EDWARDSVILLE - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy (SOP) students continue to enhance their academic profile among the nation’s best in board pass rates and assessments.
The SOP Class of 2018 North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination® (NAPLEX) board pass rate was 97.3 percent, which was No. 1 in both Missouri and Illinois, and ranked 19th nationally among 135 pharmacy schools. The NAPLEX exam measures a student’s knowledge of the practice of pharmacy.
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The SOP students exceeded both the NAPLEX national average of 89.5 percent and state average of 84.4 percent. When all 10 graduating classes (2009-2018) are combined, SIUE’s 95.9 percent first attempt board pass rate ranks No. 1 among the eight programs in Illinois and Missouri.
“Our continued success in NAPLEX performance reflects our high-quality students, their hard work, and an excellent curriculum delivered by our dedicated faculty and staff,” said SOP Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs Jingyang Fan, PharmD.
For third-year students who took the Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment (PCOA), the Class of 2019 ranked 16th among 136 pharmacy schools that took the exam in 2018. PCOA is generally administered to third-year students prior to their experiential rotations during their fourth year and intends to measure students’ knowledge base and readiness for their experiential rotations.
Today’s pharmacists improve patients’ lives through the medication and education they provide. Dedicated to developing a community of caring pharmacists, the SIUE School of Pharmacy curriculum is nationally recognized as a model that offers students a unique combination of classroom education, research, community service and patient care. The School of Pharmacy’s areas of excellence include a drug design and discovery core; pediatric practice; chronic pain research and practice; and diabetes research and practice. As the only downstate Illinois pharmacy doctorate program, the SIUE School of Pharmacy is addressing the growing need for highly trained pharmacists in a rapidly growing field.
