What do I need to know about continuing education (CE)? – PTCB (Pharmacy Technician Certification Board)

CE ACTIVITY SUBJECT MATTER

All continuing education (CE) activities completed for PTCB recertification must contain subject matter listed within the Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination ® (PTCE ®) Content Outline.

REQUIRED CE HOURS

Within each 2-year CPhT recertification cycle, PTCB requires the completion of 1 hour in the subject of pharmacy law (‘03’ ACPE topic designator) and 1 hour in the subject of patient safety (‘05’ ACPE topic designator for patient safety).*
When applying for CPhT reinstatement, PTCB requires the completion of 2 hours in the subject of pharmacy law and 1 hour in the subject of patient safety, completed within the last recertification cycle and up until the date the reinstatement application is submitted.*

CE activities from non-ACPE-accredited providers will be accepted if PTCB determines that the activity contains subject matter listed within the PTCE Content Outline.

*CE hours must include Technician-specific (T-specific) subject matter, with the following exceptions:

CPhT renewal candidates may include a maximum of 5 pharmacist-specific (P-specific) hours from ACPE-accredited providers.
CPhT-Adv renewal candidates may submit 10 P-specific CE hours from ACPE-accredited providers.
CPhT+CSPT renewal candidates may submit 10 P-specific CE hours from ACPE-accredited providers.
CPhT-Adv+CSPT renewal candidates may submit 15 P-specific CE hours from ACPE-accredited providers.

CE ACTIVITY TYPES

Credit may be earned by attending seminars, workshops, conferences, or other educational programs that primarily contain subject matter contained within the PTCE Content Outline. These activities may include a live, web-based, or recorded presentation, teleconference, virtual meeting, panel discussion, or workshop.
No more than 10 hours of CE hours may be submitted by completing a relevant college course. The course must include at least 3 academic credit hours with a grade of “C” or better and the coursework must be relevant to the PTCE Content Outline.
Credit may be earned for unpaid participation in certain PTCB activities and functions that are essential to maintaining the Certification Program. The activities and functions that are eligible for CE hours and the number of CE hours that will be granted are at the discretion of the PTCB Certification Council.

CE COMPLETED FROM ACPE-ACCREDITED CE PROVIDERS

If you have completed CE activities from an ACPE-accredited CE provider, each CE activity will have an ACPE Universal Activity Number (UAN or ACPE Number):

Each UAN includes topic and target audience designators:

Pharmacy Technician-specific CE activities from ACPE-accredited CE providers have a ‘T’ target audience designator.
Patient safety-specific CE activities from ACPE-accredited CE providers will have a ‘05’ topic designator.
Pharmacy law-specific CE activities from ACPE-accredited CE providers will have a ‘03’ topic designator.
Compounding-specific CE activities from ACPE-accredited CE providers will have a ‘07’ topic designator.

CE COMPLETED FROM NON-ACPE-ACCREDITED CE PROVIDERS

CE activity will be accepted if PTCB determines that the activity contains subject matter listed within the PTCE Content Outline.
Pharmacy law CE activities from non-ACPE-accredited CE providers must address federal, state, or local laws and/or regulations affecting the practice of pharmacy.
Patient safety CE activities from non-ACPE-accredited CE providers must address “the prevention of healthcare errors, and the elimination or mitigation of patient injury caused by healthcare errors,” as defined in the ACPE Policy and Procedures Manual.

RECERTIFICATION CYCLES

All CE hours are required to be completed during each recertification cycle to maintain an active PTCB certification status.
A recertification cycle begins when certification is initially earned or when a renewal application is approved and ends on the certification expiration date, lasting approximately 2 years.
CE hours completed before the start of a recertification cycle cannot be applied toward future recertification cycles.
CE hours completed after the certification expiration date cannot be applied toward recertification.
During a single recertification cycle, an individual CE activity cannot be completed more than once to fulfill the necessary CE hour requirements. Any duplicate CEs completed during this recertification cycle will not be accepted for the next recertification cycle.

60-DAY REPORTING PERIOD FOR CE INFORMATION TO CPE MONITOR

ACPE-accredited CE providers have 60 days to report CE completion information to the NABP CPE Monitor.
PTCB verifies CE completion information within 60 days of the application submission date using CPE Monitor as the auditing tool. If CE information in CPE Monitor is found to be non-compliant with CE requirements, your application will be returned to you after the completion of the 60-day verification period.

ATTESTING TO CE COMPLETION

When applying for renewal, you must attest to completing all CE requirements within your recertification cycle and select the statement that confirms the source of the CE activities you have completed:

The above options are examples from the CPhT recertification application. For more information on CE requirements specific to your certification renewal, please refer to the chart at the top of this page.

If you select “I attest that: I have EARNED ALL continuing education (CE) from ACPE-accredited providers”:

PTCB will check the information in CPE Monitor to verify your completion of all CE hours within your last recertification cycle for a period of 60 days from the date of your application submission.

If you select “I attest that I have earned continuing education (CE) from ACPE-accredited providers AND/OR FROM non ACPE-accredited providers”:

PTCB will check the information in CPE Monitor to verify the completion of CE hours within your last recertification cycle 60 days after the date of your application submission and will review your manually entered CE information.

Note: PTCB CE hours must include Technician-specific (T-specific) subject matter, with the following exceptions:

CPhT credential holders may include a maximum of 5 pharmacist-specific (P-specific) hours from ACPE-accredited providers.
CPhT-Adv credential holders may submit 10 P-specific CE hours from ACPE-accredited providers.
CPhT+CSPT credential holders may submit 10 P-specific CE hours from ACPE-accredited providers.
CPhT-Adv+CSPT credential holders may submit 15 P-specific CE hours from ACPE-accredited providers.

If PTCB is not able to verify that your CE activities meet requirements, your application will be returned for non-compliance. Learn more.

CE ACTIVITY RECOMMENDATIONS

PTCB does not provide or recommend specific CE providers or activities.
View a list of example CE providers.
Find free CE activities in the CE Directory.