BCSCP study plan
BCSCP · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Sterile Compounding Process and Technique
Map the full scope of USP <797> onto CSP risk categories and assign correct default beyond-use dates for room-temperature, refrigerated, and frozen storage
Distinguish immediate-use CSPs, Category 1, Category 2, and Category 3 CSPs by their required conditions, personnel, and monitoring obligations
Define and contrast sterilization, sanitization, disinfection, deactivation, and depyrogenation with one pharmacy example of each
Work through 20 scenario problems that require selecting a risk category and a defensible BUD, and log every miss with the reason
Your checkpoint
A one-page CSP risk-category and BUD decision table plus a 20-item self-quiz scored at 85% or better, with a written error log
Sterile Compounding Process and Technique
Sequence the correct order of hand hygiene, garbing, and glove disinfection and state the rationale for each step's position
Explain first-air concepts and select the correct primary engineering control (LAFW, BSC, CAI, CACI, isolator) for a given hazard and sterility requirement
Perform and document 20 compounding calculations covering concentration, dilution, and dose-to-volume conversions with no arithmetic errors
Describe correct transfer technique for vials, ampules, and syringes, including needle and hub disinfection and final container checks
Your checkpoint
A written step-by-step garbing and aseptic-technique checklist cross-checked line by line against USP <797> requirements, with every required element accounted for
Facilities, Equipment, and Environmental Monitoring
Classify ISO cleanliness classes by particle count per cubic meter and match each class to its compounding role
Specify required air changes per hour and pressure relationships for ante-areas, buffer areas, and each category of compounding room
Differentiate the primary engineering control from the secondary engineering control and explain how failures in either compromise sterility
Identify at least eight facility design deficiencies from written descriptions of room layout, airflow, and surface finish
Your checkpoint
A labeled facility outline listing each room, its ISO class, its pressure relationship to adjacent spaces, and its required air changes, with zero unlabeled areas
Facilities, Equipment, and Environmental Monitoring & Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Design a viable and nonviable environmental monitoring schedule specifying sampling sites, frequencies, and methods for each compounding area
Set alert and action levels for total particle counts, surface and air viable counts, and glove fingertip sampling, and state the required response at each
Explain the certification and recertification requirements for primary and secondary engineering controls, including the conditions that trigger early recertification
Build a corrective-action pathway for a failed surface sample from detection through root cause and re-sampling
Your checkpoint
A complete environmental monitoring plan for a Category 2 facility, including a sampling grid, alert and action levels, and a written corrective-action flowchart
Milestones
Week 2: Score 85% or higher on a timed 30-question Domain 1 set covering risk categories, BUDs, garbing, and aseptic technique
Week 4: Explain facility classification and environmental monitoring limits aloud from memory in under 10 minutes with no reference material, then verify against notes
Week 6: Pass a 25-question mixed set from Domains 1 through 4 at 80% or higher with all misses rewritten as teaching notes
Week 8: Complete a full-length timed practice exam across all six domains, scoring 80% or higher overall with no domain below 70%