New FPGEE Guideline

To the Editor. I am concerned by the new Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) guideline that requires all foreign pharmacy graduates to submit proof that they have successfully completed a 5-year program of pharmacy education in their respective countries. There is absolutely no indication by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy's (NABP's) Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination Committee (FPGEC) on how these guidelines will be implemented. The suggested new guideline does not provide any framework for prospective foreign pharmacy graduate applicants who are completing their pharmacy education in their respective countries in a 4-year program. As I know, not many of the countries that are the traditional suppliers of foreign pharmacy graduates (India, Egypt, Korea, Nigeria, etc) offer a 5- or 6-year pharmacy program. I would expect that NABP should come up with some suggestions that could ease some concerns among the foreign pharmacy graduates who have completed or are currently enrolled in a 4-year pharmacy program in their respective countries and plan to sit in the board's FPGEE. I propose a mandatory 6 - 8 credit hours of pharmacotherapeutics coursework for all foreign pharmacy graduates at an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education-accredited pharmacy institution along with a certain number of hours of clinical experience. I hope NABP would consider my suggestions and look sympathetically into the issue of new FPGEE requirement for foreign pharmacy graduates. Naushad M. Khan Ghilzai, PhD School of Pharmacy, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine