how long does it usually take after graduation to become a licensed pharmacist?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
S

steveysmith54

Member
Verified Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
2,351
Reaction score
1,406
I understand this differs a LOT.

But, lets say in California it is required to have 1500 hours to apply for licensure as well as passed NAPLEX+CPJE.

Some of these hours can be completed by school rotations, right?

So, on average how many month does one work as a intern following graduation?

If one takes the exams right after graduation, how many month till results are received? Plus registration process?

Just ball park numbers, please....

thanks
Members don't see this ad.
 
Took the boards in june.
Got the licenses in august.

4th year rotation counted towards hours.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
We didn't have internet then. And the pony express was quite slow. And they hand graded the exam.
 
I work with pharmacists who have been licensed and practicing within 1 to 2 weeks of graduation. In this state you can start earning intern hours after 1 week of your PI year, so you could easily have all of your intern hours before gradation (and almost everyone does). Here you need NAPLEX plus the state law exam to be licensed. I think that the NAPLEX results were in within 2 to 3 days and their license number was assigned later that day.

Another new pharmacist we have went to school out of state and it took her school over 2 months to release her authorization to test to NAPLEX, so it depends a lot on the state and the school.
 
For Arizona, the fastest licenses out of my year was my best friend and myself.

Graduated June 5th,
First exam June 23,
Second exam June 24,
Licensed June 26...

It's slower now though, but it was great then. The major part of the time was waiting for ATT clearance from the Board.
 
cycloketocaine said:
I think he must have graduated with my grandpa.........:smuggrin:
Click to expand...


I'm older than your grandpa...and I took a mail in correspondence course to get my rx degree.
 
The fastest I know is about a month.. depends on the state - if there are several pharmacy schools, and you happen to go to one which graduates a week or more later - good luck getting a NAPLEX spot in the next couple months. Also, some states' Boards are much slower than others in processing your paperwork. Getting licensed in another state than the one you went to school takes longer because the boards have to communicate with each other. There are many factors. Two to three months is the average, probably.
 
Or you could get stuck in both the naplex suspension AND a CPJE QA assessment. Naplex is / will be suspended until November supposedly. And CPJE QA just started Sept 1st and requires 400 people to take the exam before they give out results.

In other words, there might not be a single pharmacist getting licensed in CA from now until next year. Not sure where they think 400 people are going to come from to take the CPJE when most already probably took it after they graduated in May.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Similar to Epic - took the boards in June - got the result in Aug & yes, it was hand graded. But, that made sense - I wasn't allowed to use a calculator. I used a slide rule - REALLY!

As soon as I got my money back to Sac I was licensed. I sent it by Western Union with a verbal response requested for my license #. I got that by phone the same day.....my pay doubled that day!

What a day!!!

And yes - I am decrepitly old, but with abosolutely amazing legs!!!
 
sdn1977 said:
Similar to Epic - took the boards in June - got the result in Aug & yes, it was hand graded. But, that made sense - I wasn't allowed to use a calculator. I used a slide rule - REALLY!

As soon as I got my money back to Sac I was licensed. I sent it by Western Union with a verbal response requested for my license #. I got that by phone the same day.....my pay doubled that day!

What a day!!!

And yes - I am decrepitly old, but with abosolutely amazing legs!!!
Click to expand...
I HATE slide rules. I took chemistry when I was a sophomore in high school(which was a year earlier than everyone else). I had to use one of those decrepit things. My teacher went on sabbatical the second half of the year, so I only had to use that stupid device for a little while. All of the people I graduated with had that teacher for two semesters though, because they took him a year later, so I guess I lucked out.
His goal was to force us to understand the difference between .01, .001, and .0001, etc. He wanted us to know that numbers meant more than what magically appeared on the calculator screen.
 
I do like that Sam Cooke song Wonderful World though:
"Don't know much about geography
Don't know much trigonometry
Don't know much about algebra
Don't know what a slide rule is for.

But I do know that one and one is two,
And if this one could be with you,
What a wonderful world this would be."
 
PharmDstudent said:
I HATE slide rules. I took chemistry when I was a sophomore in high school(which was a year earlier than everyone else). I had to use one of those decrepit things. My teacher went on sabbatical the second half of the year, so I only had to use that stupid device for a little while. All of the people I graduated with had that teacher for two semesters though, because they took him a year later, so I guess I lucked out.
His goal was to force us to understand the difference between .01, .001, and .0001, etc. He wanted us to know that numbers meant more than what magically appeared on the calculator screen.
Click to expand...

Those were NOT the good old days. Its much, much better today.
 
I had my hours done way before graduation.

grad date Dec 15 (summer rotations rulz)
naplex+mjpe taken by the end of dec/early jan
licensed Jan 14

because of summer rotations, I made aprox 30k before most of my class was even done with rotations. one of the best decisions I ever made...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

S
Pharmacist salary after graduation?
2
Replies
54
Views
9K
radio frequency
radio frequency
C
Cdn pharmacist licensed in Michigan transferring to another state
Replies
1
Views
605
rxpharmacistan
R
R
getting into Pharmacy school /becoming a pharmacist with a sex offender registration in California
Replies
8
Views
2K
gwarm01
G
P
Immunizing pharmacist CVS
Replies
0
Views
544
pharmdeep
P
A
Is this real? 300k income as a pharmacist?
2
Replies
50
Views
6K
pharm B
pharm B
Top