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Basically,
two major hurdles face a foreign education pharmacist; both are exams.
1.
First, one must be "credentialed", proven to have the equivalent education
of U.S. pharmacy graduates. This is accomplished with the Foreign Pharmacy
Graduate Examination Committee
FPGEC®: Certification, administered by the National Association of
Boards of Pharmacy, (NABP). For
candidates who have graduated from a school of pharmacy outside of the
United States, most states would require them to demonstrate that their
pharmacy education is equivalent to that of graduates of accredited U.S.
schools of pharmacy. The FPGEC is the approved method to document this
educational equivalency. FPGEC Certification attests that graduates of
foreign schools of pharmacy possess education equivalent to graduates of
U.S. schools of pharmacy. The FPGEC evaluates only undergraduate pharmacy
education - postgraduate education/qualifications are not evaluated.
1a: A major portion of this
certification is another examination. The Foreign Pharmacy Graduate
Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) , is a comprehensive measure of knowledge in
four major pharmacy content areas. Find details on the NABP site at
FPGEE.
In addition to documenting
educational background, passing the FPGEE, candidates must attain a minimum
passing score of 550 on the paper-based Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL) or a minimum passing score of 213 on the computer based
TOEFL, and pass the Test of Spoken English (TSE) with a score of 50 or
higher.
2. In addition, in order to
practice pharmacy in the U.S., individuals must be licensed by the state in
which they wish to practice. The
NAPLEX, or North
American Pharmacist Licensure Examination, is the national examination, also
administered by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. The FPGEC
certification is necessary before making application for the NAPLEX.
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