Health ProfessionsTest + Skills

Pharmacy Science

A 50-question pharmacy technician test weighted toward disorders and treatments, then skills such as DEA number verification, drawing from a vial, compounding a suspension and aseptic garbing for the top scorers.

The AI judge does not score skill stations. Use the practice test for Round One.

About this event

Pharmacy Science is a solo two-round event for the Secondary and Postsecondary/Collegiate divisions, sponsored by ASHP. Round One is a 50-question multiple-choice test in 60 minutes with a provided calculator, written from ASHP's Manual for Pharmacy Technicians and Understanding Pharmacology for Pharmacy Technicians plus the drugs.com prescription abbreviations page. Disorders and treatments make up 46 percent of the test; the rest covers law, ethics and safety, terminology and abbreviations, dosage forms and routes, compounding, concentrations and dilutions, and pharmacy history and settings. Leading zeros are required and trailing zeros forbidden in any numeric answer. The reference list changed this year: two older texts were retired and the ASHP titles added. Top scorers advance to Round Two, a secret scenario drawn from seven skills: identifying 15 pharmacy instruments (15 minutes, possibly given with the test), verifying a controlled-substance prescription and its DEA number with the five-step check (6), withdrawing liquid from a vial in a laminar airflow hood (15), compounding an oral suspension from a master formula sheet (15), screening a patient for pharmacist consultation using five memorized questions (4), filling a prescription with a counting tray (5), and aseptic garbing, hand washing and gloving (10). Bring shoe covers, hair and beard covers, mask, non-shedding gown, eye protection, sterile gloves and an ink pen. A 70 percent skill score (excluding the test and equipment ID) is required to place; test and skill scores are added and ties go to the higher test score.

Test day

What to expect

Round One test, then skill stations

Round One is a 50-question test in 60 minutes; the top scorers advance to Round Two, the skill stations. Official format: 50-question test, 60 minutes, then Round Two skill scenarios of 4 to 15 minutes each for top scorers.

Written from the test plan

Questions follow the event's published test plan, section by section, and are written from the listed reference texts. Practice questions here are drawn in the same proportions.

How you advance

How many advance from regionals to states and on to the International Leadership Conference (ILC) depends on your association's rules. Study the official test plan: it lists each section and its share of the test.

What judges score

Skill I: Identifying Instrument/Equipment, name and purpose of 15 items (15 minutes)Skill II: Verifying the Content of a Controlled Substance Prescription and DEA Number (6 minutes)Skill III: Withdrawing Liquid from a Vial (15 minutes)Skill IV: Compounding an Oral Suspension (15 minutes)Skill V: Patient Screening for Pharmacist Consultation and Services (4 minutes)Skill VI: Filling a Prescription (5 minutes)Skill VII: Aseptic Garbing, Hand Washing and Gloving (10 minutes)

What's on the test

Pharmacy Practice History and Practice Settings · 4%Pharmacy Law and Ethics and Safety and Infection Control · 10%Pharmacy Terminology and Abbreviations · 10%Dosage Formulations and Administration Routes · 10%Sterile and Non-Sterile Compounding · 10%Concentration and Dilutions · 10%Disorders and Treatments · 46%

Study resources

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