FAMU pharmacy students, parents 'disheartened' as exit exam determines graduation status

It’s graduation season, but what should be a celebratory moment isn't for some Florida A&M University’s pharmacy students and their parents.

Here's why: If the expected graduating class of FAMU’s College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Public Health (CoPPS IPH) does not pass a required exit exam, those students will not receive degrees.

Although pharmacy students who have not passed the exam yet would be able to walk in their FAMU commencement ceremony 6 p.m. Friday at the Al Lawson Center, according to FAMU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Allyson Watson, they would not officially be graduating.

Over 100 participants were in a Zoom meeting Tuesday, April 23, in which students and parents aired their concerns and fears to Dean Johnnie Early and Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs Jocelyn Spates. A few faculty members and alumni were also on the call.

“This exit exam shouldn’t define us as students, and one exam shouldn’t hold us back from getting our degrees,” said Annaya Morrison, a fourth-year doctor of pharmacy candidate at FAMU.

At the end of the six-year pharmacy program, student pharmacists must take a 100-question comprehensive exam designed to evaluate their level of competence prior to graduation and receive a minimum passing grade of 75%, according to FAMU’s Comprehensive Examination Policy.

The college’s exam is meant to prepare students for the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX), a standard test created by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy that will qualify them as licensed pharmacists.

The student pharmacists — 84 testers this year — have five attempts to meet the comprehensive exam’s minimum percentage, but many of them have struggled to get a passing grade on the rigorous test during the first two tries.

While 12% of the 2023-2024 FAMU cohort of student pharmacists passed the mandatory comprehensive exam on the first attempt, 39% passed on the second attempt.

'Helping them to bone up'

Spates says it is not unusual to see a low pass rate on the first attempt. The percentage tends to increase by the third attempt, where the pharmacy program had a 95% passing rate in 2022.

Early, who has been serving as the pharmacy school’s dean since 2018, says the comprehensive exit exam has worked for decades as it has been administered at FAMU for over 30 years.

“Our endpoint is not so much graduation and commencement,” said Early, who moderated the virtual meeting. “The metric that we look at is passing the licensure exam the first time, so it’s become a very useful tool over decades.”

He explained that the college uses the comprehensive test as a high-stakes exam similar to a capstone, and the process of having five attempts to pass it reflects the five attempts that students are given to pass the NAPLEX after graduating.

To help the students get ready, comprehensive exam study tools through RxPrep, a national consulting firm that includes a course book, online videos and a 3,000-question test bank, were provided to fourth-year doctoral candidates in June 2023.

Students also had the option of attending a three-day virtual review presented by RxPrep and taking a seminar course to prepare. The pharmacy program's NAPLEX passing rate last year was 70%, which is a decline from 80% in 2022 and 90% in 2023.

Spates says the college hears from worried parents and students every year around the time the comprehensive exams are taken.

“Every year, we hear from parents and students wanting us to make it go away, but the reality is that when we do that, we see what happens to our scores,” Spates said on the Zoom call.

She referred to the time when the college recorded a 59% passage rate for first-time licensure in 2016 compared to 88% in 2012.

“We have to do this to be sure that they are ready to sit for the national exam,” Early said, referring to the comprehensive test. “If we don’t, then the stress and the anxiety people are experiencing right now is what they’ll experience when they take the next one.”

“This is a high-stakes exam meant to prepare people, helping them to bone up before they take the actual licensure exam.”

But parents are more so concerned about the toll the required exam is taking on the students while they are near the final stretch of the pharmacy program.

“I just think this test that you guys are saying is beneficial is more of a detriment,” a mother said during the virtual call. “When I look into my child’s eyes, I see the hurt, the pain and the disappointment, and that’s a huge problem for me.”

More 'disheartening' concerns from students, parents, trustees

FAMU is not the only university under the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) that administers a comprehensive exam as other programs across the nation, such as the University of Utah’s College of Pharmacy, require students to pass a similar test before graduating.

But in Florida, pharmacy programs at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida do not have a comprehensive exam requirement in place.

“To be prevented from graduating for one exam even though I have done everything up until this point to show that I’m ready to be a practicing pharmacist in the pharmaceutical industry, it’s very disheartening,” fourth-year doctor of pharmacy candidate Delpria Hubbard said.

“The college does not care about students' commencement. Instead, it cares about first-time NAPLEX pass rates. But we can’t sit for the NAPLEX if we don’t graduate.”

As parents spoke one after the other, they expressed how “alarming” and “disturbing” the issue is, and requested that the college reevaluate the policy.

A father shared that his daughter has a residency opportunity lined up but might lose it if she is unable to pass the exit exam in time to graduate, apply for the NAPLEX and take that national exam.

Concerns reach the ears of FAMU trustees

FAMU's Board of Trustees met over Zoom April 24 for a previously scheduled Academic Affairs Special Committee Licensure meeting, where the spotlight was put on the pharmacy school.

During the virtual trustees meeting, FAMU President Larry Robinson said he listened to part of the pharmacy program’s Zoom meeting the day prior and “heard the passion and concern about high-stakes testing.”

“The success of our students in pharmacy and every other program on this campus is our number one priority, and it gives me just as much anguish and pain when our students don't perform the way we would like to see them perform,” Robinson said.

FAMU Trustee and Faculty Senate President Jamal Brown, who is also an associate professor of pharmacy practice, supported student concerns and expressed that he does not think it is fair to prevent high-achieving student pharmacists from graduating based on their score on the exit exam.

"These are proud students that have 3.7 and 3.8 GPAs and have done the work of our program — summa cum laude and magna cum laude students with honors cords around their necks," Brown said. "How do you hold a student from graduating when apparently the input was good but the output isn't working? We as an institution are in between."

A third attempt for taking the comprehensive exam was scheduled for Monday. The students’ passage rate has not been announced yet.

“Our process, procedures and decisions regarding the completion of our curriculum remains the same,” Early told students and parents who shared concerns. “We do recognize, understand and sympathize with the stress that our learners are experiencing. It’s almost unavoidable, but it’s unfortunately a part of the educational learning process.”

Contact Tarah Jean at [email protected] or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU pharmacy students, parents worry about required exam, graduation