Customer Reviews

Mosby's Review for the PTCB Certification Examination, 1e (Mosby's Review Series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

While the basic information in the book is helpful and quite comprehensive for the space allotted, there were two main problems I can find which make this a less than desirable text to use.

1). The organization used in the pharmacology section was cramped and helter-skelter. If you went back and tried to find SSRI's, for example, good luck. There was no clear definition between sections of classifications of drugs - they were just sort of lumped together.

2). The biggest problem is the abundance of typographical errors. There was contradictory information (eg: a class a balance has a minimum accuracy at 6mg...then, a few dozen pages later it says it is accurate at 120mg.....then a few dozen pages after that it is explained that there are several types of class A balances with different accuracy ranges). Forget about scoring yourself on the practice tests.....answers are coded improperly (you selected B, the answer guide says C is correct but the explanation clearly indicates that B is the right choice). Well, if you only double check the answers you got wrong and found these errors, how do you know if you actually got all of the other ones correct without verifying all of them (there are apprx. 1200 questions in the book - pay me and I'll edit the answers). There were even questions asked in the practice tests that did not match the answers given at all (which drug would you use to treat chronic pain? the choices were all hypertension drugs). There was also a question on a practice test that in no way, shape or form matched these answer - it was an entirely different question.

There is enough aggravation associated with taking a major exam without having to get aggravated by the practice tests - and pay $36.00 for the privilege.

The editors of this book deserve to be slapped.

As a pharmacy technician myself, I found this text to be very helpful as a review guide for people interested in taking the PTCB examination. It is very detail oriented and explains each section of the exam so the person can understand. It has many practice exams which is very helpful, and explains the rationale for the answers. In my opinion, this would be an excellent study aid for anyone planning to take the PTCB exam.

I have been involved with Pharmacy for over 20 years and teach a pharmacy tech program here in the California area.
First, after teaching for 12 years, I have NEVER encountered a book without typos. Unfortunate? Sure, but it is the way it is.
This is the BEST book to review for the PTCE. Period. My key word here is REVIEW. This is NOT a book to get a beginner started.
Many of my students who used this book reported similar and identical questions ON the PTCE.
I own six PTCE review books. This, by far, is the best and is strongly suggested for each of my students.
This should NOT be the ONLY source of study for the PTCE.
People who wait until last minute and cram for the PTCE and then write negative things about review books have noone else to blame but themselves.
As I said, ALL books have errors. Does this book have an average amount? No. Probably about 5% above average and could and should have been proof-read better. But I won't let that pull me back from the 5-star rating. This book is worth every penny.
The CD-ROM exams (same as those printed in the book) are an excellent way to prepare for the exam. Use them on tutorial mode initialy as the answers are explained well.

Good luck to all of you & do yourself a favor & get this book.

This book, by Mosby's, by far is the best,most comprehensive PTCB review book out available now. The CD-ROM is the best resource provided in this book and is worth every dime. It runs well on a Macintosh and that is impressive!! Although the CD-ROM is not perfect, it provides you with important study questions for the test and the interactive drug flash/note cards.

My only gripe about the CD-ROM is that the drug flash/ note cards aren't printable!! Was this a deliberate attempt by Mosby's or a mere oversight?!

For a person who is already in cram condition to study for the lengthy certified PTCB, it is essential to be able to print the cards to study for important study guides. Think about all the time you could save if you could let your laser printer print the cards instead of tediously hand-copying them to note cards. This is 2007, and you know it can be done!! Deliberate or not, this is a HUGE oversight and one that should be corrected in the next edition. If anyone has figured out a way to print them for personal study purposes, please let me know!!

The pharmacy tech information is relatively recent. Without a doubt, this book gets you the most bang for your bucks. Highly recommended by The Review Zone.com

I studied about 6 hours the day before the pharm. tech. exam and I passed the examination. The practice problems helped alot. I found some errors in the book though... some answers to questions were misnumbered. Other than that, good book!

While this book is very helpful with reviewing basic facts for the PCTB test, it shouldn't be your only resource. A comprehensive pharmacy course or another book (Mosby's Pharmacy Technician Principles & Practice, for example)should be used as primary teaching tools. Once you have been instructed in the basics, Mosby's Review is helpful in succinctly summarizing many important concepts. Beware: both Mosby's books have more than a few printing errors in their practice exams.

The book and the CD are FULL of errors. It's certainly helpful to be able to take the interactive tests on CD but beware! The results can easily lead you astray if you don't already know the material. Questions are poorly worded and many answers are just flat out wrong. This book is marketed as a "REVIEW". If you don't already know the material, this book WON'T teach it. You'll need other sources for learning.

This book is OKAY. The practice questions are good, but it isn't very thorough on actually teaching. If you only need practice problems then this is a good book, but if you don't know the information and need to be taught don't buy this book. If you need to learn the information I'd buy two books written by Mark Johnston which are The Exam Review and Pharmacy Calculations. They actually teach step by step. There also were several erros in this book. They did a very poor job of proof reading. There are tons of spelling errors. Also, there is several places where there is wrong information. For example in in the list of the most common drugs it states the wrong generic names for the some of the drugs, but when you get to the practice questions it has them correct. I passed the test, but I would credit it to the other books that I used. I only used this one for the practice questions.

It definitely has just about everything you need to know for the PTCB Test. I Really liked how it came with a cd-rom so i could just study on the computer too.

First off, I passed the exam from studying this book. It certainly prepared me far beyond what the test required, so that's good. It also has a list of vitamins, drugs (by generic and brand), and a list of suffixes relevant to the type of treatment a drug is for.

Only problem is the organization of this book. It's unorganized. The topics are all over the place and many things are repeated over and over again. Very distracting and confusing in plenty of places, so watch out!

Get this book if you want something cheap and gives a good summary of what the exam expects. Oh ya, the CD is definitely the most valuable part of this book. The flashcard are great and the practice exam gives a pretty good feel of what the real exam looks like.