The parts of the exam that are rules rather than drug names
The five DEA schedules with examples, the refill and transfer rules (including the C-V rule most study material gets wrong), the four DEA forms, inventory requirements and pseudoephedrine limits.
The PTCE's four domains and exact weights under Content Outline v1.4 (effective January 2026): Medications 35%, Patient Safety and QA 23.75%, Order Entry and Processing 22.50%, Federal Requirements 18.75% — plus what the 2026 outline removed: nonsterile compounding, alligation and the NTI knowledge area.
The DEA number format, what each prefix letter means, and the check-digit arithmetic worked step by step — plus how a DEA number differs from an NPI.
What a controlled prescription must contain to be valid, how each schedule may originate, the federal transfer warning verbatim, separate CII recordkeeping, and exempt narcotics.
What happens to a controlled substance from order to destruction: which DEA form does which job, receiving and storage rules, PDMPs, take-back and loss reporting.
USP <800> and the NIOSH hazardous-drug definition, the three HD types, routes of exposure, safety data sheets and what a technician is actually required to do.
What a REMS is and what it requires of the pharmacy, the iPLEDGE isotretinoin program, medication guides, and the federal pseudoephedrine purchase limits.
The three FDA recall classes with the distinction the exam tests, who initiates a recall, and the steps a pharmacy technician actually performs when one lands.
The Drug Supply Chain Security Act in the form the exam asks about: trading partners, transaction statements, 2D barcodes, and 503A versus 503B compounding.
Every sig code the PTCB exam expects, grouped by frequency, route, dosage form and measurement, plus the ISMP error-prone abbreviations you will be marked wrong for writing, and the prefixes, suffixes and roots behind the words.
How to calculate days supply, worked for the dosage forms that actually catch people out — eye drops, insulin and inhalers — plus the rounding rule and the dimensional-analysis setup that stops the error before the arithmetic.
The NDC number's 5-4-2 structure and the 11-digit billing conversion, what a lot number is for, and the distinction the exam actually tests: an expiration date is not a beyond-use date.
The one anchor that makes concentration questions quick (1% = 10 mg/mL), plus ratio strength, mg%, parts per million, specific gravity, milliequivalents and the dilution equation worked so you answer the question actually asked.
Every conversion the PTCB exam relies on, the four measurement systems and where each still appears, roman numerals and ss on prescriptions, military time, and the fraction, decimal and ratio work the calculation questions sit on.
The equipment a technician is expected to recognise: syringe types and when each is used, vials versus ampules and why an ampule needs a filter, IV delivery sets, diabetic and inhalation devices, and the DME distinction.
What can go back and what cannot: returns to the wholesaler, reverse distribution of expired and non-dispensable stock, RCRA hazardous pharmaceutical waste, investigational drugs, and how sharps and devices are handled.