Pharmacists

Special Requirements

LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR PHARMACISTS
EDUCATION:
In order to practice pharmacy, pharmacists are required to have a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (Pharm.D.), which is a professional degree program taking about six years to complete following high school. The first two years of the Pharm.D. program teach science and other pre-professional pharmacy courses. The next four years are devoted to professional pharmacy education. The final year of most programs is spent in an internship at a clinic, hospital or pharmacy. Pharmacists can also complete general or specialty residencies in clinical pharmacy or pursue post-doctoral study and graduate work.

A license to practice pharmacy is required in all states. In order to be eligible a Virginia license, an applicant should attend an accredited college of pharmacy, pass a state board exam and have a minimum of 1500 hours of practical experience, with at least 300 hours spent practicing outside of a school of pharmacy’s practical experience program.

EXPERIENCE
A. No less than 300 hours experience in the area of prescription compounding and dispensing within a pharmacy.

B. An applicant who graduated from an approved school of pharmacy after January 1, 2003 shall accumulate a minimum of 1,500 hours of practical experience, of which at least 300 hours shall be gained outside of a school of pharmacy practical experience program.
For purposes of this regulation, credit will not be given for more than 50 hours in any one week. Applicants who graduated from an approved school of pharmacy prior to January 1, 2003 shall have gained at least 1,000 hours of practical experience.

C. All practical experience credit required shall only be gained after completion of the first professional year in an approved school of pharmacy.

D. Practical experience gained in a school of pharmacy which has a program designed to provide the applicant with practical experience in all phases of pharmacy practice and which program is approved by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education will be accepted by the board for the time period during which the student is actually enrolled. The applicant will be required to gain any additional experience outside the school program as needed to meet the requirements of subsections A and B of this section.

Procedure for gaining practical experience.
A. Each pharmacy student or graduate of an approved school of pharmacy, who desires to gain practical experience in a pharmacy within the Commonwealth, shall register with the board on a form provided by the board prior to becoming so engaged as a pharmacy intern. This requirement shall also apply to students gaining practical experience within the Commonwealth for licensure in another state.

B. The applicant shall be supervised by a pharmacist who holds an unrestricted license and assumes full responsibility for the training, supervision and conduct of the intern. The supervising pharmacist shall not supervise more than one pharmacy intern during the same time period.

C. The intern registration of a pharmacy student shall be valid only while the student is enrolled in a school of pharmacy. The registration card issued by the board shall be returned to the board upon failure to be enrolled.

D. Practical experience gained within any state must be registered with and certified by the board of that state in order to be accepted or certified by this board. In the event that a state does not use internships to gain practical experience in pharmacy but relies on the pharmacy school to certify the hours of experience, an affidavit from the pharmacy school certifying the hours of experience gained in the United States may be accepted in lieu of board certification.

E. All practical experience of the pharmacy intern shall be evidenced by an affidavit, which shall be filed prior to or with the application for examination for licensure.

F. An applicant for licensure by endorsement may provide verification acceptable to the board of practical experience hours worked as a pharmacist in another state within the United States in lieu of intern hours in order to meet the practical experience requirement.

Content of the examination and grades required; limitation on admittance to examination.
A. Prior to admission to any examination required for licensure, the applicant shall have met all other requirements

B. The applicant shall achieve a passing score as determined by the board on the licensure examination which is approved by the board and which shall consist of an integrated examination of pharmacy practice, pharmacology, pharmacy mathematics, and such other subjects as are necessary to assure that the candidate possesses the necessary knowledge and skills to practice pharmacy.

C. The applicant shall also achieve a passing score as determined by the board on an examination, which tests the candidate’s knowledge of federal and state laws related to pharmacy practice.

D. When an applicant for licensure by examination fails to meet the passing requirements of the board - approved integrated pharmacy examination on three occasions, he or she shall not be readmitted to the examination until he has completed an additional 1,000 hours of practical experience as a pharmacy intern .

License Renewal
A. Pharmacist licenses expire on December 31 and shall be renewed annually prior to that date by the submission of a renewal fee, renewal form, and statement of compliance with continuing education requirements.

B. A pharmacist newly licensed on or after October 1 shall not be required to renew that license until December 31 of the following year.

C. A pharmacist who fails to renew his or her license by the expiration date may renew his license at any time within one year of its expiration by submission of the renewal fee and late fee, renewal form, and statement of compliance with continuing education requirements.

Reinstatement
A pharmacist who fails to renew his or her license for more than one year following expiration and who wishes to reinstate such license shall submit an application for reinstatement, pay the current renewal fee and a reinstatement fee, and submit documentation showing compliance with continuing education requirements.

A pharmacist who has been registered as inactive for more than one year must apply for reinstatement, submit documentation showing compliance with continuing education requirements, and pay the current year active renewal fee in order to resume active licensure.

In order to reactivate or reinstate a license to active status, a pharmacist who holds an inactive license, who has allowed his license to lapse, or who has had his license suspended or revoked must submit evidence of completion of CEU’s or hours equal to the requirements for the number of years in which his license has not been active, not to exceed a total of 60 hours of CE.

A pharmacist whose license has been lapsed, in inactive status, or suspended or revoked for more than five years shall, as a condition of reinstatement in addition to 60 hours CE, take and receive a passing score on the board - approved law examination and furnish acceptable documentation of one of the following:

1. Active pharmacy practice within the past five years as a properly licensed pharmacist in another state; or

2. Practical experience as a pharmacy intern registered with the board of at least 160 hours within six months immediately prior to being reinstated.

Requirements for continuing education.
A. On and after December 31, 1993, a pharmacist shall be required to have completed a minimum of 1. 5 CEU’s or 15 contact hours of continuing pharmacy education in an approved program for each annual renewal of licensure. CEU’s or hours in excess of the number required for renewal may not be transferred or credited to another year.

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
   •   Graduate from at least a five-year course of study with Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy or a Doctorate of Pharmacy degree

Required Fees:

For More Information, Contact:

Virginia Department Of Health Professions
Board Of Pharmacy
6603 West Broad St., 5th Floor
Richmond, VA 23230-1712
Phone: 804.662.9911
TTY: 804.662.7197
Fax: 804.662.9313
http://www.dhp.virginia.gov/pharmacy/
[email protected]

The data sources for the information displayed here include: Virginia Career VIEW Research. (Using onet28)