Technician Certification Board lo escribe, decide quién puede presentarse y concede la credencial CPhT a quien aprueba. El contenido se organiza en cuatro dominios de conocimiento: medicamentos, requisitos federales, seguridad del paciente y garantía de calidad, y entrada y tramitación de órdenes. Medicamentos es con diferencia el mayor, y seguridad del paciente y garantía de calidad es el siguiente, lo que te dice dónde deben ir tus horas de estudio.
Lo que falta a propósito en esta página: cuántas preguntas tiene el examen, cuánto tiempo tienes, cuánto cuesta y con qué nota se aprueba. Eso lo fija la PTCB y lo revisa. El manual del candidato en la propia web de la board es la única versión en la que merece la pena confiar, y el esquema de contenidos que hay ahí es el mapa contra el que deberías estudiar. Lo mismo vale para los requisitos de acceso. La PTCB ha cambiado sus vías más de una vez, así que mira las normas vigentes en vez de lo que dijo un mensaje de foro hace dos años.
Otra cosa más que hace tropezar a la gente. La certificación nacional y la autoridad estatal son cosas distintas. Si puedes trabajar como técnico, si tienes que registrarte o tener licencia, qué tareas te dejan hacer y cuánto de eso exige estar certificado lo fija tu state board of pharmacy, no la PTCB. Dos técnicos con la misma credencial pueden tener descripciones de puesto bastante distintas en dos estados distintos. Consulta el board de tu propio estado junto con el manual de la PTCB.
Cómo usar esta muestra
Las 15 preguntas de abajo tiran del razonamiento más que de la memoria. Preguntan por qué una beyond use date no es una fecha de caducidad, qué mide de verdad el porcentaje de concentración, qué abreviatura se lee mal y por qué, y qué separa un intercambio terapéutico de una sustitución por genérico. Esa es la parte que se traslada, porque un dato que entiendes sobrevive a una pregunta reformulada y uno memorizado a menudo no.
Haz las 15 de una sentada, con papel y boli para los cálculos y nada más. Después lee la explicación de cada pregunta, también de las que acertaste, porque acertar por suerte y saber son cosas distintas y solo la explicación te dice cuál de las dos pasó. Trata un fallo como un tema y no como un dato. Si se te cayó la pregunta de conservación y la de la beyond use date, el arreglo es una hora de conservación y estabilidad como una sola materia, no dos tarjetas.
Los cálculos merecen nota aparte. La mayoría de los técnicos que se atascan con ellos no son malos con la aritmética, es que se saltan el planteamiento. Escribe las unidades al lado de cada número, cancélalas y comprueba que lo que queda es la unidad que pedía la pregunta. El porcentaje peso en volumen siempre significa gramos por 100 mL, la concentración en razón siempre significa una parte entre tantas partes, los días de tratamiento siempre son la cantidad total dividida entre la cantidad usada al día, y la alligation no es más que un atajo para mezclar un stock fuerte con uno más flojo. Aprende los cuatro planteamientos y podrás hacer casi todo lo que pide el examen.
Una nota honesta sobre lo que es esto. El equipo de StudyPDF escribió cada pregunta y cada explicación a partir del esquema de contenidos publicado. Ninguna es una pregunta de examen real, ninguna se sacó de un banco de preguntas comercial y StudyPDF no está afiliada a la PTCB. Esto es práctica de examen, no orientación médica, y nada de aquí debería usarse para tomar una decisión sobre un paciente real.
Cómo StudyPDF crea tests completos con tu propio material
Quince preguntas te enseñan qué dominio flojea. Por sí solas no te preparan, y un banco genérico suele alejarse de lo que subraya el libro de preparación o el programa de formación que estás haciendo de verdad.
StudyPDF va por otro camino, parte de tu material. Subes tu libro de preparación de la PTCB, los dosieres de tu programa de formación, tu cuaderno de cálculos de farmacia o la lista de los 200 medicamentos más usados que te dio tu profesor, y Bo, el agente de estudio, crea tests de práctica completos con esas páginas exactas. Cada pregunta sale de tu material y cada explicación cita de dónde viene la respuesta, así que puedes ir directo a la fuente cuando una opción parezca discutible. Puedes generar tests nuevos tantas veces como quieras, centrarlos en un dominio como los cálculos de farmacia o las sustancias controladas, y seguir qué conceptos sigues fallando.
No hace falta ningún documento para empezar. Si no tienes nada que subir, di solo un tema, por ejemplo los sig codes y las abreviaturas o el cálculo de días de tratamiento, y Bo escribe un test de práctica sobre eso. Empezar es gratis.
Escrito por el equipo de StudyPDF. Actualizado el 2026-08-19.