For the fourth consecutive year, all graduates of the University of
Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy passed their pharmacy licensure
examinations. UNMCs cumulative average score ranked 13th out of the 82
schools whose students take the examination.
The 100-percent pass rate also marks the 10th time in the past 11 years
that all UNMC pharmacy graduates have passed the North American Pharmacy
Licensure Examination, which is offered through the National Association
of Boards of Pharmacy.
For about 25 years, since we first began offering the doctoral degree
in pharmacy, we have required that our students learn to apply their knowledge
through practical skills. These examination scores indicate that our approach
has worked in helping our students retain information, said Edward Roche,
Ph.D., associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Pharmacy.
Certainly, it also speaks well to the level of pharmacy students at UNMC
and to how much they put into their professional preparation.
To take the licensing examination, the individual must be a graduate
of a pharmacy school accredited by the American Council on Pharmaceutical
Education. Those graduates can take the computerized examination at a Sylvan
Learning Center between May 1 and Sept. 31. If a graduate fails, he or
she must wait a four-month period to take the exam until the examination
is offered again.
During the May through September trimester, the average score (not a
percentage) on the examination was 101.70, compared to the 62 UNMC graduates
average score of 108.18. The highest school average was about 111.7, while
the average school averaged 98.5.
UNMC also scored well above the national average on each of the examinations
three sub-areas: managing drug therapy to optimize patient outcomes; assuring
the safe and accurate preparation and dispensing of medications; and providing
drug information and promoting public health.