Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) is a part of Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Committee (FPGEC) certification. This certification is provided by National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). The graduates of foreign pharmacy schools require achieving this certification before applying for pharmacist license in state boards in United States.
Eligibility-
An applicant must be a graduate from approved pharmacy program in own country. Those who have graduated on or after January 1, 2003 must have gone through 5 years pharmacy coursework. The post baccalaureate degrees are not considered except in rare conditions. Those who have graduated before January 1, 2003 must have gone through 4 years pharmacy course work. The candidates also require passing TOEFL iBT along with FPGEE for achieving this certification. The applicants can take FPGEE only after verification of their educational credentials and license/registration.
Test Overview-
The test is breakdown into four content areas-
Basic biomedical sciences (16% of exam): – Physiology; Biochemistry; Microbiology; Molecular cell biology/genetics; Immunology.
Pharmaceutical sciences (30% of exam): – Medicinal chemistry; Pharmacology and toxicology; Pharmacognosy and alternative and complementary treatments; Pharmaceutics; Biopharmaceutics/ Pharmacokinetics; Pharmacogenomics; Extemporaneous compounding/parenteral/enteral.
Social, behavioral, administrative pharmacy sciences (22% of exam): – Health care and public health delivery system; Economics/pharmacoeconomics; Pharmacy management; Pharmacoepidemiology; Pharmacy law and regulatory affairs; Biostatistics and research design; Ethics; Core communication concepts and skills; Social and behavioral aspects encountered in practice; Medication dispensing and distribution system.
Clinical sciences (32% of exam): – Literature evaluation- practice guidelines and clinical trials; drug information; Clinical pathophysiology; Clinical pharmacokinetics/Pharmacogenomics; Clinical prevention and population health; Medication therapy management- patient assessment; clinical pharmacology, and therapeutics.
This exam evaluates candidates for verifying that do they satisfy the standards of licensed pharmacists in United States.
Test Format-
There are 250 questions in test. The time given for completing this exam is 5 hours and 30 minutes. FPGEE is administered in two sections with half an hour mandatory break in between. The first section lasts for 2 hours and 45 minutes and second for 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Marking Scheme-
The score is an equated, scaled score in range from 1 to 150. The current passing score is 75. The scores are reported in six to eight weeks from test date.
Schedule-
FPGEE is administered twice in a year at more than 200 Pearson-Vue testing centers. Once an applicant has accepted for taking this test, he/she has only two consecutive testing opportunities unless there is a documented health, work, personal or visa problem.
The candidate receives an acceptance letter after verification of his/her education and license/registration. Then, he/she has to register on NABP website. In response, the candidate receives Authorization-To-Test (ATT) letter from Pearson-Vue, after which, he/she can schedule the exam online at Pearson-Vue website or by phone (888/709-2679). The confirmation of scheduled test is received through e-mail.
Exam fees-
FPGEE fees structure is-
Initial application: – $800
Re-examination after failure: – $600
Re-examination after withdrawal: – $800
Re-scoring: – $100