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For foreign pharmacists who graduated after 2003


notinal

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Hello everyone! I actually posted here before asking about eligibility to take the FPGEE if I'm taking a Doctor of Pharmacy Program. Unfortunately, it was deleted because of textese? (I really don't know how that happened when I'm very clear about what I said there.) Oh well, so here I am again hoping to find some answers. I'm graduating from the Doctor of Pharmacy program (2-year post-baccalaureate) here in our country this March and now I honestly don't know where I am heading to. I'm a registered Pharmacist in my country but I haven't got the chance to practice my profession yet since I immediately pursued the PharmD program. We have received an information that even if you took an additional 2-year program (PharmD) to make up for the minimum of 5-year pharmacy curriculum study they still won't allow you to take the FPGEE. Reason? Because they are very particular to that of 5-year "CONTINUOUS" study. So, can anyone tell me what can we possibly do? Does that mean we really can't be eligible to take the exam anymore? Beginning this year (2008) Pharmacy schools here in my country have made the curriculum back to 5 years. I just don't find it fair, we are finding solutions to be eligible (as we thought) that is, to take post graduate programs but now it feels like every hardship is going into waste. I even wrote a few times to NABP asking what shall I do, I even asked for their opinion regarding the program even before I took it. I only received the same answer, "Contact the state where you are planning to practice as they can tell you what you should do." I'm not even after the state boards yet, I'm just after the FPGEE. Isn't it that the NABP is the one handling the FPGEE? So why can't they give us any definite answer? Now I'm thinking, do pharmacy graduates between year 2003-2008 can never have their professions practiced in the US?

 

If anyone have the same situation who was able to take the FPGEE, PLEASE... Help us to be enlightened here. Thank you in advance! God bless.

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Hi dear,

Your post is not clear enough...

1) Where are you graduated from?

2) How many years you studied pharmacy after the two years pre-pharmacy after the 2-years post-baccalaureate)?

3) What is shown on your ECE evaluation :

a. Your diploma is equivalent to a BS of pharmacy or a Doctor of pharmacy? what is your major and what did the ECE report say?

b. How many years the pharmacy program takes in your country (4,5 or 6 years) including the 2 years post-baccalaureate?

 

Best regards.

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Hi goldbird! First of all thanks for the reply, at least somebody actually said something back.:) Regarding my post, here's the deal:

 

1)I graduated from the Philippines

2)4-year BS Pharmacy Degree (There's no such thing as pre-pharmacy here. Immediately after high school, you'll enter the 4-year curriculum then graduate with a BS degree)

3)a. According to ECE, the BS Program here is equivalent to their high school and the Doctor of Pharmacy Program is equivalent to that of their BS Program.

b. Normally, it will take you 4 years of study then you'll take the licensing in order to become a pharmacist here. It's really up to you if you'll choose to take the post baccalaureate degree (PharmD) after for 2 more years. Basically for my case, I have a total of 6 years Pharmacy Program.

 

I hope this makes sense.:D Thanks again. God bless.

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Hi Notinal! I am from the Philippines too, however I graduated before 2003. I think it is worth a try to send all your documents to ECE for evaluation. Sometimes they need to see all the courses you took to judge if you are eligible to take the FPGEE. From their response to you, you can plan what to do next. If still they say you lack all the required courses, then there is no other option but to enroll in a pharmacy school here in the US to get your PharmD. Hope this helps.
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Hello yannl! Thanks. Actually, it was not I who took the evaluation from ECE but a student from the previous batch of my PharmD program. I guess I'll probably send all records regarding my educational background to make it clearer right? ;) Regards.
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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello,

 

A friend of mine graduated after 2003 from a 4-year Bachelors of Pharmacy program in Canada. She too, had trouble with getting approval to sit for the FPGEE. What she did was contact the the Pharmacy Dean from the states University that she was moving to, in this case Ohio. He wrote a letter on her behalf to NABP, stating that her schooling in Canada (University of Toronto) was equivalent to the entry level Pharm D in the state of Ohio, and that she be allowed to sit for the exam. Long story short, she was able to sit for the exam.

 

There are a lot of hoops that must be jumped through, but you may be successful. I suggest contacting the Pharmacy Dean of your state.

 

Good luck.

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  • 3 months later...

Hi,

I am in same situation. I graduate from India in 2007. (4 year B.Pham). ECE evaluate as B.S. Pharmaceutical science but NABP denied to sit for FPGEE because my school is not 5 year. Even I compleated my Pre-Pharmacy In US.

I am still finding solution?

Please Advice.

Thanks

Dinu77

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Hi,

I am in same situation. I graduate from India in 2007. (4 year B.Pham). ECE evaluate as B.S. Pharmaceutical science but NABP denied to sit for FPGEE because my school is not 5 year. Even I compleated my Pre-Pharmacy In US.

I am still finding solution?

Please Advice.

Thanks

Dinu77

 

http://www.www.urch.com/forums/fpgee/108489-accepted-write-fpgee-4-year-bpharm-after-2003-1-pre-u.html

 

Hi Dinu77,

Read the posts for the above link. This applicant was accepted to sit for the FPGEE with his prepharmacy + 4 yr degree after 2003. Why didn't the NABP accept you even with your prepharmacy + 4 yr degree?

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"Hi goldbird! First of all thanks for the reply, at least somebody actually said something back. Regarding my post, here's the deal:

 

1)I graduated from the Philippines

2)4-year BS Pharmacy Degree (There's no such thing as pre-pharmacy here. Immediately after high school, you'll enter the 4-year curriculum then graduate with a BS degree)

3)a. According to ECE, the BS Program here is equivalent to their high school and the Doctor of Pharmacy Program is equivalent to that of their BS Program.

b. Normally, it will take you 4 years of study then you'll take the licensing in order to become a pharmacist here. It's really up to you if you'll choose to take the post baccalaureate degree (PharmD) after for 2 more years. Basically for my case, I have a total of 6 years Pharmacy Program.

 

I hope this makes sense. Thanks again. God bless."

 

 

 

 

 

Hii National,

I have the same situation as of yours. I am confused what to do.

My profile is as under:

I have completed my 4 year Pharmacy in INDIA after a highschool and my degree is BS in pharmaceutical Science as per USA education system. Can you help me to answer my doubts.

 

1. Are you doing Pharm.d in Phillipines ? Is this degree is valid in USA to get a pharmacist licence ? Means its equivalent to USA pharm.D degree ? Have you confirmed with anybody ?

 

2. Do you know anybody who has the same situation and successfully registerd as a Pharmacist in USA ?

 

3. As of my knowledge foreign students required 5 year undergraduate coursewor to sit for FPGEE and to get certification FPGEGC ? am i right ? Are you in this criteria ?

 

4. Can you briefly give your country's education system that helps me a lot to think .

 

 

 

your reply is appreciated .

Thanks.

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hello notinal

even i am in a grate dilemma. i am doing my b.pharmacy final year and interested to join pharma.D. but are we eligible to take the FPGEE or not?do you think it is better to pursue pharma.D in U.S? wher are you doin your pharma.D in India?

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  • 1 year later...
wow so many answers but non of them actually got the correct answer.

all filipinos out their qualified to take the FPGEE, can you share your experiences pls.

 

hi anjeanette! im the one who started this thread, and i just cant believe that im finally telling you this. Yes, i will be sitting for the April 19, 2010 fpgee exam. i remember when i started this thread, i am currenly taking my PharmD degree, but now I have graduated already (March 2009). Fortunately, only last December of 2008 NABP did some revisions regarding postgraduate degrees. You can find it on there application bulletin under the Qualifications for FPGEC certification program. Although they have mentioned that it will be on a case-to-case basis, there are already 7 of us (from PharmD) who I know applied for the exam and all were allowed to take the FPGEE, infact, 1 of that 7 already passed from October 2009 exam and got her certificate a month after the results were out. hope this one helps! looks like i answered my own question then, huh? :p

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hi anjeanette! im the one who started this thread, and i just cant believe that im finally telling you this. Yes, i will be sitting for the April 19, 2010 fpgee exam. i remember when i started this thread, i am currenly taking my PharmD degree, but now I have graduated already (March 2009). Fortunately, only last December of 2008 NABP did some revisions regarding postgraduate degrees. You can find it on there application bulletin under the Qualifications for FPGEC certification program. Although they have mentioned that it will be on a case-to-case basis, there are already 7 of us (from PharmD) who I know applied for the exam and all were allowed to take the FPGEE, infact, 1 of that 7 already passed from October 2009 exam and got her certificate a month after the results were out. hope this one helps! looks like i answered my own question then, huh? :p

 

hi thank you for your answer. here is my situation. my first course was BS management accounting and i finished it in 3.5 years. then after that i took BS pharmacy and graduated after 3 yrs. im really confused. some said that you can just add 1 more yr clinical pharmacy then to can qualify the exam. some also said that you have to take the 1 clinical yr in the same school from where you got your bachelorian degree. but we dont have that 1 yr clinical pharm in our school. does that mean that ill never be qualified???

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hi thank you for your answer. here is my situation. my first course was BS management accounting and i finished it in 3.5 years. then after that i took BS pharmacy and graduated after 3 yrs. im really confused. some said that you can just add 1 more yr clinical pharmacy then to can qualify the exam. some also said that you have to take the 1 clinical yr in the same school from where you got your bachelorian degree. but we dont have that 1 yr clinical pharm in our school. does that mean that ill never be qualified???

 

okay. i heard of that as well, are you in the Philippines? actually, that friend of mine whom I mentioned had pass from october 2009 exam was actually BS accounting undergraduate from UE. She took her BS Pharm in CEU then took PharmD after licensure (this is actually a requirement for pharmD). If you are considering the additional 1 year clinical pharmacy, I think that is from some school down south (Visayas region and Davao?) but I'm not really recommending this. I "heard" what they do is to actually make your transcript looks like you got your 4 year BS from there as well. The only problem I think with it is, if you've already passed the licensure examination before you get into the 1 year additional clinical pharmacy, don't you think ECE or NABP would find it impossible? i mean its just my opinion.

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okay. i heard of that as well, are you in the Philippines? actually, that friend of mine whom I mentioned had pass from october 2009 exam was actually BS accounting undergraduate from UE. She took her BS Pharm in CEU then took PharmD after licensure (this is actually a requirement for pharmD). If you are considering the additional 1 year clinical pharmacy, I think that is from some school down south (Visayas region and Davao?) but I'm not really recommending this. I "heard" what they do is to actually make your transcript looks like you got your 4 year BS from there as well. The only problem I think with it is, if you've already passed the licensure examination before you get into the 1 year additional clinical pharmacy, don't you think ECE or NABP would find it impossible? i mean its just my opinion.

 

i see. yes im from the philippines. i finished my BS management accounting in university of san carlos for 3.5 yrs. then i finished my BS pharmacy for 3 yrs in southwestern university. i passed the board exam last january 2010. so since we dont have pharmD in our school, can i enrol it in another school??

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i see. yes im from the philippines. i finished my BS management accounting in university of san carlos for 3.5 yrs. then i finished my BS pharmacy for 3 yrs in southwestern university. i passed the board exam last january 2010. so since we dont have pharmD in our school, can i enrol it in another school??

 

hi again! absolutely yes! as for my case, I graduated my BS Pharmacy from University of Santo Tomas (2006). I took the Licensure Exam on January 2007 and passed, after which I enrolled for PharmD at Centro Escolar University in Makati City on June 2007 (it is required that you are licensed already) and graduated on March 2009. Actually, the transcript that was issued after my PharmD also includes the curriculum I had in BS Pharm. but it is indicated there that it was from University of Santo Tomas. I think this is just to emphasize that I had a total of 6 years of study (4yr BS + 2 yr PharmD).

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anjeanette, I just want to add some things regarding this topic. Even if you finished other degree than BS Pharm, still ECE (for evaluation of transcript) will look after your Pharmacy curriculum ONLY. They will indicate there that you have your BS Management Degree but it will not count except for the minor subjects you had there which was credited when you took your BS Pharmacy. Perhaps you can also do some research on the additional 1 year Clinical Pharmacy if you are in a hurry to take the FPGEE. I honestly don't have any idea on that. I'm just sharing my experience as I see myself in you when I started this thread, I was really confused and had no assurance that our PharmD will be recognized by NABP. God is really good. Let me just share with you the Evaluation report I had from ECE:

1. US Equivalence: Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in Pharmaceutical Sciences

Credential: BS in Pharmacy (this is a four-year program that represents the first professional degree in pharmacy in the Philippines)

** then the school, year graduated, etc..

2. US Equivalence: Doctor of Pharmacy Degree

Credential: Doctor of Pharmacy (this is a two-year program that represents a professional degree in Pharmacy in the Philippines)

** then the school, year graduated, etc..

 

I'm just giving you an idea how they evaluate your credentials. I really hope I enlightened you somehow. Good luck! Godbless.

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Hi Notinal,

Im glad to hear that you were allowed by NABP to seat in for the exams. You really work hard on it and was able to achieve it in 2 years time.

1.Just wondering how many subjects more did it take you to finish the degree of PharmD in CEU (Centro Escolar University) ?

2.How many times in a week do you go to CEU(Centro Escolar University) to attend the class?

3.Does CEU(Centro Escolar University) have a new set of curriculum for PharmD and for Masteral? I actually finished all my subjects for the masteral degree except thesis in UST (University of Sto Tomas),

do you think I can carry the subjects I gained for the Masteral and continue it to PharmD?

4. Does CEU (Centro Escolar University) Makati communicate thru emails?

 

I'm just wondering, who knows I might be able to go back to Philippines and continue PharmD.

Oh yeah do u know Ms. Daisy Cauilan? She was my classmate in UST(University of Santo Tomas) and we're still in contact, she's in the northern part of California.

 

crisjing

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hi crisjing! first of all, thanks! yes I know Ms. Cauilan, I heard she's in the US but didn't know she's still there because some of my classmates said she came back because of discrimination issues, I'm not sure though. :hmm:So about your questions:

 

1. The first year of PharmD curriculum is a classroom setting. We had Immunology, Disease State Management 1-6 (different body systems), then Pharmaceutical Care 1-8? (this is like the Management Part, OTC/Self-care, Pharmacokinetics, etc) - for my opinion, it's like the subjects you really need for FPGEE. By the way, it's really different from that of BS because its mainly on the clinical aspect of pharmacy. The second year is an internship to be held in Makati Medical Center (Jun-Sep, Nov-Mar) and Manson/MedExpress (October only). Once a week in the hospital there will be a lecture from the doctors (different departments/week) with quiz after, and also a case study (1 for each student/semester) presented individually. Then your hospital duty is only 3days/week.

 

2. Classroom setting - half day monday - friday individual reporting

Hospital setting - 1 day usually wednesday lecture/quiz/case study then 3days/wk 8am-5pm rounds

 

3. I think Masteral and PharmD are really different, im just not sure. :rolleyes:

 

4. Perhaps you could give that a try, but I think it would be best if you'll call them so you can have straight answers for your queries right away.

 

There. I hope I was able to help you. :) God bless. Good luck!

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Hi Notinal,

Thanks for your reply. I agree PharmD and Masteral are totally different from each other (CURRICULUM WISE). We don't do hospital duty its just plain lectures, reporting and quizzes.

Oh that means if someone intends to enroll for PharmD you must be a full time student then.

 

I guess that's about it. I'll keep in touch with you.

 

Goodluck on your exams.

crisjing

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi notinal I'm an alumni from UST too. BS Pharmcay batch 2006.ok so i guess we have seen each other in the hallways.:) but i have to say congratulations for your hard work has paid off.i might be a lil late in replying to this post but its such great news to hear that someone from our batch is sitting for the FPGEE.i was a bit wary of taking up the PharmD in CEU too after we graduated 06 for fear that all might go to waste as you said because there was no assurance of getting approved to take the Fp right? Well, now we have options. I have a question though, do you think NABP let you take the exam because you "continuously" studied pharmacy from 06-09?See, Im in the States now and all I still have is my Philippine license, which i think expires this march tsk tsk..I'm a certified Pharmtech here though but I'm not in practice..So now I'm now considering going back and taking up PharmD in hopes of being able to sit for FPGEE..My first option was the Davao or Cebu school but then I read your post and got excited that you guys in CEU MAkati can now take the exam. I read in your previous post that there were 7 of you sitting for the exam.Is that everybody already or just those that did have their transcripts evaluated? I'd appreciate your help with this one.

 

Goodluck with your exam!

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Hi HeartsOfRomaine! So you're a batchmate. =) Well, actually 1 of the 7 already took the exam last October 2009 and she passed, she even got her certificate already. The remaining 6 (including I) will all be taking the exam this April 2010. :) As for your question, if NABP did just allow me to sit for the exam is because I studied continuously? No, not necessarily. A lot of my classmates from PharmD who will be sitting for this April exam have finished their BS degree around 2004 - 2005, then enrolled in PharmD in 2007. Thank you and Good luck to you too!
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  • 7 months later...
im so glad i found this thread.. im a 2007 graduate from UST.. planning to go back to the philippines for the pharmd program in davao.. i want to know if the time, money and effort will all be worth it.. am i gonna be able to seat for fpgee afterwards? any response is appreciated..
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