PharmD Handbook: Licensure & Internships

Index

Instructions for Registering as a Pharmacy Intern

Pennsylvania Pharmacy Intern Regulations

At the successful completion of the spring term prerequisite courses and prior to the first professional year, students are eligible to file an Application for Registration as a Pharmacy Intern. In order to sit for the Pennsylvania licensure examinations, you must earn 1,500 hours of approved internship, with no more than 50 hours in any one week. The breakdown is as follows:

  • 1,500 hours will be submitted by the School to the State Board upon successful completion of your fourth professional (P4) year
  • To be eligible for pharmacist licensure, some states require internship hours, up to 500, outside of our PharmD curriculum (paid or volunteer). These hours are accrued via working during the school year and/or summer months. We highly recommend that each student report a minimum of 500 hours to the PA State Board of Pharmacy, or to your home state via their process, before the beginning of your P4 year. This will ensure you are eligible for pharmacist licensure in any state in the U.S. The website link below provides the link for you to obtain the form to submit your work-related intern hours (“Intern Experience Reporting Form”).

PENNSYLVANIA STATE BOARD PROCESS:
Students must individually apply on-line for pharmacy intern registration at the Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS) at www.pals.pa.gov. The steps involved in registering for your internship are listed below:

  1. Create your PALS account.
  2. Initiate the pharmacy intern registration form.
  3. You will need to list a pharmacist preceptor on your form.
    • If you need Professor Skledar’s pharmacist license information to complete your form, email her at sjs15@pitt.edu to obtain the information.
    • Once you obtain your working internship, you will need to identify a work preceptor and notify the State Board to add this preceptor to your intern license. Click the link below and use the “Change or Add a Preceptor Form.”
    • If you are already working at a pharmacy and will have a preceptor at that site, their license number and name can be put into the registration form.
  4. Complete your PA criminal history check on ePATCH: epatch.state.pa.us and upload
    to your PALS account. It should automatically complete this check and upload your
    results if you paid for it as you completed your PALS application. You may also
    upload this from your CastleBranch background check results packet if you upload
    the exact PA Criminal History Records Check page. Select “Pennsylvania (Already
    Have One)” from the drop down list if you are going to upload that page.
    • If you have lived outside of PA during the last five years, you will need to follow the  guidance on the PALS site to obtain the necessary out-of-state clearances.
  5. Obtain your National Provider Data Bank (NPDB) personal self-query results from
    https://www.npdb.hrsa.gov/ and upload that to your intern application at the
    appropriate location. Once you submit payment for your intern license
    application, you will be able to go back into your account and upload this
    document.
  6. Add to your Cart and submit payment (scroll to the bottom of the first page to see the Submit button to get to the payment page).
  7. Complete the 3-hour PA Child Abuse Training module called “Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse” at http://www.reportabusepa.pitt.edu/. Results are automatically are sent to the State Board of Pharmacy when you register and indicate your profession/license needed.  Print a copy for your records as well and upload this to your CastleBranch account.
  8. Once you input your preceptor’s name and license number into your intern application in PALS and submit the form, your preceptor will receive an email from the State Board (PALS) to go into their PALS account and approve your application. Once they do that, you will receive another email from PALS directing you to sign back in to your account. Go back into PALS onto your application and scroll down to the part of your Dashboard that says “New Professional License Application.” On the left you can click your item checklist and see what is completed/pending. Go to the “Education Verification Form” and click on the green icon to download the form, and email that back to the School, either to Ms. Cheryl Sorensen or to Professor Skledar. The school will fill this out on-paper and send it in for you.
  9. Do not worry about the last form (“School Supervisor Form”). It does not pertain to you.
  10. Once the State Board verifies that all of your information is received, you will receive your pharmacy intern certificate via email. It will come to you as a PDF letter from the State Board of Pharmacy. Upload this document to your CastleBranch account once you receive it.

PENNSYLVANIA STATE BOARD OF PHARMACY INTERN HOMEPAGE
If you have any questions, please contact Professor Susan Skledar, Director of Experiential Learning at 412-648-1504 or stop in the Curran Center for Pharmacy Students.

 

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