Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy (한국임상약학회지)

Korean College Of Clinical Pharmacy (한국임상약학회)
권호 표지

Comparison of Pharmacist License Examination between Korea and Canada

우리나라와 캐나다 약사면허 국가시험제도 비교

  • Received : 2015.01.30
  • Accepted : 2015.03.16
  • Published : 2015.03.31
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

A newly-structured Korean pharmacist license exam has been launched in 2015, reflecting upon the changes in the pharmacy curriculum from a 4 year program to a 6 year program in 2009. In order to provide new ideas to ensure that the new exam is one of the most effective pharmacist evaluations that have taken place thus far, this study was done to compare the pharmacy exams in Korea and Canada. One of the major differences noted between the two countries' exams is that along with paper based MCQ portion of the exam, Canada's exam also includes a performance-based section, known as OSCE, which the Korean Pharmacy Exam (KPE) does not have. Furthermore, with the MCQ portion of the exam, the Canadian exam asks about 300 questions, with 450 minutes of test time allocated and taken during a period of two consecutive days, the KPE asks 350 questions, with 325 minutes of test time allocated in one day. Although, similarly, many of the questions in both exams place emphasis on clinical or patient care, Canada's exam puts significantly more emphasis (50.5% of exam questions) on these types of questions than Korea (29.7% of exam questions). However, this percentage does not reflect the exact weight placed for the specific areas of knowledge it requires to answer these questions, since the types of questions asked in this section in Canada could be placed in another section on the KPE. Canada's exam also has more questions (10% +150 questions for BC) on the topics of law and ethics compared to the KPE (5.7%). The reason for this may be that the Canadian society puts emphasis on the legal and ethical duties of pharmacists as a leader. However, since each country is unique in their social, economical, and cultural points of view, comparing the KPE to the Canadian licensing exam and applying these differences to the new KPE may not be appropriate. One last thing to consider is that, as WHO/FIP mentioned, in good pharmacy practice, continually updating and developing an appropriate pharmacy exam with consideration of societal changes, is key to success in developing the scope of practice for current and future pharmacists.

Keywords

References

  1. Ministry of Government Legistration, available at www.law.go.kr (accessed on Dec. 29, 2014)
  2. NHPLEB (National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board), available at www.kuksiwon.or.kr/EngHome/context.aspx?page=sub_2_1&sub=6, (accessed on Jan. 5, 2015)
  3. KAPE (Korean Association of Pharmacy Education), available at www.ikape.or.kr (accessed on Sep. 7, 2014)
  4. NAPRA (National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities), available at napra.ca/pages/About/History.aspx (accessed on Jan. 5, 2015)
  5. Health Professions Act. (Pharmacist Regulation), available at, www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/417_2008 (accessed on Sep. 25, 2015)
  6. Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada (AFPC), available at www.afpc.info (accessed on Sep. 15, 2014)
  7. UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, available at pharmacy.ubc.ca/aboutus/overview (accessed on Sep. 18, 2014)
  8. NHPLEB (National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board), available at www.kuksiwon.or.kr/Publicity/Intro.aspx?PageName=EstablishPurpose&SiteGnb=1&SiteLnb=2 (accessed on Dec. 2, 2014)
  9. Joo SJ, Joo KS. 'The History of Pharmaceutical Service System in Korea'. Yakhak Hoeji 2014;58(6):405-12. https://doi.org/10.17480/psk.2014.58.6.405
  10. Yoo BK. Historical Transition and Future Task of Pharmacist License Examination in Korea. Korean J Clin Pharm., Vol. 24, No. 2. 2014
  11. Yoo BK. Comparison of Pharmacist and other Healthcare Professionals License Examination in Korea. Korean J Clin Pharm., Vol. 23, No. 1. 2013
  12. NHPLEB (National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board), available at www.kuksiwon.or.kr/Examination/OccuLicense.aspx?Page-Name=TimeTbl&JobCode=06&SiteGnb=8&SiteLnb=5(accessed on Jan. 8, 2015)
  13. Enforcement Rule of Korean Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (2015.1.5.)
  14. NHPLEB (National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board), available at www.kuksiwon.or.kr/EngHome/context.aspx?page=sub_3_1 (accessed on Jan. 6, 2015)
  15. The Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC), available at www.pebc.ca (accessed on Sep. 15, 2014)
  16. Ministry of Health in British Columbia, available at www.health.gov.bc.ca/professional-regulation/notice/pharmacy.html (accessed on Jan. 6, 2015)
  17. Ahn DH, et al. The Analysis of the OSCE in Psychiatry of Senior Medical Students. J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc 2001;40(6):1018-1030
  18. Jung AH, Jung SH, Kwon KH, A Comparative Study on the Continuing Professonal Development for the Pharmacists in Korea, Yakhak Hoeji 2014;58(4):277-85.
  19. NAPRA, available at www.napra.ca (accessed on Jan. 5, 2015)
  20. WHO (World Health Organization) available at apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Js2214e/ (accessed Dec. 28 2015)
  21. FIP (International Pharmaceutical Federation), available at www.fip.org (accessed Dec. 28, 2014)
  22. Park HK. The impact of introducing the Korean Medical Licensing Examinaton clinical skills assessment on medical education. J Korean Med Assoc 2012;55(2):116-23. https://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2012.55.2.116
  23. Austin Z, et al. INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT Development and Validation Processes for an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for Entry-to-Practice Certification in Pharmacy: The Canadian Experience, Am J of Pharmaceutical Education 2003;67(3):Article 76.
  24. College of Pharmacists of British Columbia, www.bcpharmacists.org (accessed on Sep. 10, 2014)
  25. Ontario College of Pharmacists, available at www.ocpinfo.com (accessed Jan. 5, 2015)