Illinois Licensing Guides for Immigrant Pharmacists

Eligibility For Illinois Pharmacist Licensing

The process for obtaining a license as a pharmacist in Illinois is as follows:

I. OBTAIN FPGEC CERTIFICATION

The purpose of the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Committee (FPGEC) Certification Program is to document the educational equivalency of your foreign pharmacy education. This certification is a four-step process. The following information outlines the process and you can connect to more program information under Important Links:

• Application package for the FPGEC Certification Program and the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE). The application can be downloaded from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) website. It requires several supporting documents, including proof of a foreign pharmacist license or an accepted substitute.
• Credential Evaluation Application. Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. is the only credentialing organization accepted by the NABP to verify your degree credentials. You must submit your official transcripts and proof of degree, plus translations submitted according to the instructions found in the application package.
• Prepare and register for the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT). Passing scores are:
  • Reading – 22;
  • Listening – 21;
  • Speaking – 26;
  • Writing – 24.
• Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE). The FPGEE will be explained in more detail in the section on testing.

IMPORTANT NOTES ON THE FPGEC CERTIFICATION PROGRAM:

• Your FPGEC Certification Program file will close after two years unless you appeal the decision with the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Committee within 30 days.
• If you sit for the FPGEE and fail, you will have to retake the FPGEE if the next FPGEE administration falls within your two-year acceptance period and pay a fee, or restart the process by applying to the FPGEC Certification Program again if the next administration will not happen until after your acceptance period has ended.
• Completing your foreign credential evaluation does not occur early in the Certification Program. If you are a pharmacy graduate from 2003 or later and think your pharmacy degree may not be equivalent to a first professional degree (a 5-year PharmD), you are participating in this process at your own risk. Candidates like you have spent a lot of time and money before learning they are disqualified based on the credential evaluation. Get advice early from the FPGEC or a PharmD program to understand if your degree is likely to qualify

II. SUBMIT THE ILLINOIS LICENSURE BY EXAMINATION APPLICATION AND COMPLETE AN APPROVED CLINICAL TRAINING PROGRAM

Application

After you earn your Certification it is time to apply for Licensure by Examination to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). Your examination process will not start at this time, but the application is your first point of contact with the State and leads to your next immediate step: the 1,200 hour clinical training program required of all foreign pharmacy graduates.

Some of the items in your application to IDFPR will include:

• 4- page Application for Licensure and/or Examination (note: this application opens your file at IDFPR, but you won’t be considered eligible for the exams in Step IV until your internship is completed and accepted by IDFPR)
• FPGEC Certification
• Credential evaluation from Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.
• Official transcripts issued by school of pharmacy with school seal affixed and certified translations
• Pay fee

CLINICAL TRAINING PROGRAM

IDFPR will send you guidelines for the 1,200-hour clinical training program. Program participants are commonly called “pharmacy interns,” although there is no special intern status or license in Illinois. In fact, you will have to arrange your own 1,200-hour internship in a hospital or retail pharmacy under the supervision of a pharmacist licensed in Illinois.

The supervising Pharmacist must write a letter to IDFPR confirming that clinical training will occur and outlining its proposed content. The State Board of Pharmacy, which meets every other month, will review this documentation and make a recommendation to the IDFPR director. You will need to receive IDFPR approval before you can begin earning hours towards your 1,200 goal.

This approval is for a specific internship under a specific pharmacist. Unfortunately, if your circumstances change and you abandon your program before completion, you will need to start all over again with a new, pre-approved, 1,200-hour clinical training program.

III. PASS EXAMS: NORTH AMERICAN PHARMACIST LICENSURE EXAMINATION (NAPLEX) AND THE MULTISTATE PHARMACY JURISPRUDENCE EXAM (MPJE)

The North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) tests your general practice skills and knowledge of pharmacy, while the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam (MPJE) tests your knowledge of jurisdiction-specific laws that apply to the profession. All pharmacy graduates must pass these exams before being licensed in Illinois – whether they graduated from a US or a foreign program.

Once you complete your application and clinical training as described in Step II, the IDFPR will send you a letter confirming that you are eligible to register for the NAPLEX and MPJE. You can take the exams in any order.

The registration process for both the NAPLEX and MPJE is similar in Illinois. It involves registering with two different organizations. The first is Continental Testing Services, which works with the IDFPR to manage Illinois candidate records. The second is Pearson Vue, a testing company which administers both exams for the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. You must fill out applications on the CTS and NABP web sites and pay fees to them separately. Pearson Vue will then send you an Authorization to Test (ATT) notice, which contains instructions on scheduling your exam. The ATT is valid for only 1 year.

NAPLEX Results:

• Scores will be sent to the IDFPR and they will report them to you.
• Exam results will be reported as either pass or fail – you will not receive a scaled score.
• If you fail, you must wait at least 45 days to test again. If you fail 3 times, you will have to take remedial classes with IDFPR approval.

MPJE Results:

• Scores will be sent to the IDFPR and they will report them to you.
• To receive an MPJE exam result, candidates must have completed at least 107 questions on the examination. Candidates completing fewer than 107 questions will not have their exam result reported. Exam results will be reported as either pass or fail – you will not receive a scaled score.
• If you fail, you must wait at least 30 days to test again.
  Both tests are discussed in greater detail in the next section Tests.

Once you have successfully passed both NAPLEX and MPJE, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation will submit your file to the Illinois Board of Pharmacy for a licensing decision.