Pharmacy Technician Prometric exam questions

The Pharmacy Technician exam in every GCC country

From each regulator's own exam pages; anything a regulator does not publish says so. Assessment mode also depends on your licence title, so confirm your route on your eligibility notice.

12 worked Pharmacy Technician practice questions

Original exam-style questions from the bank, spread across the blueprint domains. They are not real or recalled exam questions. Try each one, then open the answer for the rationale and reference. None of them appear in the free mock exam, so reading them will not spoil it.

1. Question 1 · Pharmaceutical Calculations and Dosage Computation

   Sodium chloride has a molecular weight of 58.5 and a valence of 1, so 1 g provides approximately 17.1 mEq. How many milliequivalents of sodium are contained in 1 litre of 0.9% sodium chloride injection?

   1. A77 mEq
   2. B115 mEq
   3. C154 mEq
   4. D308 mEq
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: C. 154 mEq

   A 0.9% w/v solution contains 9 g of NaCl per litre, and 9 g x 17.1 mEq/g = 154 mEq of sodium (and 154 mEq of chloride). The 308 figure is the total osmolarity in mOsm/L counting both ions, 77 mEq corresponds to half-normal saline, and 115 mEq matches no standard concentration.

   Reference: Ansel's Pharmaceutical Calculations, 15th edition (2017), electrolyte solutions; USP monograph for Sodium Chloride Injection

2. Question 2 · Pharmacology and Drug Classifications for Technicians

   A drug with a half-life of 12 hours is started at a fixed maintenance dose every 12 hours with no loading dose. Approximately how long will it take to reach steady-state plasma concentration?

   1. AAbout 12 hours
   2. BAbout 24 hours
   3. CAbout 2.5 days
   4. DAbout 10 days
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: C. About 2.5 days

   Steady state is reached after approximately four to five half-lives of regular dosing, which for a 12-hour half-life is roughly 48 to 60 hours, or about 2.5 days. One or two half-lives (12 to 24 hours) reaches only about 50 to 75 percent of steady state. Ten days is far beyond five half-lives for this drug; a loading dose, not extra time, is the usual way to reach target concentration faster.

   Reference: Rowland and Tozer, Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics, 5th edition, 2019

3. Question 3 · Top Medications, Brand-Generic Recognition and Therapeutic Equivalence

   A patient returns from abroad with a foreign-labelled box of an antihypertensive that is not on the national registered drug list and asks the pharmacy to dispense refills of the same product. What is the most appropriate technician action?

   1. AEnter the foreign product into the dispensing system and order it from the usual wholesaler
   2. BExplain that the product is not registered locally, refer the patient to the pharmacist, and document the request so a registered equivalent or a named-patient import pathway can be considered
   3. CDispense a locally registered drug of the same class at an equivalent dose to keep the patient covered
   4. DAdvise the patient to order more of the same product from an overseas online pharmacy
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: B. Explain that the product is not registered locally, refer the patient to the pharmacist, and document the request so a registered equivalent or a named-patient import pathway can be considered

   An unregistered, foreign-labelled product cannot simply be entered and ordered through normal supply channels, and only the pharmacist, working with the prescriber, can evaluate a registered equivalent or initiate a named-patient import request; documenting the request maintains the audit trail. Selecting a different agent is a therapeutic substitution beyond technician scope, and directing a patient to overseas online purchasing exposes them to falsified medicines and breaches importation rules.

   Reference: UAE MOHAP and DHA community pharmacy standards on unregistered medicines, 2023; WHO Good Pharmacy Practice

4. Question 4 · Pharmacy Law, Regulation and Controlled Substances (GCC and International)

   Which entry practice in a bound narcotic register is consistent with regulatory expectations?

   1. AAn incorrect entry struck through with a single line, corrected alongside, dated and signed, leaving the original legible
   2. BEntries made in pencil so that arithmetic errors can be corrected cleanly
   3. CAn incorrect entry obliterated with correction fluid and rewritten above it
   4. DLoose-leaf pages inserted and replaced as needed to keep the register tidy
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: A. An incorrect entry struck through with a single line, corrected alongside, dated and signed, leaving the original legible

   Controlled drug registers are legal documents requiring indelible, chronological entries; corrections are made by a single strike-through that leaves the original readable, with the correction dated and signed. Pencil entries, correction fluid and replaceable loose-leaf pages all destroy the audit trail and are unacceptable to inspectors.

   Reference: UAE MOHAP Narcotic and Controlled Medicines Guidelines (2022); Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 record-keeping provisions

5. Question 5 · Non-Sterile Compounding and Extemporaneous Preparation

   A technician is preparing suppositories using cocoa butter (theobroma oil) by the fusion method. Which precaution is most important during melting?

   1. AHeat rapidly to 60 C to ensure the base is fully liquefied and sterile
   2. BMelt gently on a warm water bath to about 34-35 C so that the base only just liquefies
   3. CAdd 10% purified water to lower the melting point before heating
   4. DFreeze the base at -20 C before melting to improve the final hardness
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: B. Melt gently on a warm water bath to about 34-35 C so that the base only just liquefies

   Cocoa butter is polymorphic; overheating destroys the stable beta crystal form and on cooling it sets in unstable alpha or gamma forms with a much lower melting point, so the suppositories fail to solidify properly. Gentle melting on a warm water bath to about 34-35 C, leaving some unmelted fragments to seed crystallisation, preserves the stable form. Adding water is not part of the technique and freezing beforehand does not correct polymorphism.

   Reference: Allen LV, Ansel's Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery Systems, 11th ed., Wolters Kluwer, 2018; Remington: The Science and Practice of Pharmacy, 23rd ed., Elsevier, 2020

6. Question 6 · Hospital and Institutional Pharmacy Practice, Automation and Informatics

   For each investigational medicinal product, the drug accountability log must allow reconciliation of which of the following?

   1. AOnly the quantities dispensed to subjects
   2. BOnly the quantities received from the sponsor and destroyed at the site
   3. CQuantities received, dispensed to each subject, returned by subjects, and quantities remaining or destroyed, per lot
   4. DThe wholesale acquisition cost and the reimbursement received for each dose
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: C. Quantities received, dispensed to each subject, returned by subjects, and quantities remaining or destroyed, per lot

   Good Clinical Practice requires full drug accountability: every unit received from the sponsor must be traceable through dispensing to named subjects, subject returns, remaining stock and final disposition or destruction, with lot numbers and expiry recorded. Partial records cannot support reconciliation at monitoring visits, and financial data are not part of drug accountability.

   Reference: ICH E6(R2) Good Clinical Practice Guideline (2016), section 4.6; ASHP Guidelines for the Management of Investigational Drug Products

7. Question 7 · Dosage Forms, Formulation Science and Drug Delivery Devices

   A hospital technician repackages tablets from a manufacturer's bulk bottle, expiry December 2029, into unit-dose blisters in September 2026. Which beyond-use date is appropriate for the repackaged units?

   1. AOne year from the date of repackaging or the manufacturer's remaining expiry date, whichever is earlier, provided the packaging and storage requirements are met
   2. BDecember 2029, because the tablets are unchanged
   3. CTwenty-eight days from repackaging, as for a multi-dose eye drop
   4. DSix hours from repackaging, as for a low-risk sterile preparation
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: A. One year from the date of repackaging or the manufacturer's remaining expiry date, whichever is earlier, provided the packaging and storage requirements are met

   Removing a solid oral dosage form from its original container exposes it to a new package with different moisture and light barriers, so USP limits repackaged non-sterile solid oral doses to a maximum of one year from repackaging, or the remaining manufacturer expiry if that is sooner. Carrying the original expiry across ignores the new container, while the 28-day and 6-hour limits belong to in-use multi-dose ophthalmics and sterile compounding respectively.

   Reference: USP General Chapter <1178> Good Repackaging Practices; USP General Chapter <795> Pharmaceutical Compounding - Nonsterile Preparations, 2023

8. Question 8 · Prescription Processing, Order Entry, Interpretation and Dispensing

   A faxed order reads "Warfarin .5 mg PO QD". The technician is asked to explain the two distinct ISMP-recognised hazards in this order. Which pair of hazards is correct?

   1. AA naked decimal point that may cause a tenfold overdose, and QD which may be misread as QID or QOD
   2. BA trailing zero that may cause a tenfold overdose, and PO which may be misread as per os
   3. CAn abbreviation for a high-alert drug, and the absence of an indication
   4. DThe use of milligrams instead of micrograms, and the absence of a stop date
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: A. A naked decimal point that may cause a tenfold overdose, and QD which may be misread as QID or QOD

   A "naked" decimal point without a leading zero (.5 mg) is easily missed, causing a tenfold overdose of 5 mg, and "QD" can be misread as QID (four times daily) or QOD (every other day). There is no trailing zero in this order, PO is an acceptable abbreviation, and the units used are appropriate for warfarin.

   Reference: ISMP List of Error-Prone Abbreviations, Symbols and Dose Designations (updated 2021); Joint Commission Official 'Do Not Use' List (2023)

9. Question 9 · Patient Safety, Professionalism, Ethics, Infection Control and Scope of Practice

   A pharmacy discovers that a patient was dispensed the wrong strength of a medicine two days ago. The pharmacist informs the patient of the error, explains the possible effects and arranges follow-up, even though the patient had not noticed anything. Which ethical principle is most directly demonstrated?

   1. AVeracity
   2. BJustice
   3. CAutonomy
   4. DConfidentiality
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: A. Veracity

   Veracity is the duty of truthfulness, which underpins open disclosure of errors to patients even when disclosure is uncomfortable or the harm is not yet apparent. Justice concerns the fair distribution of resources and treatment, autonomy concerns respecting a competent patient's own decisions, and confidentiality concerns protecting information rather than disclosing an error.

   Reference: Beauchamp and Childress, Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 8th edition (2019); WHO Patient Safety Curriculum Guide, Topic on Open Disclosure (2011)

10. Question 10 · Sterile Compounding, Aseptic Technique and IV Admixture

    During a facility audit of a non-hazardous sterile compounding suite, the technician records the pressure gauge between the ISO Class 7 buffer room and the adjoining anteroom. What is the minimum positive pressure differential that must be maintained?

    1. A0.002 inches of water column
    2. B0.010 inches of water column
    3. C0.020 inches of water column
    4. D0.200 inches of water column
    Show answer and explanation

    Correct answer: C. 0.020 inches of water column

    USP <797> requires a minimum positive pressure differential of 0.020 inches of water column between the buffer room and the adjacent anteroom (and between the anteroom and the unclassified area) for non-hazardous compounding, so air always flows from cleaner to less clean spaces. Values of 0.002 and 0.010 are below the required minimum, while 0.200 is an order of magnitude higher than any practical cleanroom specification. Hazardous drug rooms are instead held at negative pressure of 0.01 to 0.03 inches of water column.

    Reference: USP General Chapter <797>, USP-NF (2023 revision)

11. Question 11 · Inventory Management, Procurement, Storage and Supply Chain

    A community pharmacy chain moves to just-in-time ordering with daily wholesaler deliveries. Which consequence should the technician be most prepared to manage under this model?

    1. AHigher carrying costs because of larger shelf inventory
    2. BIncreased losses from expired stock on the shelf
    3. CReduced need to monitor reorder points in the software
    4. DGreater vulnerability to stock-outs when a supply interruption occurs
    Show answer and explanation

    Correct answer: D. Greater vulnerability to stock-outs when a supply interruption occurs

    Just-in-time ordering minimises on-hand inventory, so any delivery failure, shortage or recall translates rapidly into a stock-out because there is little buffer. Carrying costs and expiry losses both fall rather than rise under just-in-time. Reorder point monitoring becomes more critical, not less, because there is no cushion to absorb an error.

    Reference: ASHP Guidelines on Medication Cost Management Strategies, 2008

12. Question 12 · Non-Sterile Compounding and Extemporaneous Preparation

    A technician is preparing an emulsion containing 24 mL of mineral oil using acacia by the dry gum (continental) method. Using the standard 4:2:1 ratio, what quantities of water and acacia are required for the primary emulsion?

    1. A24 mL water and 12 g acacia
    2. B6 mL water and 12 g acacia
    3. C12 mL water and 6 g acacia
    4. D48 mL water and 24 g acacia
    Show answer and explanation

    Correct answer: C. 12 mL water and 6 g acacia

    In the dry gum method the primary emulsion uses 4 parts oil to 2 parts water to 1 part gum. With 24 mL of mineral oil (4 parts), one part equals 6, so 2 parts water = 12 mL and 1 part acacia = 6 g. The other options invert the water-to-gum relationship or scale the ratio incorrectly and would fail to form a stable primary emulsion.

    Reference: Ansel HC, Ansel's Pharmaceutical Calculations, 15th ed., Wolters Kluwer, 2017; Allen LV, Ansel's Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery Systems, 11th ed., 2018

Pharmacy Technician reference books and guidelines

Every question in this bank names the textbook or guideline its answer rests on. These are the sources our Pharmacy Technician questions cite most often - the reading list to revise from alongside the bank.

Where your regulator publishes a reading list, use the editions it names. Exam questions are not taken from any one book.