I’ve had a concern come up with regard to candidates taking a BPS board exam that I wanted pharmacists to be aware of. BPS (Board of Pharmacy Specialties) oversees many common pharmacist board certifications such as BCPS, BCACP, BCGP, etc. Find the full list at the end of this post. The BPS exam format change should impact the way you prepare to take the exam. In the past, candidates like myself and others have been able to flag exam questions and come back to them later when taking the computerized exam. This way of taking the exam has ended as of 2024. From this point on, you will only be able to take a “forward-only” exam. This essentially means that once you answer a question, you will not be able to change your answer. In addition, you are not able to skip the question entirely and come back to it. If you elect to skip the question, it will be counted as incorrect. SO DON’T DO THAT!

Here is the official language from BPS that describes why the board certification exam format was changed:

“All items must be answered in the order they are presented, and a candidate is not able to skip items. Once a candidate confirms an answer choice and moves to the next item, the candidate will not be able to go back and change the response. There is no penalty for guessing and it is in the best interest of the candidate to answer every question. The forward-only exam navigation serves as a security measure for BPS Examinations and aligns with the best practices of several pharmacy examinations.”

My advice on the BPS exam format change is to do your practice exams and quizzes (at least some of them) in this manner. This will help you prepare for what will happen on exam day.

If you are looking for more information on pharmacist board certifications, please be sure to check out my videos on YouTube!

Looking for study materials? Find them here!

List of BPS Board Certifications

• Pharmacotherapy (BCPS)
• Ambulatory Care Pharmacy (BCACP)
• Geriatric Pharmacy (BCGP)
• Cardiology Pharmacy (BCCP)
• Compounded Sterile Preparations Pharmacy (BCSCP)
• Critical Care Pharmacy (BCCCP)
• Emergency Medicine Pharmacy (BCEMP)
• Infectious Diseases Pharmacy (BCIDP)
• Nuclear Pharmacy (BCNP)
• Nutrition Support Pharmacy (BCNSP)
• Oncology Pharmacy (BCOP)
• Pediatric Pharmacy (BCPPS)
• Psychiatric Pharmacy (BCPP)
• Solid Organ Transplantation Pharmacy (BCTXP)