The Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada

Providing Excellence in Certification for the Pharmacy Profession

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The Pharmacy Technician Qualifying Examination Home Page

The next Pharmacy Technician Qualifying Examination Part I MCQ will be held August 28, 2010 and Part II OSPE will be held August 29, 2010. The deadline for applications is June 4, 2010.

Applicants may choose to apply for one or both Parts of the Qualifying Examination in a given session

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PEBC has prepared a tutorial with a series of short videos to assist candidates to become familiar with the OSPE process and to demonstrate different types of OSPE tasks or stations. The stations selected for the OSPE represent a variety of encounters and tasks that are quite familiar to pharmacy technicians who have basic practice experience. After completing this tutorial candidates will be more prepared for and comfortable with the OSPE process.

Each task or station is designed to test candidates’ abilities to handle various scenarios as they would in a pharmacy practice setting. There are different kinds of OSPE stations, including:

1. Interactions with “standardized patients” (SPs) or “standardized clients” (SCs) who simulate short scenarios that you may encounter at work.

2. “Technical tasks” such as preparing a simple compounded product.

3. “Quiet tasks” such as checking the accuracy and quality of products dispensed or compounded by someone else.

4. “Observation and evaluation” of a video-recorded performance of someone preparing a sterile or non-sterile compound, or other technical task.

Video recordings of two interactive stations and one observation station may be viewed by clicking on the links below. The station documents may be read and/or printed from the corresponding links. The station documents show how the SP or SC will present the scenario and interact with candidates in a standardized manner, as well as how the candidate will be marked by the assessor who is observing and evaluating the candidate’s communication skills and other competencies demonstrated in the station.

Video Station 1    Travellers’ Diarrhea (updated)  (Interaction with an SP)

Station Document (click here)    Station Video (click here)

Video Station 2    Confidential Information Request  (Interaction with an SC)

Station Document (click here)  Station Video (click here)

Video Station 3    Preparation for Sterile Compounding  (Non-interactive)

Station Document (click here)  Station Video (click here)

The Station 3 document has an Observation Checklist that the candidate fills in while viewing a video showing another technician preparing to begin a sterile compounding task. The completed checklist is the candidate’s “answer sheet”, which would be marked and scored if it were part of an examination. To practice doing this, print the checklist, read the instructions and fill it in as you watch the video performance.

For more information about the PEBC Pharmacy Technician Qualifying Examination, please review the Examination Information Booklet (click here).