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Saudi Licensure Examination – Pharmacy Technician: free practice test

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Practice test questions with answers and explanations

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01A 15-kg child is prescribed amoxicillin 50 mg/kg/day in two divided doses. The suspension is 250 mg/5 mL. What volume is given per dose?

Practice question Unit: Pharmacy Calculation

  1. A15 mL

    15 mL contains the entire daily dose of 750 mg. Giving that volume twice would double the prescribed daily dose.

  2. B3.75 mL

    3.75 mL contains 187.5 mg. This would be appropriate only if the calculated daily amount were divided into four equal doses, not the two ordered.

  3. C7.5 mL ✓ Correct answer

    The order supplies all dosing inputs: 50 mg/kg/day × 15 kg = 750 mg/day. Divide by two to obtain 375 mg/dose. The concentration is 250 mg/5 mL = 50 mg/mL, so 375/50 = 7.5 mL per dose. This calculates the stated order; it does not recommend a regimen for an unspecified infection.

  4. D5 mL

    5 mL supplies 250 mg rather than the required 375 mg per dose. Two such doses would provide only 500 mg/day.

Reference: SCFHS Pharmacy Technician Blueprint 2024, section 1 Pharmacy Calculation; SFDA amoxicillin oral-suspension product information (250 mg/5 mL): https://sdi.sfda.gov.sa/home/Result?drugId=1004. Key independently recomputed from the hypothetical order — https://scfhs.org.sa/sites/default/files/2024-11/Pharmacy%20Technician%20Blueprint%202024_1.pdf

02A prednisolone taper is written: 40 mg daily for 3 days, then 30 mg for 3 days, 20 mg for 3 days and 10 mg for 3 days. Only 5-mg tablets are stocked. How many tablets are needed?

Practice question Unit: Pharmacy Calculation

  1. A20 tablets

    20 tablets provide 100 mg, the sum of one day at each dose level. Each level lasts three days, so this omits two days from every step.

  2. B12 tablets

    12 is the number of treatment days. It assumes one tablet per day, although each prescribed daily dose requires several 5-mg tablets.

  3. C60 tablets ✓ Correct answer

    Use 8, 6, 4 and 2 tablets daily for the four stages. Each lasts three days: 3 × (8 + 6 + 4 + 2) = 60 tablets. Equivalently, the total dose is 300 mg and 300/5 = 60.

  4. D48 tablets

    48 tablets result from omitting the 20-mg-for-three-days stage: 3 × (40 + 30 + 10)/5 = 48. The omitted stage needs another 12 tablets.

Reference: SCFHS Pharmacy Technician Blueprint 2024, section 1 Pharmacy Calculation; SFDA Essential Medicines List 2023, prednisolone 5-mg tablets: https://www.sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2024-01/Essential-Medicines-List.pdf. Key independently recomputed from the hypothetical taper; not a clinical taper recommendation — https://scfhs.org.sa/sites/default/files/2024-11/Pharmacy%20Technician%20Blueprint%202024_1.pdf

03A pharmacy compounds a nonpreserved aqueous oral suspension from tablets. There is no applicable USP–NF monograph or formulation-specific stability information, and no component expires sooner. Under USP <795> effective in 2023, what is the maximum default beyond-use period and storage condition?

Practice question Unit: Sterile and Nonsterile Compounding

  1. A14 days, refrigerated ✓ Correct answer

    USP <795> Table 4 limits nonpreserved aqueous preparations to 14 days under refrigeration (2–8 °C) without a monograph or preparation-specific stability information. A shorter period is required if component expiry or stability demands it.

  2. B35 days at room temperature

    35 days is the default maximum for preserved aqueous preparations at controlled room temperature or refrigerated. This suspension contains no preservative.

  3. C90 days at room temperature

    90 days applies to nonaqueous oral liquids with water activity below 0.60. An aqueous suspension is a different category.

  4. D180 days at room temperature

    180 days applies to other nonaqueous dosage forms, such as capsules or powders, under the default table. It is not the default limit for this aqueous suspension.

Reference: USP <795> Table 4 (official 1 November 2023), reproduced in Washington Department of Health 2026 nonsterile compounding addendum, question 32; see also USP <795> FAQs sections 53–58: https://pages.usp.org/rs/711-SXF-172/images/HQS%20-%20USP%20GC%20795%20FAQs.pdf — https://doh.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-02/690-326-USP795NonsterileCompoundingAddendum.pdf

04A patient takes empagliflozin. Which mechanism explains both its glucose-lowering effect and the warning about genital infections?

Practice question Unit: Essential and Over the Counter Medications

  1. ASGLT2 inhibition increasing urinary glucose ✓ Correct answer

    Empagliflozin blocks renal SGLT2-mediated glucose reabsorption, increasing urinary glucose loss and lowering blood glucose. Genital fungal infections are more frequent during treatment; the glucose-rich urinary environment helps explain this risk.

  2. BDPP-4 inhibition prolonging incretin action

    DPP-4 inhibitors prolong incretin activity. That is a different drug class and does not explain empagliflozin-induced urinary glucose loss.

  3. CIncreased insulin secretion causing weight gain

    Stimulating pancreatic insulin release describes insulin secretagogues, such as sulfonylureas. Empagliflozin acts in the kidney rather than primarily stimulating insulin secretion.

  4. DSlowed gastric emptying causing nausea

    Delayed gastric emptying can occur with GLP-1 receptor agonists. It does not explain the increased urinary glucose or genital fungal infections associated with empagliflozin.

Reference: SFDA Saudi Drug Information, Jardiance (empagliflozin), patient leaflet sections 1 and 4; SmPC sections 4.8 and 5.1 — https://sdi.sfda.gov.sa/home/Result?drugId=12624

05A patient taking clopidogrel is also prescribed omeprazole for reflux. Why might the pharmacist suggest pantoprazole instead?

Practice question Unit: Essential and Over the Counter Medications

  1. AOmeprazole may reduce clopidogrel activation ✓ Correct answer

    Clopidogrel is a prodrug activated partly by CYP2C19. Omeprazole inhibits this enzyme and can reduce active-metabolite exposure and platelet inhibition. Pantoprazole has less effect on this interaction; the pharmacist should review the combination rather than the technician changing treatment.

  2. BPantoprazole is a stronger antiplatelet

    Pantoprazole is a proton-pump inhibitor used for acid suppression, not an antiplatelet medicine. The proposed substitution avoids an interaction; it does not add antiplatelet activity.

  3. COmeprazole causes bleeding with clopidogrel

    Clopidogrel itself can cause bleeding, but the specific omeprazole interaction reduces clopidogrel activation and antiplatelet effect. Increased bleeding is not the mechanism being addressed here.

  4. DPantoprazole works faster for reflux

    The concern in this combination is CYP2C19-mediated activation of clopidogrel, not which acid-suppressing medicine relieves reflux sooner.

Reference: SFDA Saudi Drug Information, clopidogrel-containing product SmPC section 4.5, proton-pump inhibitors: avoid omeprazole/esomeprazole; pantoprazole interaction is smaller — https://sdi.sfda.gov.sa/home/Result?drugId=11339

06Insulin vials labelled HumaLOG and HumuLIN R are stored side by side in the refrigerator. What is the best risk-reduction step?

Practice question Unit: Medication Safety

  1. AKeep them together so the pharmacist can compare

    Keeping look-alike insulin products adjacent maintains the selection hazard. Visual comparison does not reliably prevent picking the wrong product during routine dispensing.

  2. BSame shelf, ordered by expiry

    Expiry-based rotation prevents waste, but does not separate the two similar names and packages. It therefore leaves the main selection risk unresolved.

  3. COne bin with tall-man shelf labels

    Tall-man lettering is a useful additional safeguard, but a shared bin still allows the wrong vial to be selected. Storage segregation is needed as well.

  4. DSeparate them and add warning labels ✓ Correct answer

    Store the look-alike insulins in separate, clearly labelled locations with warning labels. Physical segregation and labelling provide complementary barriers against selection errors while maintaining required refrigerated storage.

Reference: CBAHI Medication Safety Standards, MM.4.3 and explanation (separate non-alphabetical storage, auxiliary labels and tall-man lettering); official Saudi government consultation publication — https://istitlaa.ncc.gov.sa/en/health/cbahi/NationalLaws/Pages/Article_019.aspx

07A paper narcotic prescription shows the quantity crossed out and rewritten, initialled by the doctor. According to the SFDA procedures, what should the pharmacy do?

Practice question Unit: Pharmacy Law and Ethics

  1. ADo not dispense; it is void ✓ Correct answer

    The paper prescription fails the requirement to be free of crossing-out or amendment. A prescriber’s initials do not remove that defect. Withhold dispensing and refer it to the pharmacist for a compliant replacement prescription.

  2. BDispense the rewritten quantity

    Dispensing the rewritten amount would accept an amended paper prescription. The rule requires an unaltered prescription rather than relying on initials beside a correction.

  3. CDispense the original quantity

    The crossed-out original amount is not a valid instruction to dispense. Choosing it ignores both the attempted correction and the prescription’s failure to meet the formal requirement.

  4. DDispense the smaller of the two

    Choosing the smaller amount is not an authorised way to resolve an altered prescription. The problem is validity of the document, not selection of the most conservative quantity.

Reference: SFDA Procedures and Controls of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances 2026, Executive Regulation Article 20(1)(d): paper prescription must be free from crossing-out or amendment — https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-08/اجراءات%20وضوابط%20المواد%20المخدرة%202026.pdf

08A prescriber asks if a drug is safe while breastfeeding. Which source is designed specifically for this question?

Practice question Unit: Drug Information and Health Informatics

  1. ALactMed ✓ Correct answer

    LactMed is the NLM drugs-and-lactation database. It summarises concentrations in breast milk and infant blood, effects on the infant and lactation, and possible alternatives. These data support a pharmacist or prescriber’s patient-specific assessment; they are not a blanket guarantee of safety.

  2. BThe Orange Book

    The Orange Book lists approved drug products and therapeutic-equivalence evaluations. It is not a specialist source for drug transfer into breast milk or infant effects.

  3. CTrissel's Handbook

    Trissel’s Handbook is used principally for injectable-drug stability and compatibility. It does not specifically answer whether a maternal medicine is suitable during breastfeeding.

  4. DThe NIOSH hazardous drug list

    The NIOSH list identifies hazardous drugs for occupational exposure control. It does not provide the lactation-specific milk concentrations and infant-risk assessment needed here.

Reference: U.S. National Library of Medicine, LactMed database description; NLM Technical Bulletin: maternal milk levels, infant blood levels, infant effects and alternatives — https://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ma06/ma06_technote_lactmed.html

09A ward has an outbreak of Clostridioides difficile. What hand-hygiene change applies after patient contact?

Practice question Unit: Infection Control

  1. AA double application of alcohol rub

    Repeating an alcohol rub does not reliably remove or inactivate C. difficile spores. It does not replace the additional soap-and-water washing recommended after care during an outbreak.

  2. BChlorhexidine wipes on the gloves

    Wiping contaminated gloves is not hand hygiene. Remove the gloves carefully, then clean the hands; during this outbreak, use soap and water after patient care.

  3. CAn alcohol rub with a longer contact time

    A longer alcohol-rub contact time does not make the product reliably sporicidal. The outbreak recommendation is soap-and-water washing after patient care.

  4. DSoap and water instead of alcohol rub ✓ Correct answer

    CDC encourages soap-and-water handwashing after caring for patients with suspected or confirmed C. difficile during an outbreak as an additional precaution. Washing helps physically remove spores; careful glove and gown use remains essential. Do not interpret this as withdrawing alcohol hand rub from all routine care.

Reference: CDC Clinical Safety: Hand Hygiene for Healthcare Workers, specific recommendations during C. difficile outbreaks — https://www.cdc.gov/clean-hands/hcp/clinical-safety/index.html

10A recalled tablet lot was repackaged last month into hospital unit-dose blisters labelled only with an in-house lot number, not the manufacturer lot. Which record should be used to identify the affected blisters?

Practice question Unit: Material Management and Supply Chain

  1. AUse the repackaging log to link in-house lots to the manufacturer lot ✓ Correct answer

    The repackaging record links the original manufacturer lot to each assigned in-house lot. Use that link, together with distribution records, to locate and quarantine affected unit doses in accordance with the recall.

  2. BPull that drug's blisters from the wards

    Removing every blister of that medicine may be a temporary precaution when traceability is unresolved, but it does not identify which in-house lots came from the recalled manufacturer lot.

  3. CCheck the manufacturer lot on each blister

    The stem explicitly states that the manufacturer lot is not printed on these blisters. Reading their labels alone cannot provide the missing link.

  4. DMatch only the drug name and strength on the blister without using the repackaging log

    Name and strength identify the medicine, not its source batch. Other unaffected manufacturer lots can have the same name and strength, so the repackaging link is necessary.

Reference: SFDA Products Recall Guidance v1.1, sections 7 and 7.1–7.2: records, affected lots and distribution tracing; USP <1178> Good Repackaging Practices: https://doi.usp.org/USPNF/USPNF_M523_05_01.html. Applying lot traceability to hospital repackaging — https://www.sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-04/Products%20Recall%20Guidance%20V%201.1%20.pdf

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