Ask your instructor, if you took a pharmacy technician class, for extra learning material for the exam. If you decided to study for the exam without taking a class, you can still visit a local technical school or community college that offers a pharmacy technician course and visit with the instructor of that class. Visit your local public library to see if there are any pharmacy technician course books that may help you prepare for the exam.
Create flash cards to study from. This will take a lot of time, patience and note cards, but this method can be very helpful, since it helps you identify and memorize terms and definitions. It would be helpful if you divided the flash cards into sections, such as medication, inventory control, assisting the pharmacist and pharmacy laws, so that you can concentrate on learning one subject at a time.
Study with a friend. Have your friend hold up a flash card while you guess the definition written on the other side. Have your friend help you out with spelling the medications and procedures. After going over the flash cards numerous times, you'll eventually see where you need to improve studying.
Talk with someone who took the test previously, whether in person or on an online message board. Ask what they think was the hardest part of the exam, and what subjects you should probably study more than others.
Take a practice exam. You can take an exam very similar to the actual PTCB exam on the PTCB website. The practice exam costs only $29, as of 2010, and you have an hour to take the exam from your own personal computer. Though passing the practice exam won't guarantee that you'll pass the actual PTCB exam, it will provide you with an idea of what to expect. You can view your overall grade at the end of the exam.