Pharmacy What should I do about lack of School of Pharmacy Support and Graduation

[TMP-SMX]

Hi there, I have a really conflicting and confusing question, but I have registered here mainly due to lack of communication from my fellow peers, but mostly the school of pharmacy.

To get a better picture, I have to somewhat give the full story for understanding and hope for some guidance.

Summary of the Story:

I was a PharmD Candidate of 2018, who had to go on leave of absence as of November 2018 and restarted my rotations as a P4 in June 2018. I had undergone through the graduation ceremony in May 2018, and finished my rotations as of November 2018.

I had initially received discipline and also assistance in terms of mental health from the school of pharmacy from December 2018 to June 2018.

However, upon completion of my November 2018 rotation, the school of pharmacy had not been able to provide me any supportive information in order to take my boards examination and the processes in which I must undergone in order to be licensed as a pharmacist.

Initially I was told in May 2018 to follow-up after I finish my rotations for more information, and any information given to me for the May 2018 graduates should be ignored and not concerned at the time.

I was also under the impression that as soon as I finish my last rotation, I would have an authorization to test be sent following completion, but unfortunately was not informed by the school of pharmacy until a week following a request to "post final grades" in January 2019. It was only then when I asked if they had to wait for final grades to be finalized was when one of the associate deans have informed me.

I had sent e-mails to the head associate dean in December 2018, and also a follow-up a week ago, and have not heard back of any information or supportive instructions to help me get licensed as a pharmacist.

The school of pharmacy was aware of my financial struggles and I had to emphasize that the timing of the examination was crucial in order to meet my financial obligations in 2019.

Now it is February 2019, and I have still not been notified by the school of pharmacy.

I am unsure what I need to do to be registered as a pharmacist, and unsure if there is any legal action I can pursue against the school of pharmacy for lack of student support and guidance.

Please let me know if anyone can help me with this, as this has been stressful, aggravating and further providing poorer mental health to me.

Have you met in person with the people you emailed?

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[Raryn]

I'll start with a caveat that I am not in any way a pharmacist. I am a licensed physician so that's the system I know well, but since you haven't gotten an answer yet I'd try to take a stab at it.

From what I can tell, to become a licensed pharmacist you need to get your diploma, then after graduation you personally apply in the relevant state where you want to get a license, then schedule and take the NAPLEX. There's a bulletin from the relevant authority that describes the NAPLEX registration process.

Each state has further steps to the application process that likely involve taking a second exam (on pharmacy law), getting fingerprinted, providing transcripts, etc, etc - but it seems to me that the role of your school is minimal after you get your diploma - they'll just need to send transcripts in when requested.

Have you actually graduated yet? Like, do you have a copy of your diploma? If so, have you simply tried going to the relevant state board of pharmacy website to see if you can just simply start the license application? I checked a few random states and it looks fairly straightforward (but again, IANAP).

If you don't have a copy of your diploma, I'd suggest calling the registrars office at your institution. Or even just walking in.

edit: fixed a broken link

 

[Raryn]

Hi there, I actually have my diploma and graduated. I have already also registered and applied on the NABP website as of January 5th, 2019 and still no updates.

Prior to completion of my Advanced Pharmacy Practice Education Rotations, November 30th. I was informed that once I finished rotations, the head dean was going to send an authorization to test to the board of pharmacy. Come around mid-january, after I registered on the NABP website, I sent a clarification e-mail to the associate dean I keep in contact with, and they did not clarify nor inform me they had to wait until final grades were posted.

My diploma stated I graduated as of December 31st, 2018. However, they waited until after January 11th to send final grades. (I am still unsure nor got confirmation that they sent an authorization to test to the board of pharmacy).

Hope this clarifies things.

Why not just contact the board of pharmacy and ask them if they received the information from your school necessary for you to sign up for the test? If they did, it looks like you can just do everything else on your own. If they didn't, then start going through the appropriate actors at your school. The eligibility to take the test from your state pharmacy board is what you need right now so just ask them where they are in the process.

 

[BC_89]

If you’ve registered and utilized / signed up on the NABP portal with grades now finalized, did the dean explicitly say that your grades were expedited to Complete the process? Saying and confirming are two separate things unfortunately.

I’m very limited in the predicament your in during your time of what I’d call an “uncertainty-limbo”. Perhaps an experienced faculty pharmacist could shed some light on this:

paging @lord999

 

[lord999]

Ok, please don't feel horrid, I need to ask a couple of clarifying questions of you. I've actually seen some of these scenarios play out as faculty.

1. I realize that you have the degree, but do you have an official transcript from the institution that you attended that shows Degree Conferred or the equivalent? If not, you need it, and if you do not have it, the ATT cannot proceed. In fact, the certification step is irrelevant without it.

2. In the state that you are attempting to license in, was the nature of your leave of absence something that could force a practice restriction? If so, there are certain documentation steps that occur, and you were informed of them prior to or during your leave of absence. Please do not write the actual incident, just whether or not you got the corresponding documentation in writing as to your disposition.

Something you should know, no one can force an ATT without grades posting and the case file reviewed. My own personal case, I literally went into the state Board will everything the day of graduation and the Associate Dean was the incumbent President at the time and immediately signed off, and it was 21 days before my ATT was issued. There's very little in the way of guarantees given.

For the NABP site though, the site coordinator gets emailed daily and the company who runs it forces a personal follow-up in 5 business days for pending cases that hinge on it. The Dean rarely if ever has anything to do with this; it's handled through Student Services as the day to day administration is never in a Dean's hands for this.

 

[lord999]

I have the official transcript. It states the degree has been awarded. I also have contacted the Board of Pharmacy too, and they informed me they have received nothing from the Dean of the school of pharmacy. There is specific information the dean sends out to the board of pharmacy, but I guess the dean has not done anything on their end.

The board of pharmacy did tell me that I have done everything on my end, and they have been waiting on the dean to send out the information needed.

Thank you for answering, then if there are no issues from the Board (that regards question 2 on the reporting matters), then it really is your school that is the hold up. I generally don't recommend on suing them, but I would basically keep on the Board's and the NABP application help site because that's their problem to force the interaction as you have already done your due diligence. Your transcript with degree conferred can be used to challenge the Board if they drag it out more than two months (although the norm is 5 business days for the certification and usually completed that same day).