Ontario Registered Pharmacy Technician (RphT) Practice Exam

Therapeutic drug monitoring involves measuring specific drug levels in a patient's bloodstream to ensure that medication regimens are both effective and safe. This practice is vital for drugs with narrow therapeutic indices, where the difference between a therapeutic dose and a toxic dose is small. By monitoring the drug levels, pharmacy technicians and healthcare providers can adjust dosages as necessary to maintain optimal therapeutic effectiveness while minimizing the risk of adverse effects.

The process includes collecting blood samples at appropriate times and interpreting the results in the context of the patient's clinical status, concurrent medications, and individual characteristics such as age, weight, and organ function. This helps in tailoring the drug therapy to the specific needs of each patient, ensuring the highest standards of pharmacotherapy are met.

Other options, such as checking expiration dates of medications, advising patients on medication side effects, and documenting patient medication history, are important components of pharmacy practice but do not directly pertain to therapeutic drug monitoring. These activities support safe medication practices and patient education, but they do not focus specifically on the measurement of drug levels for optimizing therapy.