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District of Columbia Pharmacist — Requirements & Free Practice

US-DC · License preparation

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Combined practice

Practice is unavailable for Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination for the District of Columbia. Available questions cover only examinations with mounted question banks.

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Licenses, application pathways and examination requirements

Each license and applicant pathway has its own requirements and exemptions. Choosing practice questions does not determine your eligibility.

Pharmacist License

License to practice pharmacy in the District of Columbia.

Licensing authority: District of Columbia Board of Pharmacy · Application information

License by examination

All of the following:

Applicant Category
Initial licensure by examination
Education And Training
Meet 17 DCMR § 6502, or § 6503 if educated in a foreign country; foreign-educated applicants must submit FPGEC Certification.
Inactive Practice Condition
An applicant who previously passed NAPLEX and/or MPJE but has not actively practiced pharmacy in the United States or held active United States pharmacist licensure for more than five years must retake both examinations and complete an additional 750-hour internship.
License by reciprocity with licensure transfer

All of the following:

Applicant Category
Pharmacist seeking reciprocity through NABP licensure transfer
Prior Licensure
The applicant must have met the training requirements of the state of initial licensure and obtain NABP licensure transfer to the District of Columbia.
License by reciprocity with waiver of licensure transfer form
No examination is required for this applicant pathway.
Applicant Category
Applicant previously licensed in the District of Columbia to practice pharmacy
Current Licensure
Current pharmacist licensure in good standing in another state is required.

Official no-examination sources

Effective from 2024-03-01.

License by score transfer

All of the following:

Applicant Category
Applicant transferring an initial NAPLEX score to the District of Columbia
Education And Training
Meet the education and training requirements in 17 DCMR §§ 6502 or 6503.
Score Transfer Timing
The applicant must have requested transfer to the District of Columbia when applying for the initial NAPLEX.

Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination for the District of Columbia

Provider
National Association of Boards of Pharmacy
Format
Fixed-length computer adaptive test using selected-response questions
Exam questions
120 computer-based questions
Time limit
2.5 hours
Passing score
Pass/fail
Examination outline
  • Licensure/Personnel (22%)
    • Responsibilities of the pharmacist and non-pharmacist personnel
    • Qualifications, scope of duties, limitations, and restrictions of duties, or conditions to practice for pharmacists-in-charge (or equivalent) and pharmacists
    • Qualifications, scope of duties, limitations, and restrictions of duties, or conditions to practice for non-pharmacist personnel
    • Licensures, registrations, and certifications for pharmacists or non-pharmacist personnel
    • Qualifications, examinations, internships, maintaining pharmacist competency, and renewals of licensures, registrations, or certifications
    • Classifications and processes of disciplinary actions
    • Reporting to and participating in programs addressing the inability to practice with reasonable skill and safety
  • Pharmacist Practice (33%)
    • Requirements for issuing prescriptions/drug orders
    • Requirements for drug uses, limitations, or restrictions
    • Scope of authority, scope of practice, limitations or restrictions of practice, and valid registration of practitioners who are authorized to prescribe, dispense, or administer drugs
    • Requirements for issuing non-controlled prescriptions/drug orders
    • Requirements for issuing controlled prescriptions/drug orders
    • Authority limitations of practitioners’ ability to authorize refills
    • Conditions under which the pharmacist or non-pharmacist personnel participates in the administration of drugs in the management of patients’ therapy
    • Requirements regarding counseling
    • Counseling or offering to counsel
    • Documenting counseling or documenting offering to counsel
    • Returning or reusing drugs
    • Regulations and agencies regarding pharmacy practice
    • Requirements for promoting quality and safety of public health
    • Protecting patient and health record confidentiality
  • Dispensing Requirements (24%)
    • Responsibilities for determining whether prescriptions/drug orders are issued for a legitimate medical purpose, and within all applicable restrictions
    • Transferring prescription/drug order information between pharmacies by authorized personnel
    • Prospective drug utilization reviews
    • Requirements for reporting to PMP and accessing PMP data
    • Exceptions to dispensing or refilling prescriptions/drug orders
    • Labeling of dispensed drugs
    • Packaging of dispensed drugs
    • Drug product conditions prohibiting dispensing
    • Requirements for the distribution and/or dispensing of non-prescription pharmaceutical products, including controlled substances and hazardous drugs
    • Dispensing or administration
    • Labeling of non-prescription drugs and devices
    • Packaging and repackaging of non-prescription drugs and behind-the-counter products
    • Dispensing-restricted, non-prescription drugs
  • Pharmacy Operations (21%)
    • Ordering, acquisition, and distribution of drugs, including maintenance and content of such records
    • Ordering and acquisition, including the maintenance and content of such records
    • Distribution, including the maintenance and content of such records
    • Recordkeeping in compliance with legal requirements, including content, inventory, maintenance, storage, handling, and reporting
    • Non-dispensing requirements for operations of pharmacies or practice settings
    • Possession, storage, and handling of non-hazardous drugs
    • Training, possession, handling, storage, and disposal of hazardous drugs
    • Allowing non-pharmacist personnel access to drugs
    • Requirements for conducting controlled substance inventories
    • Delivery of drugs
    • Conditions for permitted or mandated product selection
    • Compounding sterile, nonsterile, hazardous, and non-hazardous preparations
    • Centralized prescription processing or central-fill pharmacy dispensing
    • Requirements for the registration, licensure, certification, or permitting of a practice setting or business entity
    • Requirements for registration, license, certification, or permitting of a practice setting
    • Requirements for the renewal or reinstatement of a license, registration, certificate, or permit of a practice setting
    • Requirements for an inspection of a licensed, registered, certified, or permitted practice setting
    • Classifications and processes of disciplinary actions that may be taken against a registered, licensed, certified, or permitted practice setting
Examination sources

North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination

Provider
National Association of Boards of Pharmacy
Format
Computerized fixed form
Exam questions
225 questions
Time limit
6 hours
Passing score
Pass or Fail
Examination outline
  • Foundational Knowledge for Pharmacy Practice (25%)
    • Pharmaceutical science principles and concepts
    • Pharmaceutical science principles and concepts: Pharmacology
    • Pharmaceutical science principles and concepts: Pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, or pharmacogenomics
    • Pharmaceutical science principles and concepts: Pharmaceutics
    • Pharmaceutical compounding
    • Pharmaceutical compounding: Nonsterile preparations
    • Pharmaceutical compounding: Sterile preparations
    • Pharmaceutical calculations
    • Pharmaceutical calculations: Patient parameters or laboratory measures
    • Pharmaceutical calculations: Quantities of drugs to be dispensed or administered
    • Pharmaceutical calculations: Rates of administration
    • Pharmaceutical calculations: Dose conversions
    • Pharmaceutical calculations: Drug concentrations, ratio strengths, osmolarity, or osmolality
    • Pharmaceutical calculations: Quantities of drugs or ingredients to be compounded
    • Pharmaceutical calculations: Nutritional needs and the content of nutrient sources
    • Pharmaceutical calculations: Biostatistical, epidemiological, or pharmacoeconomic measures
    • Pharmaceutical calculations: Pharmacokinetic parameters
    • Drug development processes (eg, clinical trial phases, emergency use authorizations)
    • Research design principles and biostatistics (eg, blinding, randomization, biases, statistical tests and outcomes, ethics)
    • Retrieval, assessment, and interpretation of primary, secondary, and tertiary resources
  • Medication Use Process (Prescribing, Transcribing and Documenting, Dispensing, Administering, and Monitoring) (25%)
    • Prescriptions and medication order interpretation
    • Prescriptions and medication order interpretation: Drug names and therapeutic classes
    • Prescriptions and medication order interpretation: Indications, usage, and dosing regimens
    • Prescriptions and medication order interpretation: Available dosage forms
    • Prescriptions and medication order interpretation: Prescription regulations (eg, boxed warnings, risk evaluation and mitigation strategies)
    • Prescriptions and medication order interpretation: Safety and effectiveness (eg, laboratory parameters, vital signs)
    • Therapeutic substitutions (eg, formulary restrictions, therapeutic alternatives, shortages, biosimilars)
    • Immunization services and documentation
    • Immunization services and documentation: Indications and scheduling
    • Immunization services and documentation: Contraindications and precautions
    • Immunization services and documentation: Storage and handling
    • Immunization services and documentation: Administration (eg, techniques, preparation, routes)
    • Immunization services and documentation: Adverse reactions
    • Medication handling, storage, stability, and disposal (eg, hazardous and nonhazardous drugs, controlled substances, parenteral medications, sharps handling, temperature control)
  • Person-Centered Assessment and Treatment Planning (40%)
    • Medication history, allergy history, and reconciliation
    • Health histories, screenings, and assessments
    • Patient health conditions, including special populations and medication-related factors
    • Patient health conditions, including special populations and medication-related factors: Signs, symptoms, and findings of medical conditions, etiology of diseases, or pathophysiology
    • Patient health conditions, including special populations and medication-related factors: Appropriateness of therapy (eg, medications, immunizations, non-drug therapy, dosing, contraindications, warnings, evidence-based decision making)
    • Patient health conditions, including special populations and medication-related factors: Interactions (eg, drug-drug, drug-condition, drug-food, drug-allergy, drug-laboratory)
    • Patient health conditions, including special populations and medication-related factors: Errors and omissions (eg, dosing, duplication, additional therapy needed, unnecessary therapy)
    • Patient health conditions, including special populations and medication-related factors: Adverse drug reactions
    • Patient health conditions, including special populations and medication-related factors: Toxicologic exposures and overdoses
    • Patient health conditions, including special populations and medication-related factors: Adherence
    • Therapeutic monitoring, plan development, evaluation, and modifications
    • Therapeutic monitoring, plan development, evaluation, and modifications: Therapeutic goals, clinical endpoints, and follow-up
    • Therapeutic monitoring, plan development, evaluation, and modifications: Safety
    • Therapeutic monitoring, plan development, evaluation, and modifications: Effectiveness
    • Patient education
    • Patient education: Lifestyle modifications and health maintenance
    • Patient education: Medication use, storage, and disposal
    • Patient education: Disease state management
    • Over-the-counter medications and dietary supplements
    • Devices to administer medications and self-monitoring tests
  • Professional Practice (5%)
    • Adverse drug event reporting and medication error reporting (eg, MedWatch, VAERS)
    • Public health initiatives and risk-prevention programs (eg, tobacco and nicotine cessation, antimicrobial stewardship, health screenings, opioid stewardship)
    • Social determinants and drivers of health
    • Ethical considerations (eg, informed consent, ethical principles, professional conduct and responsibility, patient confidentiality)
  • Pharmacy Management and Leadership (5%)
    • Pharmacy operations (eg, operational planning, risk management, regulations and regulatory bodies, technology applications and informatics, error-prevention strategies, medication safety)
    • Inventory and supply management (eg, drug recalls, drug shortages)
    • Quality improvement activities (eg, medication use evaluation, root-cause analysis, continuous quality improvement)
    • Mentorship and preceptorship (eg, providing and receiving feedback, delegation of work activities, preceptor roles)
Examination sources