Licensing Information

Online License Renewal | License Transfer

Requirements for a New Pharmacist License by Examination

If you graduated from a school of pharmacy located outside Arkansas, please contact the Board Office for additional information.

You must submit an Arkansas Application For Pharmacist Licensure By Examination. These will be provided to you in April, 2007. Applications that are illegible, incomplete, improperly completed, or not accompanied by the proper fee will be returned. So, please be sure to check every item before you submit the application. The fee is $25.00. The Registrar will certify your clerkship hours to satisfy a portion of the 2,000 experience hours required for licensure. The Dean or Registrar will certify your graduation.

If you have not already completed a criminal background check within the last four years, you will need to submit a notarized application for the Arkansas State Police and FBI Criminal Background Check and the accompanying fingerprint card. Contact us for additional instructions.

The application for the NAPLEX and the registration bulletin is available online at: http://www.nabp.net . Applications and fees ($465) should be sent directly to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP.) NABP will process your registration and, if it is complete, they will ask the Arkansas Board of Pharmacy to certify your eligibility. Once we certify your eligibility, you will be issued an Authorization to Test (ATT.) Seats at the test facility may be limited.

You do not need to renew your intern license in May. Please note that your intern license will expire 6 months after graduation or when you receive your pharmacist license, whichever comes first.
You will need to file an intern training plan if you plan to work as an intern in May before graduation. After you graduate, you may work as a graduate intern but you must file a graduate intern training plan. As a graduate intern, you need a supervising pharmacist – not a preceptor. If you work with a supervising pharmacist, this will not count against the intern/preceptor ratio.

After you successfully complete the NAPLEX, you will be sent forms to apply for a pharmacist license. The fee is $75.00. At that time, you can also apply for immunization certification. If you fail NAPLEX, you revert to intern status.

Terms you should know: License by Exam, Original License, Score Transfer, License Transfer, License by Reciprocity.

If you have any questions about this process, please do not hesitate to call us at 501-682-0190.

NAPLEX Score Transfer Program

NABP’s NAPLEX Score Transfer Program allows you to transfer your NAPLEX score to additional jurisdictions in which you wish to obtain a license to practice pharmacy. If you participate in the Score Transfer Program and fulfill all other requirements for licensure in the jurisdiction to which you transfer your score, you will be awarded a license by examination.

The Score Transfer Program differs significantly from NABP’s Electronic Licensure Transfer Program® (ELTP®, reciprocity), which is a service NABP provides for licensed pharmacists. Unlike score transfer, licensure transfer does not permit you to attain a license by examination in another jurisdiction. Instead, your license in the jurisdiction is considered a license by licensure transfer.

The distinction is important, particularly if you ever again need to transfer your license to another jurisdiction, because the ELTP requires that you use a license by examination to transfer your license to another jurisdiction. In other words, you cannot reciprocate your license using a license that has been obtained by licensure transfer. For this reason, NABP strongly recommends you keep your license by examination valid and current.

Please note that the validity period of the score transferred varies from state to state. You are encouraged to contact the board where your score was transferred for additional information.

Score Transfer Process

To be eligible for NAPLEX score transfer, candidates must complete the “NAPLEX Score Transfer Form,” which appears on page 27 of this Bulletin.

Score transfer candidates must complete all the examination requirements that are required by the primary jurisdiction for licensure, including any locally administered examinations. Primary jurisdictions can refuse to allow a candidate’s score to be transferred if the candidate does not complete all of the jurisdiction’s examination requirements.

Candidates may also be required to travel to the score transfer jurisdiction upon notice from the board to take any locally administered examination necessary to complete the score transfer process for licensure.
Candidates should contact the board of pharmacy from which they are seeking licensure by score transfer before applying in order to determine the jurisdiction’s licensure requirements.

Please do not hesitate to call the Board Office or email us at Robin.Morrissey@arkansas.gov .
We can give you accurate information. Other sources might give wrong information.