Examination Format
There are 175 questions on each BPS specialty certification examination. Four-option multiple choice questions constitute the majority of exams; however, alternate item types, such as drag and drop and hotspot, may be used. Each question is carefully written, referenced, and validated to determine its accuracy and applicability. New regulations, drugs, and therapies are incorporated annually into the examinations. All BPS specialty certification examinations reflect current, best practices, at the time they are constructed – practice guidelines used for the Spring examination are those that are current as of January 1 of the testing year and practice guidelines for the Fall examination are those that are current as of July 1 of the testing year. Official United States Adopted Name (USAN) generic names are used on all BPS examinations for all drug products, when possible.
The recertification examinations are 100 questions in length administered over a 2 hour, 30 minute testing period.
Once the candidate has been checked-in, he/she will be escorted by testing staff to a workstation. The candidate must remain at the workstation unless authorized to leave by test site staff. Candidates may not leave the room without test site staff permission. If the candidate leaves the testing room without permission prior to completing his/her examination, he/she will forfeit the testing appointment and there will be no refund of testing fees.
Test site staff will provide the candidate with an erasable note board and pen, which may be replaced as needed during the test. The candidate may not remove the note boards or pens, and candidates are not allowed to use their own scratch paper or writing tools.
