Qualifying Examination to Practice Pharmacy

Introduction

The Qualifying Examination to Practice Pharmacy is pre-requisite for pharmacist registration with the Pharmacy Board of Malaysia (PBM).

• It is held 3 times a year to examine candidates' knowledge and ability to apply Malaysia laws regulating the sale and supply of medicinal products from pharmacies.

Category of Applicants

The following groups of applicants are eligible to sit for the examination:

• Pharmacy graduates who are the citizens of Malaysia and wish to register as Provisionally Registered Pharmacists (PRP).
• Pharmacist who are the citizens of Malaysia with a qualification recognized by the PBM and have been registered in a foreign country and intend to get registered in Malaysia as Fully Registered Pharmacist (FRP).
• Registered pharmacists who are non-citizens of Malaysia and have been registered as pharmacist in the country of origin with a qualification recognized by the PBM and intend to apply for Temporary Registration in Malaysia.
• Third year pharmacy students and fourth year pharmacy students from a recognized pharmacy program who are citizens of Malaysia.

Examination Format

• 100 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) in open book format.
• All questions shall be answered within 3 hours and 30 minutes.
• Each question has 4 options with a single correct response only.
• The passing mark is 50%.
• This exam contains negative marking. Right answer carries 1 mark and 0.25 negative mark for each wrong answer will be deducted. No marks will be deducted for questions not attempted.
• Candidates are allowed to refer to the relevant acts/regulations, Code of Conduct for Pharmacists and Bodies Corporate, references regarding Malaysian National Medicines Policy and Good Governance for Medicine.

References

• Malaysian Laws on Poisons & Sale of Drugs (version 2023) which includes of:
• Poisons Act 1952 and Regulations
• Poisons (Psychotropic Substances) Regulations 1989
• Sale of Drugs Act 1952
• Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984
• Registration of Pharmacists Act 1951 and Regulations
• Medicines (Advertisement & Sale) Act 1956 and Regulations
• Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and Regulations
• Code of Ethics for Pharmacists 2018
• Malaysian National Medicines Policy (DUNas) 2017-2021
• Good Governance for Medicine (GGM), 2009

Examination Tips

Hopefully, these examination tips are still relevant.

• Certain wordings in the legislation books are difficult to understand. Relating them to real practice will help a lot. If you have zero ideas on Malaysia legislation system, you may digest what is already discussed in legislation posts in this blog.
• Since examination is an open book format, some may underestimate the difficulty of the examination. You should be familiar yourself with the source of information. For example, do you know in which act, it mentions about Pharmacy Board and Drug Control Authority? How would I know if a drug is Group B poison, Group C poison, psychotropic substance or dangerous drug? If not, you will be having panic attacks in the examination session.
• Since you need to answer 100 MCQs in 210 minutes, you should only spend roughly 2 minutes on each question. In the examination session, try not to verify each option of answer with the references, but to only check those in doubt. Make a remark on the questions that you want to spend more time later and skip to the next question.
• Questions could be tricky. For example, you should know the difference in legislation requirements for a fresh pharmacy graduate in oversea and fully registered pharmacist in oversea to be fully registered in Malaysia.
• Try to familiarise yourself with pass years or university exam questions. This will enhance your understanding of the law.

All the best in the exam!