How to Request a New Pharmacy Specialty
BPS Specialty Certification Examinations are Peer Developed and Recognized
An essential and exceptional element of the BPS certification process is its dependence on an expanded peer group for both specialty recognition and exam content. Once a specialty area has been recognized, a Specialty Council of content experts works with the BPS and its highly qualified psychometric team to develop a bank of test items.
Each BPS Specialty Council is comprised of at least ten members who are board-certified in that specialty area. Each Specialty Council may include up to two additional members, each of whom may be either board-certified in that specialty area or a pharmacist not certified in that specialty area but with other qualifications and/or expertise pertinent to the specialty area. In addition, BPS routinely solicits questions from practitioners working in the field, ensuring a democratic examination with real-life relevance.
Certification examinations are administered at designated sites throughout the USA and other countries. To ensure that knowledge and skills are maintained at the specialty level, each BPS pharmacist must recertify every seven years.
BPS continually evaluates and updates its certification and recertification processes. Approximately every five years, a new job analysis is conducted for each specialty, with examinations modified accordingly.
