Pharmacotherapy
Pharmacotherapy is that area of pharmacy practice that is responsible for ensuring the safe, appropriate, and economical use of drugs in patient care. The pharmacotherapy specialist has responsibility for direct patient care, often functions as a member of a multidisciplinary team and is frequently the primary source of drug information for other healthcare professionals. Those who are granted certification in this specialty may use the designation Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist and the initials BCPS, as long as certification is valid.
Eligibility Requirements
The minimum requirements for this specialty certification are:
- Graduation from a pharmacy program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) or a program outside the U.S. that qualifies the individual to practice in the jurisdiction.
- Current, active license to practice pharmacy in the U.S. or another jurisdiction.
- Completion of three (3) years of practice experience with at least 50% of time spent in pharmacotherapy activities (as defined by the BPS Pharmacotherapy Content Outline)
OR
Completion of a PGY1 residency *.
*Effective January 1, 2013, only residencies accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists(ASHP) or residency programs that are under active consideration for accreditation by ASHP are creditable for this purpose. - Achieving a passing score on the Pharmacotherapy Specialty Certification Examination
Examination Content
(Refer to the Pharmacotherapy Content Outline for details.)- Domain 1: Patient-specific Pharmacotherapy (60% of the examination)
- Domain 2: Retrieval, generation, interpretation and dissemination of knowledge in pharmacotherapy (25% of the examination)
- Domain 3: Systems and Population-based Pharmacotherapy (15% of the examination)
Recertification
Recertification for Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialists (BCPS) is an assessment of a practitioner's knowledge and skills through one of two methods:- Achieving a passing score on the 100-item, multiple-choice objective recertification examination, based on the content outline of the certification examination; OR
- Earning 120 hours of continuing education credit provided by a professional development program approved by BPS.
BCPS recertifying are required to earn 120 hours of credit from approved programs. No more than 60 hours may be earned prior to the end of the fourth year of certification. However, all 120 hours may be earned during the last three years of certification. Those using PSAP for recertification should note that there is a postmark deadline for submission of the tests for recertification credit. The BCPS Expiration Date of a PSAP module determines the year the program is creditable, regardless of when it is completed and submitted by the certificant. For example, a module due on January 20 of a particular year will only be credited for that year, even if it was submitted in December of the previous year. You can download a PSAP completion chart by clicking here.
Please note the following regarding the additional continuing education offerings for recertification:
- The “Pharmacotherapy Preparatory Review and Recertification Course" may be completed for recertification credit, either in live or home study format, up to two times, in nonconsecutive years during the 7-year recertification cycle.
- Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialists may participate in the “Clinical Reasoning Series” every year throughout their 7-year recertification cycle to earn recertification credit.
