The Value of Multiple Specialty Certifications
The advanced generalist practitioner manages a wide variety of patients and diseases with complex healthcare issues. They possess an advanced level of knowledge, skills, and experience with a broader breadth of patient/practice focus. The advanced focused practitioner manages a focused, medically complex population of patients, therapies, and/or technologies. They possess an advanced level of knowledge, skills, and experience with a narrow patient/practice focus. Maintaining a broad, advanced generalist certification, such as BCPS or BCACP, in addition to another specialty certification with narrower, focused competencies allows pharmacists to remain peripherally aware of developments in practice areas, disease states, and therapeutics outside of their daily practice.
Patients rarely present with a single disease state. Medication regimens often impact multiple body systems. Given these complexities, pharmacists with multiple certifications may be better positioned to provide integrated, holistic care.
Pharmacists are expected to be the medication expert on the healthcare team, regardless of whether a drug information question or consultation is directly related to their specialty practice area or not. Multiple certifications can provide board certified pharmacists with the confidence of a broader competency mastery.
Pharmacotherapy (BCPS) is attainable after PGY1 pharmacy residency completion or three years of practice and can be a stepping stone for new practitioners to secure a job that allows the pharmacist to specialize further and obtain a second certification.
Maintaining multiple certifications may increase career opportunities. Broad, advanced generalist certifications (i.e., BCPS, BCACP) can be particularly portable, regardless of career path.
Find Specialty Specific Requirements for Achieving Certification and Maintaining Certification
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Find Specialty Specific Requirements for Achieving Certification and Maintaining Certification
Maintaining Multiple Specialty Certifications
Multi-Certified pharmacists holding more than one BPS certification are assessed only one annual maintenance certification fee of $125 USD. The annual fee is not required in a recertification year, but the recertification application fee is required for each certification.
When applying for recertification or a new certification, all outstanding annual fees must be paid.
Failure to pay the annual fee by July 1 results in a change in certification status, which will be displayed on the certificant’s digital badge and on the public Find a Board-Certified Pharmacist directory. For a full list of status definitions, click here.
Multi-certified pharmacists delisting a credential in a recertification year are required to pay the annual certification maintenance fee for the remaining active credential(s).
Multi-certified pharmacists in a recertification year who do not request an official delist or submit a recertification application are required to pay the annual certification maintenance fee for the remaining active credential(s).
For more information about the annual maintenance certification fee visit the Upcoming Deadlines, Dates, and Fees webpage.
BPS-approved Professional Development Program (PDP) providers (aka recertification providers) that hold approval in multiple specialty areas may choose to offer recertification activities that count for more than one specialty certification. The content must align with the examination content outline for each specialty included.
Certificants can earn a maximum of 40 BPS-approved, assessed continuing pharmacy education (CPE) for multi-specialty credit within their seven-year certification cycle. Recertification providers have discretion to decide whether to offer multi-specialty activities and how many. When doing so, recertification providers must submit a proposal addendum to BPS for review by the relevant Specialty Councils. However, providers who have previously received approval for at least 20 CPE of multi-specialty recertification credit are exempt from submitting this addendum. Additional information was found in the previous request for proposal (RFP) document.
Certification cycles that start on or after January 1, 2024, have transitioned to the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) recertification framework.
If recertifying by CPE, certificants must earn 100 units, comprised of at least 80 units of assessed CPE from BPS-approved professional development programs and up to 20 units of self-reported continuing professional development (CPD) (assessed CPE can also satisfy this requirement).
CPD activities that align with multiple specialty examination content outlines may be claimed for CPD units for more than one specialty (up to all 20 CPD units).
For more information, please visit the Recertification Guide and CPD Frequently Asked Questions.
Review BPS-approved Professional Development Provider(s) that offer CPE for your specialty here.
For more information about the recertification process visit the Recertification FAQ.
For more information about CPD visit the CPD FAQ.
Find a Multi-Certified Pharmacist
and search for statistics on the number of certificants with multiple specialty certifications.
Growth in Multiple Specialty Certifications
Learn more about the value of obtaining and maintaining multiple specialty certifications.
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