Preparing for the 2026 BCGP exam can feel overwhelming, especially if you haven’t studied geriatric pharmacotherapy in a structured way for a while. The Board Certified Geriatric Pharmacist (BCGP) credential continues to grow in value as pharmacists take on expanded roles in long-term care, ambulatory care, and interdisciplinary geriatric teams. The 2026 exam maintains several unique features that pharmacists should understand.

The BCGP exam consists of 150 multiple-choice questions, and candidates have approximately 90 seconds per question to complete it. With this pace, efficient decision-making is critical. The exam is intentionally fast-moving, and spending too much time on complex clinical scenarios can quickly cause you to fall behind.

One of the most underestimated aspects of the exam is the importance of geriatric terminology and non-pharmacotherapy concepts (full content outline found here). Polypharmacy definitions, frailty, ADL/IADL interpretation, Beers Criteria terminology, deprescribing principles, assessment tools, caregiver dynamics, and fall-risk contributors are all commonly tested. Many candidates expect a heavy pharmacology focus, but the exam evaluates the full scope of geriatric care—often requiring you to apply functional and safety considerations before medication adjustments. Do NOT be caught off guard by this!

Another exam nugget is that all medications appear in generic names only, and no laboratory values are provided. You must know which labs are relevant to which medications, typical lab ranges, and how abnormalities would influence medication decisions without actually seeing them.

A continued benefit for 2026 and beyond is the flexibility of continuous testing. Instead of being limited to the traditional spring and fall testing windows, candidates can schedule the exam throughout the entire year. This allows pharmacists to plan around work schedules, residency responsibilities, family obligations, or key study milestones instead of rushing preparation to meet a narrow deadline. Another helpful update is that exam results are now reported immediately after the exam is completed, eliminating the long waiting periods historically associated with many board certification exams.

The BCGP exam has maintained a pass rate of around 50 percent, reflecting its challenging and broad nature. What causes so many pharmacists to fail the BCGP exam? Many pharmacists overestimate their knowledge of geriatric terminology and ability to answer case-based questions. Using high-quality study materials, practicing timing, and reviewing geriatric-specific principles—not just drug therapy—can significantly improve performance. We’ve gone through the BCGP content outline line by line and made sure you are covered.

The Meded101 BCGP study materials (updated annually) can be found here!

For more information, see my discussion about the 2026 BCGP exam in the Youtube Video below: