Psych! BCPP

[Keyoda]

Anyone know details on certification requirements to become a Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP)?

Specifically, if you can work part time for 4 years at a psychiatric institution and qualify to sit for the exam to meet the following eligibility requirement:

😕Completion of four (4) years of practice with at least 50% of time spent in psychiatric pharmacy activities (as defined by the BPS Psychiatric Pharmacy Content Outline)😕

http://www.bpsweb.org/specialties/psychiatric.cfm

I asked a BCPP I tech w/ if they ask how many hours you work per week and he said on the application all they ask is what % of time you spend on psych activities. He said the application is no big deal; you just have to pass an exam that you can't study for b/c you need to live the life to be up-to-date w/ current guidelines. I'd appreciate any further insight you guys may have. Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[pharm B]

I'm assuming that by part time, you mean 20 hours/wk. That logically makes 50% (since it's half of full time hours). I tried to open the application, but apparently the window is closed.

Does anyone know how the scheduling works for this?

 

[Keyoda]

See that's the thing I'm wondering about.

I was told they don't ask about hours on the application, but what if you work per diem?

20 hours? 10 hours? 4 hours (1 shift q2weeks)?

sorry the link didn't work, the requirements I'm asking about can be found at www.bpsweb.org under the specialty tab.

 

[pharm B]

Oh no, I was able to get to the page. They have an online application to fill out (which I thought would answer the question about hours vs. percent), but the app for 2010 is closed.

 

[Keyoda]

I know its so annoying!

It's been closed since I started checking in September w/ no word of when it re-opens.

 

[Dalteparin]

The tests are always given in October. Registration opens in May/June and closes in early August. This year, the registration deadline was August 1. (I took BCPS in October and I saw some new/renewing BCPPs at the same test center.)

If you've been working part-time at a psych hospital and the only patients you deal with are psych patients, you probably have the same experience for the test as someone who works full-time at a general hospital with a psych unit and spends part of their time dealing with other patients.

As for how to study, I got most of my BCPS study materials from ACCP (www.accp.com) so you might check them for BCPP.

Good luck!

 

[Keyoda]

Thanks for the reply.

What about working part time at a general hospital w/ a psych unit. What if you only work 10 hours per week there but half of your time is devoted to the psych unit?

The requirements just seem really vague to me. Perhaps it will be more clear when the site opens up again in the spring (thanks for that info, saves me from checking the site every week/month until then haha)

 

[Dalteparin]

Thanks for the reply.

What about working part time at a general hospital w/ a psych unit. What if you only work 10 hours per week there but half of your time is devoted to the psych unit?

The requirements just seem really vague to me. Perhaps it will be more clear when the site opens up again in the spring (thanks for that info, saves me from checking the site every week/month until then haha)

I'm afraid that the info you've received from them is all you're going to get. They will not check on you to see if you actually meet the requirements, so they really don't need to go into more detail.

BTW, I'm not sure why your friend said you couldn't study for BCPP; I've never taken BCPP but studying certainly helped for BCPS.

 

[pharm B]

I asked the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacy List about this and a person who responded said I could post this as his open response:

The experiential requirement for potential candidates for the BPS Psychiatric Pharmacy Specialty Examination is not intended to exclude a candidate, but to assure that the candidate has adequate practice experience of sufficient rigor specifically in behavioral health practice to successfully complete the board certification process. If there are specific questions beyond that information cited on the BPS website (http://www.bpsweb.org/specialties/psychiatric.cfm) , interested parties are encouraged to contact the BPS Executive Director or the chairperson of the BPS Psychiatric Specialty Council (found at http://www.bpsweb.org/about/council_psychiatric.cfm.).

I was also told the following by another BCPP.

You can plead your individual case with BPS. I did a Geri residency and worked on a psych unit for 2 years. I was permitted to sit for the exam.

Based on both of the above statements, I think it's safe to say that the experience requirement isn't a hard and fast one, so much as it is a loose definition of how much experience they expect you to have when you sit the exam.

Hope this helps! 😉

 

[Keyoda]

Who's got 2 thumbs and thanks you for your post?
👍 This guy! 👍

Great response, I really appreciate you going out of your way to find this
answer.

Your post puts the conversation I had w/ a BCPP into perspective.
That must have been what he meant by "living the life"