NAPLEX Testing Suspended Nationwide

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Caverject

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This was released from the NABP late last night.


http://www.nabp.net/ftpfiles/NABP01/naplexinfo0807.pdf

TO: EXECUTIVE OFFICERS – STATE BOARDS OF PHARMACY
FROM: Carmen A. Catizone, Executive Director/Secretary
DATE: August 24, 2007
RE: Suspension of the NAPLEX and Georgia MPJE Examinations
______________________________________________________________________________

On August 23, 2007, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy convened an emergency
meeting of its Executive Committee to review the security involving NABP's North American
Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) and the Georgia Multistate Pharmacy
Jurisprudence Examination (GA MPJE). The Executive Committee suspended administrations of
the NAPLEX and GA MPJE effective immediately beginning Saturday, August 25, 2007.
Candidates who are scheduled to sit for the examinations after that date will be rescheduled for
an appointment later in 2007. No determination has been made at this time as to when the
NAPLEX or GA MPJE examinations will be reinstated.

The decision to suspend the NAPLEX and GA MPJE was made to ensure that the integrity of the
examinations is maintained and that NABP develop and provide only valid and psychometrically
sound examinations to the state boards of pharmacy.

The NAPLEX and GA MPJE examinations will be reactivated as soon as possible when NABP
is confident that both examinations are able to validly assess the entry-level competence of
pharmacists to safely practice pharmacy. NABP and its testing contractor, Prometric, will work
closely with the boards and candidates to reschedule candidates and adjust a candidate's
individual eligibility determinations in accordance with the availability of the examinations once
they are reinstated.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 847/391-4400 or
[email protected].

Thank you for your support.

cc: NABP Executive Committee
Members don't see this ad.
 
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Oddly, I just heard yesterday of a student who took the exam in June & has had the scores held. Apparently, there was a violation of "site security" - in other words, this person was accused of leaving the room inappropriately.

The proctor had given the OK for the leaving - again, shouldn't have, but did anyway.

So...all the students who took the test on that day in that place have had their scores nullified & must retake.

All this because of one person who, for whatever reason (the individual gets real nervous when asked why needing the room was required) needed to leave the room & the proctor did not follow instructions which apparently are clear.

Perhaps we need to get back to only scheduled times for the exams.....four times a year, which would limit test sites, proctors, etc....

It sounds as though NABP & Prometric need to get their act together - they seem to be as much at fault as the students who seek to cheat & those who teach classes which use questions which condone cheating.
 
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MountainPharmD said:
I think NABP is a joke anyway. Why they see fit to charge so much money and them take so long is beyond me. I like the 4 times a year senario, there has to be something better....
Click to expand...
The four times a year deal seems like a better option. Have each school of pharmacy serve as a testing site and send people there on a Saturday to proctor the exam. Hell...make it scantron and get rid of the adaptive bullsh**. Either way, this whole situation just sucks royally if you haven't taken the exam.
 
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Wow, back in the olden times, The State Board Exam was given twice a year and that's it. Now you take the Naplex at the Sylvan Learning Center. No security required other than you are who you say you are. All computerized so you can't sneak out with the questions....
 
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This is the biggest bunch of BS. Why close the site now? **** man, according to posters here it looks like this stuff has been going on for years from Mr. Flyinn. Why is it fair to suddenly cancel it and make everyone wait 3 months if you're not going to make the people who took it while the test was compromised take it again? Look, I'm not advocating making people take it over. I'm saying it's BS to suspend it now. They should keep it going, and make a new version as quick as they can while students are still able to take the old version. What about this makes no f'ing sense? It was compromised for years. These people are still practicing. What harm would it really do if it was compromised for another month or 2 while they get their act together and make a new test?

And I think everyone here has a right to be pissed. Some people were depending on getting licensed within the next month to HAVE A JOB. Employers who are short staffed and suffering might not want to hold the position open for another 3 or 4 months and let their co-workers suffer with being understaffed. Luckily pharmacy has a shortage so if you don't get this job, you'll likely get another one easily. Otherwise it could be costing a whole lot more than this.

I think if anyone loses a job because of this, they need to sue Flynn's ass and then sue the school of pharmacy he was teaching at for letting him do this at their location while they knew it was going on. Because it's just not fair. We're talking about 10's of thousands of dollars in wages lost from a delay in licensure over 3-4 months.
 
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Old Timer said:
Wow, back in the olden times, The State Board Exam was given twice a year and that's it. Now you take the Naplex at the Sylvan Learning Center. No security required other than you are who you say you are. All computerized so you can't sneak out with the questions....
Click to expand...


Yep - yep.....January & June. Public locations (not at a school) & done simultaneously - one in S CA & one in N CA. Both started & stopped at the same time on the same days. You could bring in 2 pencils, your ID, a slide rule (don't laugh! - calculators were not allowed then) & nothing else. They gave you scratch paper, which they collected (yes - they counted the #s of sheets) Everything else you needed for breaks - food, tampons, mints, gum, insulin, glucose, whatever...you kept in your car.

No one left the room for ANYTHING and it was a 2 day, 8 hour exam, each day. You got 2-10 min breaks (each after a section which was closed & turned in) & one 30 min lunch. There were LOTS of proctors. There were people who would talk about the exam, if you wanted to...but it was fruitless since that portion that was completed you could not go back to. I didn't talk about the exam to anyone.

Funny - the diabetics, those with anxiety issues, hungry, thirsty - you name it folks got thru just fine.

During my exam, there were 2 people who were escorted out of the room, but I don't know what happened. I was too busy on my own stuff - I just saw them being escorted out. Cheating happened even then I guess or perhaps they were sick - I never knew nor pursued it.
 
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NY holds their written lab (compounding, calculation and Error/Omissions) twice a year in January and June are the simultaneously at the pharmacy schools across the state (4 locations in June and 3 in January). Both sections were heavily proctored and regulated. I would be very difficult to attempt to cheat aside from a brief glance at someone else's exam. It doesn't matter if you discuss it afterwards as its changed for each exam. It's proctored by faculty and the state board is present at both exam. You knew what was coming on the compounding sections (an IV bag with reconstitution of a vial and likely the addition of another agent, making capsules, and then some liquid preperation) but that was about it. It wouldn't be bad to see the naplex/mjpe be like that. It would probably be a more secure test and the results would probably come in just as fast (I'm sure there would be less than 500 exams to grade statewide per session)
 
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pharm282819 said:
And I think everyone here has a right to be pissed. Some people were depending on getting licensed within the next month to HAVE A JOB. Employers who are short staffed and suffering might not want to hold the position open for another 3 or 4 months and let their co-workers suffer with being understaffed. Luckily pharmacy has a shortage so if you don't get this job, you'll likely get another one easily. Otherwise it could be costing a whole lot more than this.

I think if anyone loses a job because of this, they need to sue Flynn's ass and then sue the school of pharmacy he was teaching at for letting him do this at their location while they knew it was going on. Because it's just not fair. We're talking about 10's of thousands of dollars in wages lost from a delay in licensure over 3-4 months.
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more.

Is the NAPLEX suspended nationwide or just in Georgia?

Why is everyone else in other states who have never heard of dr. flynn being punished?

This sucks big time. I'll be done with my rotations next week and was gonna take the NAPLEX as soon as possible. :(
 
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rx28 said:
Couldn't agree more.

Is the NAPLEX suspended nationwide or just in Georgia?

Why is everyone else in other states who have never heard of dr. flynn being punished?

This sucks big time. I'll be done with my rotations next week and was gonna take the NAPLEX as soon as possible. :(
Click to expand...
Its nationwide...the MPJE is only suspended in Georgia.

The letter only stated there were integrity issues with the test. It never said what integrity issue specifically and it could be totally unrelated to Flynn Warren's current problem with the law. We don't know. Lets hope that NABP does the responsible thing and put out more information about their decision on Monday.
 
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On August 23, 2007, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy
convened an emergency
meeting of its Executive Committee to review the security involving
NABP's North American
Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) and the Georgia Multistate Pharmacy
Jurisprudence Examination (GA MPJE). The Executive Committee suspended
administrations of
the NAPLEX and GA MPJE effective immediately beginning Saturday,
August 25, 2007.
Candidates who are scheduled to sit for the examinations after that
date will be rescheduled for
an appointment later in 2007. No determination has been made at this
time as to when the
NAPLEX or GA MPJE examinations will be reinstated.

The decision to suspend the NAPLEX and GA MPJE was made to ensure that
the integrity of the
examinations is maintained and that NABP develop and provide only
valid and psychometrically
sound examinations to the state boards of pharmacy.

The NAPLEX and GA MPJE examinations will be reactivated as soon as
possible when NABP
is confident that both examinations are able to validly assess the
entry-level competence of
pharmacists to safely practice pharmacy. NABP and its testing
contractor, Prometric, will work
closely with the boards and candidates to reschedule candidates and
adjust a candidate's
individual eligibility determinations in accordance with the
availability of the examinations once
they are reinstated.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 847/391-4400 or
[email protected].

Thank you for your support.
 
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I was devastated when heard about this today. I was in the library studying and I had gotten a phone call from one of my classmates, she was scheduled to sit for the exam today. My exam was scheduled for mid September....I just can't believe this. I have been studying all summer, and just started a new job as a grad intern last month. Of course my training pharmacist is ready for me to take over my own store now, as I am myself.....student loans will be going into repayment for me in November....wow, I'm screwed financially if there is no resolution sooner than later. This really does have a huge impact on our lives...:mad:
 
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I don't like the 4 times per year thing. Here's the thing, I've been living in CA, but "finishing" pharm school in WA (woohoo clerkships). CA graduates early, so I wouldn't have been eligible to take their exam, which means flying back to WA to take the exam there which may be costly and time consuming. Plus, it gives an advantage to those who finish their clerkships early and can dedicate time to studying for the exams whereas those who finish clerkships later may have far less time to study and be at a disadvantage.

I've had no trouble with the NAPLEX or Prometric, they've been easy to deal with, and I was quite satisfied with the security measures taken where I took the exam. I think it's rough to punish everyone over a few test sites.

If they make the exam security harsher it will be like the CA law exam I'm trying to take right now through PSI. No lockers to keep your purse/phone, whatever might get stolen from your car in, and they wouldn't accept my ID because my middle initial isn't the same thing as my full middle name.

Oh, and I agree on class action lawsuits. Apparently the Boards like to do "reviews" all the time, leading to loss of our money. I think they should have to pay the difference in wages for the time during which you would have atually been licensed.

On the birght side though, if you failed the exam you may not get the results until you're able to take the exam again, no stress right ;)
 
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rx28 said:
Couldn't agree more.

Is the NAPLEX suspended nationwide or just in Georgia?

Why is everyone else in other states who have never heard of dr. flynn being punished?

This sucks big time. I'll be done with my rotations next week and was gonna take the NAPLEX as soon as possible. :(
Click to expand...

I disagree with the above poster. The integrity of the examination has been compromised. Whether this has happened at sites other than Georgia is ancillary to your argument: actual NAPLEX test questions were found. It is highly probable that this was not the only occurance, but this is speculation on my part.

How much do you think your NAPLEX score would be valued if you took the exam before NABP had a chance to address the issue? The profession? How do think admissions such as http://74.202.11.228/showthread.php?p=5295076 affect our profession? The NAPLEX is already trivial, but when "60 out of 185 questions were verbatim" the NABP needed to change the exam.

I do think it is irresponsible for NABP to recycle questions, as this invites the type of behavior seen in Georgia. It is possible to have constantly changing and challenging examination questions (the MCAT for example) so there is no excuse for the NABP not to emulate other vendors such as Princeton Review. As an aside, the NABP could definitely use a price adjustment: practice MCATs are FREE from Princeton Review, and their review materials (including actual MCAT tests from previous years) are much cheaper than NAPLEX review materials. And no mention of when the NAPLEX will resume? Rumors of January? How long can it take to re-write the exam? http://www.randomhouse.com/princetonreview/medical/?coupon=prbstore&ref=affpr&from=princetonreview

Finally, while I do sympathize with students waiting to take the examination, I feel that they should have taken the exam much sooner. A pass rate of 99.6% (in CA 4/05 to 9/05; 100% at my institution (USC)) should let everyone know just how trivial the NAPLEX is, and there is no excuse not to take the NAPLEX as soon as you have received permission from your state board. I finished the NAPLEX in 1 hour flat, scored 132, and my sole review was reading half of the APHA orange book 5 days before my examination. Considering that a passing score is 75/150 I definitely overprepared!
 
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curtisfong said:
Considering that a passing score is 75/150 I definitely overprepared!
Click to expand...

Don't believe this guy...study you butt off. I scored a 74 and I studied many different sources over a 2 month period, some would consider way over-kill. It just happened that I received a test version that I didn't know as well. I would guess that "curtisfong" just received a version he knew well. It really all depends on your version. And no, I am not a slacker. I have had a 3.6 gpa throughout pharmacy school and didn't wait until one week before the NAPLEX to study.
 
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Curtisfong you obviously learned a great deal of empathy during your training at USC. The fact that there was inappropriate judgement by a few to lead to all being punished is what is at the heart of the matter. The individuals that contributed are not taking responsibility for their actions. It is the innocent that are being punished. I would have taken the exam the day I was eligble, if only given the chance. Yet now I have to wait for Nov. It was not due to overpreparation or fear. It was simply due to circumstance. Thanks for your heart felt sentimance and the care that you give towards indivduals that have no control of National and State board actions, but have to deal with punitive damages nonetheless.
 
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my friend call up prometric, they told her that the earliest that she could reschedule for is Nov 1, so she took it.
Actually, i never got any cancellation notice from anyone, not nabp, not prometric, but i go try to reschdule it online anyway, the sytem come up some days in Oct too, but i pick Nov 1, since thats what prometric offer over the phone. But then i call NABP again, they said the date is not accurate, they dotn know when the naplex will be back....I am so down now..
all my loans are coming, intern permit will expire at Jan 08; and i dont even have a job because i was going to take naplex at Sep 5.
Really dont know what else I can do... i dotn blame flynn, hes only trying to help the students......Eventhough I wasnt benefit from it.
Can NABP really come up a new exam for such huge question bank?
 
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Dude, I think they used this board to catch him!

http://media.www.redandblack.com/me...haring.Licensure.Exam.Questions-2943246.shtml

As he further researched the issue, Pray said in the affidavit that he found an online forum where students discussed Warren's course.

"This Web site also discussed an individual named 'Flynn,' who offered a review course and notes on passing the NAPLEX," Pray said in the document. "One correspondent on the Web site suggested that prospective examinees review the comments sent to 'Flynn' by other students, and another provided his address at the University of Georgia."
Click to expand...

~meg
 
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Caverject said:
The four times a year deal seems like a better option. Have each school of pharmacy serve as a testing site and send people there on a Saturday to proctor the exam. Hell...make it scantron and get rid of the adaptive bullsh**. Either way, this whole situation just sucks royally if you haven't taken the exam.
Click to expand...

I profoundly disagree.

When I was licensing in MN, they had the stupid practical boards given twice a year. Because my graduation was 3 days after the practical exams, I could not license until January, which REALLY sucked. Also, passing the practical in the spring administration carried a stigma (because most of the Spring exams were given to people who failed the Summer practical). I'd rather have rolling exams to avoid being caught by different graduation dates. (The North Dakotans have the same issue with MN.)

I haven't seen how the NABP makes the exam "psychometrically sound." That would involve test-retest reliability, and I don't see it being done anedoctally.
 
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