COPPS turns to Access Pharmacy, pre-NAPLEX to help students prepare for board exam

FAMU Pharmacy Dean Michael Thompson

Yesterday, the Capital Outlook published a report on the steps that the FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (COPPS) is taking to help more of its students pass the the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) on their first try.

According to the Outlook, “The last class of students that took the exam for the first time averaged a 59.3 score, lowest in the 66-year history of the pharmacy program.”

From the article “FAMU makes push to improve failing pharmacy test scores”:

[Pharmacy Dean Michael Thompson] began to put in motion a curriculum last December with the intention of enabling students to get better results. He and his faculty used the Christmas break last year to create a board review for the students that involved a midweek video conference for student in Miami, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Crestview.

The content of the review is from a system called Access Pharmacy, which applies the latest cases for students to practice with them. Thompson said the review will intensify in April with a high-stakes comprehensive exam, which he said will be a sure-fire indication whether students would be able to pass the NAPLEX exam.

Students who don’t pass the mock test will get an incomplete and repeat the review in the summer, he said.

Additionally, FAMU recently purchased Pre-NAPLEX, which is a practice exam of 100-questions to help prepare students to become used to the testing format and content. The idea is to help students understand what they will experience during the real test, he said. A planned three-day conference with students is yet another step that Thompson said will be taken to assure success on the mandatory test for acquiring a license to practice in pharmacy.

Read the full article here.