"I perform face-to-face patient interviews daily. I hear and transcribe medication histories to verify that patients are taking medications correctly. By doing this accurately and thoroughly, I help reassure our patients that they’re receiving excellent care. And they feel more comfortable coming into the hospital. Medication safety is at the forefront of every pharmacy department. With PTCB’s Medication History Certificate, technicians will advance safety in this specialized area. Earning this certificate adds to the confidence level of technicians and their supervising pharmacists. Supervisors have certainty that their technicians possess the required knowledge and abilities for this role if they have completed the PTCB Certificate Program.”

Lakeisha Mayo, CPhT, Specialist Certified Pharmacy Technician, Cone Memorial Hospital, Greensboro, NC

“The scope of pharmacy technician responsibilities continues to expand. This provides great opportunities for technicians to function at a higher level of practice. Earning additional pharmacy technician credentials, such as the Medication History Assessment-Based Certificate, is a way for me to advance professionally and build my career. The advanced level of knowledge demonstrated in specific areas with the certificates serves to enhance our overall team’s focus on patient safety. Advanced technician credentials help remove barriers that exist to technician advancement in pharmacy practice by assessing our knowledge and experience, plus we gain recognition from our peers.”

Miranda Peek, CPhT, Clinical Manager, Technician/Support Staff, Hospital Pharmacy, Gundersen Health System

“The more opportunities we give our technicians to advance the better chance we have to retain motivated and dedicated technicians in our city. We prepare approximately 500+ sterile preparations each day. Therefore, we seek to find tools that will advance our technicians’ knowledge and skill set in sterile preparations. After some research, we found that CSPT is an excellent tool to accomplish these goals. Not only does CSPT push our techs to study and become more knowledgeable about sterile preparations but it also has shown to be an important tool in advancing our technician roles in the department. ”

Andreece Gandy, PharmD, MBA, Pharmacy Operations Manager, Baptist Memorial Hospital, Memphis, TN

"PTCB's new Assessment-Based Certificate Programs and CPhT-Adv credential will provide exciting opportunities for pharmacy technicians as we continue to expand our critical roles on the healthcare team. Medication safety will be improved across pharmacy: The CPhT-Adv designation will be earned by the most dedicated, specialized and competent pharmacy technicians serving in a wide variety of practice settings. PTCB has long been the most recognized and respected provider of pharmacy technician certification so pharmacy employers can be confident that a PTCB-Certified technician has met the highest standards and is practicing at the top of the profession."

Angela Faszczewski, CPhT, Ehardt's Pharmacy and Medical Supply, Patient Care Services Coordinator, Croswell, MI

“Every day, our CSPTs use what they learned studying for the CSPT. They must perform conversions quickly, review labels and compounding instructions, assess patient history sheets for allergies, and know to thoroughly clean the hood if making something for a patient who has, say, a penicillin allergy. These are just a very few examples. Knowing USP and environmental regulations is crucial in home infusion, and ensuring the individuals working inside clean rooms are well trained is essential to achieving safety for both employees and patients.”

Glen J. Gard, CPhT, CSPT, Pharmacy Compliance Manager, Option Care, Bannockburn, IL

“I worked with a technician who confused Diflucan and Diprivan for a hip replacement post op med order. This led to a sentinel event due to the resulting death of the patient. The technician was not certified. I believe a certified technician has the demonstrable knowledge of drug classifications that would have prevented this error from occurring. By having advanced certificates in specific areas of technician practice, PTCB is helping to create national levels of competency in these emerging specialties. By setting the standard, medication safety is inherently elevated for all settings.”

Mark Brunton, MSHE, CPhT, Northwest Career College, Las Vegas, NV

"One of my greatest challenges was a humanitarian mission deployment overseas. As a CPhT onboard a ship, I was the authority on ensuring over 10,000 medications were properly prepacked for our missions in Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines. Once in country, I was tasked with designing and setting up an operational pharmacy out of a small classroom. I used translators to counsel patients on proper administration of medications, some of whom had never taken western medications before. Being a CPhT in the military means I am always a Corpsman first. While in Vietnam, I was the Lead Corpsman for two CB units and rendered first aid to four sailors and one child."

Gregory Gonzales, HM3, CPhT, Corpsman/Pharmacy Tech, Naval Hospital Lemoore, US Navy

“As a PTCB CPhT, I created and established patient care services for our new specialty pharmacy service lines of Rheumatology and Multiple Sclerosis. This was the greatest, most rewarding challenge I’d faced as a CPhT. As a patient advocate and liaison, I concentrated on the development of processes/protocols to ensure that each patient’s needs were met safely and promptly. Within 9 months, our 5-year business model had been exceeded, and I was elected to serve on the Specialty Pharmacy Steering Committee, the newly created governing body to direct future growth and quality assurance."

Ashley Ackerman, CPhT, Center Operations Director, Concentra Fern Valley Urgent Care, Lexington, KY