Resources I used to prepare for the PEBC

To prepare for the PEBC exams I found the following resources to be the most useful. I had a really hard time in the beginning deciding what books to use. In fact that was one of the parts of the preparation process that made me feel the most overwhelmed.  I felt that there was so much information and I didn’t know what would be the most efficient resources.

I found each of these books great for its own reasons (which I’ve briefly mentioned below). These references helped me so I hope they can help you too!

The Canadian Pharmacists Association Therapeutic Choices

·         Available from The Canadian Pharmacists Association: http://www.pharmacists.ca/index.cfm/function/store/ProductDetail.cfm?ProdCompanyPassed=cpa&ProdCdPassed=cpa-20116-W&PriceCategPassed=std&indexstart=1

·         This is the foundation for preparing for the PEBC exams (MCQ and OSCE)!!!!

·         I recommend you know this book as much as you possibly can.

PRO’s:

·         The summary charts are a great quick reference, especially the columns on side effects and drug interactions.

·         The chapters as short and give the key points on all the major/important topics. I read this book a lot and used it as my quick review. Whenever I had free time I would read a chapter or two.

CON’s:

·         I also feel that for some things it is not detailed enough and that is why I sought out other books too.

DiPiro et al. Pharmacotherapy: A Pathophysiologic Approach

• Available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/Pharmacotherapy-Pathophysiologic-Approach-Joseph-DiPiro/dp/007147899X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364920399&sr=1-2 and other sources too.
• This book has general information and the pocket (small) edition is similar to Therapeutic Choices except that it is an American publication, so some standards, dosing, and medication availability may differ from Canadian pharmacy practice.

PRO’s:

• I bought the pocket edition and found it great for reviewing. It had some chapters that Therapeutic Choices did not and also an additional level of detail.
• The larger (full print) version of the textbook provides even more detail and information. It is a great reference and a well-known standard in pharmacy practice.
• I think the information in DiPiro was most useful for preparing for the MCQ component of the PEBC.

CON’s:

§  It’s expensive and has A LOT of information. It can be overwhelming and I only used it to augment what I read in Therapeutic Choices and to do practice questions.

Koda-Kimble and Young’s Applied Therapeutics: The Clinical Use of Drugs

• Available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/Koda-Kimble-Youngs-Applied-Therapeutics- Clinical/dp/1609137132 and other sources too.

·   This book is similar to the larger (full print) version of DiPiro in terms of its content. It has chapters on all the major therapeutic topics.

PRO’s:

• I found this book special because it presents therapeutic topics through cases. It gives scenarios and provides questions to get you thinking about drug therapy problems and how to apply your knowledge in order to correct the issue. There are also sample questions with solutions.
• This book helped me get into the right mindset and prepare for the OSCE.

CON’s:

·     It’s expensive and has A LOT of information. It can be overwhelming and I only used it to augment what I read in Therapeutic Choices and to do practice questions or look at therapeutic scenarios.

Comprehensive Pharmacy Review

• Available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/Comprehensive-Pharmacy-Review-Leon-Shargel/dp/158255711X and other sources too.
• This is a great summary resource. It contains great chapters on topics that I could not find in other places, like calculations, compounding, drug information resources, therapeutic drug monitoring and pharmacology. I loved this reference and the way it managed to summarized so much information so well.

PRO’s:

• I really liked this book!
• There are sample questions after each chapter and the book also comes with an online version too. I found this book helped me for the MCQ component of PEBC.

CON’s

·         Some chapters were specific to American pharmacy practice (ex. a chapter on Federal Law) so I had to keep that in mind.

Ansel. Pharmaceutical Calculations

• Available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/Pharmaceutical-Calculations-Howard-C-Ansel/dp/1451120362/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364920927&sr=1-1 and other sources too.
• A great source for calculations!!!!!! I used this book as my main study tool for calculations. It had lots of practice questions with answers provided, tons of examples and also an online question bank to provide even more practice.

Here is the link to PEBC's website for the references and resources they recommend (some are the same I've mentioned here but there are MANY more too): http://www.pebc.ca/index.php/ci_id/3149/la_id/1.htm 

Hope this helps!