Pharmacy Technicians Must Participate in One Hour of Patient Safety Continuing Education for PTCB Recertification

As one of several planned changes to the certification program, the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) has announced that certified pharmacy technicians are now required to complete one hour of continuing education (CE) in patient safety. This requirement is in addition to the already required hour of law CE, which must be part of the 20 hours of CE required for recertification. Other planned changes to the certification program include American Society of Health-System Pharmacists-accredited education requirements for certification by 2020, and additional changes in acceptable CE programs for recertification, including requiring all 20 CE hours to be pharmacy technician-specific in 2015, indicates a press release from PTCB. The changes are the result of a PTCB initiative that began with a 2011 summit on future directions for pharmacy technicians.