Internship and Licensure

Many state boards of pharmacy require, in addition to a degree in pharmacy, specified hours of supervised working experience to become a licensed pharmacist. Regulations vary among the states. Students who plan to practice pharmacy in states other than Georgia should consult their state’s board of pharmacy for instructions.

In Georgia, you may register with the state board as a pharmacy intern after enrollment in the College of Pharmacy. You must apply for and receive an internship license.

All Mercer students are required to obtain a Georgia internship license prior to participating in any on-site pharmacy practice experience. Students may contact the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy for internship license information.

The Georgia State Board of Pharmacy requires that an applicant for licensure as a pharmacist must be at least 18 years of age, be a graduate of an accredited school of pharmacy and have completed 1,500 hours of internship under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. Mercer graduates currently receive 1,500 hours of internship credit from the Georgia Board of Pharmacy for the pharmacy practice experiences at the College of Pharmacy. Graduates who plan to become licensed pharmacists in a state other than Georgia should contact their respective state boards of pharmacy for details.

Application for the licensure examination may be made near the time of graduation. Mercer graduates score consistently higher than the national average on the licensure exam. Over the past five years, the average first-attempt pass rate is 96 percent.

Licensure Preparation

To prepare for licensure, fourth-year Mercer Doctor of Pharmacy students are encouraged to take the following steps:

  1. Attend the Calculations and Compounding Review (find the sign up in Canvas, available in April of each year)
  2. Take the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Pre-NAPLEX practice examination. (Please note: You will be directed to an external site.)
  3. Review Faculty Recommended Resources:
    • AccessPharmacy from McGraw-Hill is an online curricular resource that includes NAPLEX test prep materials.
    • Appleton and Lange’s Review of Pharmacy. Text with CD-ROM for Windows with Practice Tests.
      by Gary D. Hall and Barry S. Reiss
      Specs: 356 pages
      ISBN: 0071425438
      Publisher: McGraw-Hill Incorporated
    • ASHP’s PharmPrep: Case-Based Board Review. Text with CD-ROM for Macintosh and Windows. by Diane B. Ginsburg
      Specs: 387 pages
      ISBN: 1585280534
      Publisher: American Society of Health System Pharmacists
    • Comprehensive Pharmacy Review Practice Exams
      by Alan H. Mutnich, Leon Shargel, Paul F. Souney, Larry N. Swanson.
      Specs: 192 pages
      ISBN: 0-7817-4485-7
      Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins