how hard is the MPJE exam?

[Goober]

This relative asked me to post. All she is studying is some little booklet they sent her regarding her state's law. Now she is wondering if it is enough.

Are there sample questions, do very many people fail this exam?

Any suggestions - Thx in advance.

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[baggywrinkle]

I just took the MPJE for Washington State.

The federal laws saved my butt The state laws were hard to study, there was no review guide, and no test questions for the state of washington

If you study for the same state you went to university in you will have no problem. If you study for another state you will be in the same boat as I was. Some states (California) do have review guides.

The red book was a very nice federal review for me
http://www.apothecarypress.com/

These two CD's have review tests that were very nice
http://www.pharmacyexam.com/b4.cfm

I wouldn't bother with a full review course unless you are very weak because they are very expensive.

TESTING FORMAT (sux)

90 computer based questions 60 actually count. The questions can be unfairly tricky and not straightforward at all.
You see one question at a time on your screen. You either know the answer or you don't. Once you have advanced to the next question there is no going back (!!!) So you cannot save the tough questions for later. You cannot use the exam as a reference. You cannot change your mind. Your first choice is your only choice. The exam is given at a local Sylvan Learning Center which is cool and results are posted from the board within a week. That was cool.

Sample Question from my exam illustrating how tricky the bastards are.

A customer brings you a bottle from another pharmacy and requests a transfer. You

a) copy the information from the bottle
b) copy the information from the bottle and speak with the patient for backround information about the prescription
c) get a new prescription from the physician

The correct answer - speaking with the pharmacist at the originating pharmacy was not even offered as a choice so I chose C

Lots of questions like that which talk around the subject requiring very intimate knowledge of the law to pick up what is not being said.

 

[GravyRPH]

I took the Nevada MPJE after studying what the state sent me and thought I bombed it. I guessed on a lot of questions but apparently I did well enough because I passed. I only basically studied a couple nights before and the laws seemed straightforward to what I was used to in Cali but they asked a lot of nitpicky detail questions. There must be a large curve or I am just a good guesser. *shrug*

 

[dgroulx]

Originally posted by baggywrinkle
The questions can be unfairly tricky and not straightforward at all

Sounds like pharmacy school, where they design questions to trick you and try to make you fail.

 

[Triangulation]

Originally posted by dgroulx
Sounds like pharmacy school, where they design questions to trick you and try to make you fail.

SC does not do so deliberately. It is just clear that what makes sense to the question makers conflicts with the logic of the test takers. I say this in spite of b*tchin constantly about the exams, but I do not think they're trying to trick us. I do think they sometimes write poor questions.

 

[EarlyEditionDude]

Do all PharmD students have to take the MPJE?

 

[GravyRPH]

California does not require it...or at least didn't. Their law questions were encompassed in their huge test. I'm not sure how that will change now that they are going to use the NABPLEX exam + their own test.

 

[lord999]

It depends on the state.

Thankfully, AZ has a relatively simple MPJE that has notoriety for stupid and nitpicky questions like pharmacy square footage, distributor licensing, and wholesaler rules (utterly pointless for 98% of practicing pharmacists).

NY, NJ, Florida, and Texas are considered the hardest MPJE's to pass in the nation. Texas has the largest set of codes and statutes in the nation, and quite a bit of it is redundant and pointless. NJ and NY, through their professional licensing boards, have draconian reputations about reciprocity and have a tendency to discipline their pharmacists left and right and call up old sins.

The key to passing MPJE is knowing your federal laws (Pharmacist Manual or CSA 1970, PDMA, HIPPA, EMTALA (some), ERISA (some), OBRA-90, MP-DIMA, and FD&C). forwards and backwards. DO NOT ignore the wholesaler and manufacturer standards in those laws, because MPJE can still hold you responsible for them. Use the state regulations for pharmacy operations and record-keeping requirements and for any exceptions to the federal statutes and regulations. Reading the State Board's newsletters over the past year or two doesn't hurt as new statutory and regulatory changes are generally announced in those publications.

 

[Triangulation]

This test sounds crappy as hel!!!! What's the passing rate for this thing?

 

[lord999]

For AZ, it's about 90% on first attempt. But you have to realize, that includes people who've never practiced in the state before. The pass rate for U of A and Midwestern is generally around 95% to 100%.

In TX, UT has a six year 100% streak on both state exams, and you can count on one hand the number of failures that Tech's had on either exam.

I really don't know about NJ, Florida, or NY. I know the UF people have Brushwood as a prof, which should guarantee some measure of passage.

 

[Triangulation]

that ain't bad

 

[lord999]

No, but the out-of-state passage rates are dismal in the states I mentioned <60%. It pays to spend a little time interning before pursuing reciprocity in a state.

 

[Triangulation]

I won't be leaving cali for a while, so not really worried about out-of-state passage.