Assessing the relationship between curricular placement of law courses and multistate pharmacy jurisprudence examination pass rates

Objective

To identify if there is a relationship between the placement of standalone pharmacy law courses within the PharmD curriculum and Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination (MPJE) first-time pass rates.

Methods

Colleges of pharmacy were identified using the MPJE Passing Rates for 2019–2022 Graduates found on the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) website. Characteristics of the pharmacy law content delivery within the curriculum were extracted from the program, Pharmacy College Application Service, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), and NABP websites. Pharmacy programs with standalone law courses, MPJE pass rates reported by NABP, and data that could be obtained via publicly available sources were included. To standardize between three year and four-year programs, law course delivery within the curriculum was measured as number of semesters (fall, spring, or summer) before graduation.

Results

One hundred nine schools met the inclusion criteria. Linear path analysis revealed no relationship between the number of semesters a law course was scheduled before graduation and 4-year average first-time MPJE pass rates and 4-year average all-time MPJE pass rates.

Conclusion

The findings did not show that earlier placement of pharmacy law courses predicted MPJE first-time pass rates. However, a strong correlation existed between NAPLEX and MPJE pass rates, suggesting NAPLEX performance may indicate overall licensure exam preparedness. Notable differences in pass rates were observed between public and private pharmacy programs, highlighting the need to investigate program characteristics impacting exam success. Further research is warranted to identify predictive factors for MPJE outcomes.