A Guide for Foreign Trained Pharmacists to Become Licensed in the United States

A foreign pharmacy graduate is a pharmacist whose undergraduate pharmacy degree was conferred by a recognized school of pharmacy outside of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This definition is regardless of whether you are a US citizen, permanent resident (green card holder) or an illegal immigrant. However, if you are a foreign national and attended a pharmacy school in the US, you are not considered a foreign pharmacy graduates.

Traditional Foreign Graduate Pharmacist Licensure Pathway

The Major steps are:

1. Apply and take the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Exams (FPGEE)

2. Take Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

3. Obtain Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Committee (FPGEC) Certification

4. Take the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX)

5. Take the pharmacy law test

STEP 1

Take The FPGEE

To qualify for the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) one must satisfy 1 of 2 options

OPTION 1: for graduates before January 1st, 2003

Complete at least a four-year pharmacy curriculum in their home country

OPTION 2: for graduates on or after January 1, 2003

Complete at least a five-year pharmacy curriculum in their home country.

Note that Coursework and internships completed after pharmacy school graduation will not be considered in determining the minimum required curriculum length).

The FPGEE Exam

The FPGEE is a 250-question multiple-choice computerized examination administered over a five and half hour testing period.

• Effective January 1, 2012, an FPGEE score report will be valid for five years from the test date. 

• FPGEE is administered twice in a year and they are only offered in the USA. One in spring and the other in Fall.

• The examination is a comprehensive measure of knowledge in four major pharmacy content areas:

16% – Basic Biomedical Sciences

30% – Pharmaceutical Sciences

22% – Social/Behavioral/Administrative Pharmacy Sciences

32% – Clinical Sciences