What is FPGEE and FPGEE Blueprint for pharmacists

The FPGEC Certification program or FPGEE is accepted by more than 48 state boards of pharmacy as a means of documenting the educational equivalency of a candidate’s foreign pharmacy education. Foreign educated pharmacists succesfully passed FPGEC certification are considered to have partially fulfilled eligibility requirements for licensure in those states that accept the Certification.


I. General Sciences (15%)


A. Biology
1. Basic principles of living matter
2. Chemical basis of life
3. Cellular basis of plant and animal life
4. Morphology (including cell structure)
5. Genetics (including DNA/RNA information transfer)


B. Anatomy and physiology
1. Gross body structures and functions
2. Circulatory and cardiovascular systems
3 Hematologic, hepatic, and lymphatic systems
4. Gastrointestinal system
5. Urinary system
6. Respiratory system
7. Endocrine system
8. Reproductive system
9. Nervous system
10. Musculoskeletal system
11. Dermatological system
12. Eye, ear, nose, and throat


C. Pathogenic microbiology
1. Classification of microbiological disease agents
2. Characteristics and activities of microbiological disease agents
3. Etiology of infectious disease (viruses, bacteria, algae, protozoa, ameba, fungi, rickettsia, parasites, etc)
4. Pathogenic mechanism and host reaction
5. Infection control


D. Immunology
1. Organization of the immune system
2. Cells of the immune system
3. Cytokines
4. Immunoglobulins
5. Complement system
6. Autoimmune disorders
7. Methods of evading the immune system
8. Active and passive immunizations
9. Monoclonal antibodies
10. Vaccine technologies
11. Immunosuppressants
12. Immunostimulants
13. Adverse immune reactions


E. General chemistry
1 Nomenclature (IUPAC)
2. Atomic and molecular structure (including
physical forces of interaction)
3. States of matter (gases, liquids, solids)
4. Stoichiometry
5. Ionization and pH (not including buffers)
6. Chemical equilibrium and reactivity
7. Chemical thermodynamics
8. Chemical and instrumental analysis
9. Nuclear chemistry (radioactivity)


F. Organic chemistry
1. Nomenclature (IUPAC)
2. Molecular structures, bonding, resonance, tautomerism, stereochemistry
3. Functional group chemistry
4. Classes of compounds (structure and characteristics)
5. Types of reactions and reaction mechanisms (reduction, oxidation, addition, elimination, hydrolysis, substitution, etc)
6. Stoichiometry


G. Biochemistry
1. Descriptive chemistry, metabolic and biochemical roles, biosynthesis, biodegradation,
and nomenclature
2. Intermediary metabolism
3. Metabolic diseases
4. Nutrition biochemistry (vitamins, minerals, essential fatty and amino acids, etc)
5. Enzyme kinetics


II. Pharmaceutical Sciences (30%)


A. Fundamentals of drug action
1. Dose response relationships
2. Absorption, distribution, and elimination
3. Metabolism
4. Adverse reactions (toxicity, side effects, abuse, etc)


B. Interaction of drugs with biological systems
1. Relationship of chemical structure to biochemical mechanism of action
2. Stereochemical factors
3. Structure-activity relationships within a series of drugs
4. Drug design strategies and development (Prodrugs, isosteres, drug latentiation, etc)
5. Active medicinals from natural sources


C. Mechanism/Site of Action
1. Rationale for use of a drug (mechanistic, indication, and use)
2. Dosage regimen
3. Precautions, including contraindications and toxicity (patient age, weight, gender, disease factors, dosage schedule and pharmacokinetic factors, effects of other drugs, foods, and environmental factors, incompatible combinations)


D. Pharmakinetics
1. Basic concepts and principles
2. Bioequivalence and bioavailability
3. Pharmacokinetic models and quantification of absorption, distribution, and elimination
4. Multi-dose regimens
5. Linear and nonlinear pharmacokinetics
6. Functions and graphs


E. Kinetic phenomena
1. Decomposition mechanisms (hydrolysis, oxidation, racemization, decarboxylation, photochemical, etc)
2. Reaction kinetics (0, 1, 2 – order, rate law expressions, etc)
3. pH effects on stability (acid and base catalysis)
4. Stability prediction (including Arrhenius Law)
5. Incompatibilities
6. Diffusion


F. Solubility
1. Functional group effect on solubility
2. Factors affecting solubility and dissolution rate
3. Surfactants and micelles


G. Equilibria
1. Basicity and acidity (including buffers)
2. Partitioning phenomena
3. Complexation
4. Protein binding
5 Adsorption-desorption processes
6. Incompatibilities
7. Colligative properties


H. Dosage forms (traditional and novel)
1. Rationale for use
2. Characterization of the bulk drug (including micromeritics)
3. Preparation, processing, and function (including excipients)
4. Tests and criteria of performance
5. Definitions and nomenclature
6. Routes of administration


I. Pharmaceutical calculations
1. Metrology
2. Calculation of drug dosage from appropriate data
3. Calculation of moles, millimoles, milliequivalents, and milliosmols
4. Isotonicity calculations
5. Density, specific gravity, dilution, and concentration calculations


J . Pharmaceutical dispensing
1. Verification and interpretation of prescriptions
2. Performance of packaging and labeling functions
3. Extemporaneous compounding
4. Patient advising


K. Biotechnology
1. Principles
2. Methodologies
3. Products


III. Biomedical/Clinical Sciences (35%)


A. Epidemiology
1. Basic concepts of epidemiology (incidence, prevalence, risk ratio, etc)
2. Age-related disorders (pediatrics, geriatrics, etc)
3. Health promotion and disease prevention (risk factors for development of disease, vaccination schedules in normal hosts, post-exposure vaccinations/prophylaxis, wellness and self-care, etc)


B. Pathophysiology
1. Pathophysiologic alterations of disease (physical assessment, laboratory tests and home diagnostics, disease diagnosis, signs and symptoms of disease, etiology, etc)
2. Disease process (course of disease, prognosis, non-drug treatment, etc)
3. Drug-induced diseases


C. Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
1. Rational pharmacologic treatment of disease (drug of choice, rationale for selection, etc)
2. Monitoring of drug therapy (parameters of efficacy, parameters of toxicity, etc)
3. Adverse drug reactions (hypersensitivity reactions, dose-related reactions, prevention, etc)
4. Drug interactions
5. Individualization of drug dosage (clinical phannacokinetics, drug dosage in renal failure – dialysis, etc)


D. Clinical toxicology
1. Etiolo


E. Clinical nutrition
1. Nutrition-related disorders (obesity, protein/ calorie malnutrition, drug-nutrient interactions, etc)
2. Nutrition support (oral supplements, enteral nutrition, parenteral nutrition, etc)


F. Literature evaluation
1. Drug information resources (computer applications; primary, secondary, and tertiary literature, etc)
2. Clinical trial design (hypothesis testing, randomization, sampling, blinding, etc)
3. Statistical tests (descriptive statistics, parametric tests, non-parametric tests, etc)


IV. Economic, Social, and Administrativ Sciences (20%)


A. Health care economics
1. Health care costs (systems and pharmaceuticals)
2. Trends
3. Payment and reimbursement
4. Supply and demand (health care services, medicines/drug products, economic modeling, etc)
5. Economic evaluation of medicines and therapy (quality of life, outcomes [therapeutic/clinical/humanistic/cost], pharmacoecononiic analyses, DUE/DUR programs, etc)


B. Ethics/Jurisprudence
1. Jurisdiction: state vs federal
2. Statutes and regulations
3. Regulatory agencies – federal and state (FDA, Public Health, DEA, FTC, HCFA, etc)
4. Ethical principles and practice applications


C. Health care systems
1. Delivery of care/organizations
2. Private and public programs (Medicare/ Medicaid, insurance)
3. Types of non-pharmacist providers and their roles
4. Drug development process


D. Communication and information technology
1. Patient consultation
2. Health care professional communications
3. Barriers to communication
4. Information systems


E. Management
1. Financial management
2. Personnel management
3. Marketing management
4. Organization


F. Marketing
1. Health care professionals (influencing market)
2. Services
3. Advertising
4. Industry
5. Products


G. Professional practice settings, trends, and activities
1. Practice and practice interfaces (institutional, community based, educational/ academic, pharmaceutical industry, government, professional organizations, etc)
2. Trends (manpower/practice patterns, movements, issues, etc)
3. Practice activities of pharmacists


H. Social/Behavioral
1. Socialization/professionalism (development of professional identity, role conflict – internal and external, agents of socialization, effects of socialization in pharmacy, etc)
2. Illness/Behavior (models describing illness/ behavior, health belief models, effect of illness on significant others, strategies of intervention, self-care, etc)
3. Compliance (personal perception of illness, reinforcements, compliance measures, variables affecting compliance, patient education, compliance programs, etc)
4. Factors affecting drug use – legitimate and illicit (peer pressure, cultural considerations, environmental considerations, economic/income considerations, legal and political considerations, patient demographics, etc)

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