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I've just finished my first month of work and what have I discovered that's worth sharing with you? Well, not that much really. The bottom line is that the core function of pharmacy is in essence still the same, namely prescriptions come in, a pharmacist gives a cognitive perusal over the possible clinical correctness of the medication and checks that the drug, label and name, etc are correct, and the medication is handed out to the patient with the option of a consultation should it be wanted. I imagine this process is more-or-less the same worldwide. However, there are vast, enormous, gigantic differences when it comes to the specifics. Firstly, their are various differences with the systems with respect to the physical processes. I can only compare between the US and the UK, but in the UK the process is simple - one person takes the prescription in, hands it to the pharmacist or dispenser, the pharmacist signs it off, and someone hands it out. There is usually only one comp...

A couple of points to make in this posting. Firstly I want to give a list of some of the pharmacy boards since I happened to have found a whole list of them and I might as well add it as a resource for you in case of need, so here it is: STATE BOARD OF PHARMACY WEBSITE California http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/ Connecticut http://www.ct.gov/dcp/cwp/view.asp?a=1620&Q=273844&PM=1 Delaware http://www.dpr.delaware.gov/boards/pharmacy/index.shtml Iowa http://www.state.ia.us/ibpe/ Idaho http://bop.accessidaho.org/ Illinois http://www.idfpr.com/DPR/default.asp Indiana http://www.in.gov/pla/pharmacy.htm Kentucky http://pharmacy.ky.gov/ Massachusetts http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2subtopic&L=5&L0=Home&L1=Provider&L2=Certification%2c+Licensure%2c+and+Registration&L3=Occupational+and+Professional&L4=Pharmacy&sid=Eeohhs2 Maryland http://www.mdbop.org/ Maine http://www.maine.gov/pfr/professionallicensing/professions/pharmacy/inde...

Hi once more to you all. I am now about 8 months into my internship and am starting to get ready to sit the Naplex and CPJE. The main topics for today's post are: 1. Getting some hospital hours (California requirement, or States?) 2. Visa renewel 3. Applying to sit the Naplex - things that need to be done ahead of time. 4. Naplex/CPJE books/resources/online info etc etc etc 1. If you aren't doing your internship in California I really don't know what additional requirements your state board of pharmacy will require of you over and above completion of your hours, but in California the one issue that has gradually become a real nightmare for me has been the need to complete "some" hours in a hospital pharmacy. I think it may have been possible to use any previously gained hours done in my home country to cover this requirement, but unfortunately I have never worked any hours in a hospital at all, so I couldn't get around the problem that way. Also, although I...

August 23rd 2009 A couple of new issues have come up since my last entry worthy of a mention before I finally get to take the Naplex and California Law exam (CPJE) - so I thought I'd add them now in case I forget later. Let me start with the process I had to go through to get my hospital intern hours done. Firstly, as I have already mentioned, I had to pull a few strings to get to meet with the pharmacy manager. When I met her she was extremely helpful, partly I guess as a favor to our mutual friend, but also perhaps because she was also a foreign graduate and remembered having to get her hours done too. So don't think you can just walk in to your nearest hospital and present yourself for internship hours. Find a connection quickly, at the start of your internship, and start the ball rolling. Having got my foot in the door I then had to come back on another day and meet the HR department. This was also an extremely helpful person, who understood my needs and appreciated I j...

September 27th 2009 The first thing that I >SHOULD (here) to apply for the exams. In that paperwork is one section to go the nearest finger-print analysis company (I used my local UPS) - and in California there are loads of places that offer this service. The important point to think about is that this can be done at any time, and need not wait until just before you apply to sit the Naplex and CPJE, and can often be one of the delaying factors - so at some point towards the end of the 1500 hour internship get this done, but don't leave it to the last minute. The second think that needs to be done is to then send off the rest of the paperwork to the CABP. This can't be done until your have completed both your hospital and community hours and had signed affidavits to say so. Once that has been collected then you can send the paperwork off. Finally, you will have to go online to the NABP website and apply to sit the Naplex with them. What then happens is the reverse. The Na...

Tuesday 15th October 2009 I went to bed just after midnight and set my alarm for 4.30am to squeeze in a few extra hours of last minute cramming before the exam, as I hadn't quite finished reading all the scraps of paper and books and notes and websites and links and downloads that I had wanted to get through before I sat the exam. In the end I just couldn't wake up that early and re-set my alarm for 7am instead. Before I went to bed I had made sure all my documents were at hand - my US drivers license, my UK passport and my US Social Security Card - all with the exact and precise same version of my name in. I also had the address stored in my Sat Nav, and my clothes laid out for what I had been forewarned would be a somewhat cool room temperature. 7am and I wake up, get ready and go. The exam was due to start at 8am, but the paperwork said you had to be there 30 minutes before to go through the necessary checks. The place was a bit tricky to find, but as I walked towards the...

Monday October 19th 2009 The CPJE contains, according to the content outline which you can read on pages 10 and 11 of the full outline here , or specifically here , there are 90 questions, of which 15 are "test" questions that aren't scored, but included for potential use in future exam use, and the other 75 questions are divided equally between: 1. Provide Medication to Patients 2. Monitor and Manage Patient Outcomes 3. Manage Operations They have example questions here and some more example questions here for you to familiarize yourself with the exam style and content. I cannot say this any more clearly, but there is good reason to look very carefully at these example questions! Now, for all the websites, books, downloads, links, hints and suggestions I may have received and can suggest to you, NOTHING is as close to the real exam as I found those example questions were. What I THOUGHT the exam was going to feel like, was something like the example questions I...