Diploma in Pharmacy Exit Examination (DPEE):-

Students, who have passed Diploma in Pharmacy (DPharm), have to clear one more barrier to get the registration to practice as Registered Pharmacist in Government hospitals, clinics, private hospitals and even to work in medical store. Now, the certificate-holder students will have to qualify Diploma in Pharmacy Exit Examination (DPEE) to prove themselves worthy. Government of India has passed Diploma In Pharmacy Exit Examination Regulations 2022 and issued a Gazette notification which has made diploma holders to clear Exit Examination mandatory before applying for the registration.

According to the circular issued by Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), “Diploma in Pharmacy Exit Examination (DPEE) has made it mandatory to ensure that a candidate applying for registration as pharmacist acquired core competencies in dispensing of medicines and other areas of pharmacy practice and to reinforce his discipline, integrity, judgement, skills, knowledge and quest for learning so that after having passed the examination he is able to become a registered pharmacist.” After passing Diploma in Pharmacy (D.Pharm) course in any of the PCI approved colleges, students will have to appear for the exit exam. They can go for registration after clearing the exam. The candidates may appear for the exit examination conducted twice every year or as frequently as may be required as per the schedule of examination announced by the Prescribed Authority.

The procedure of conducting the test shall be in accordance with the scheme announced by the Pharmacy Council of India in this regard. The date of examination and the examination centre will be allotted to the candidate by the Prescribed Authority based on the availability of the examination centres, a circular stated. “No person shall be registered as a Diploma in Pharmacy Exit Examination candidate unless he has passed Diploma in Pharmacy course from an institution approved by the Pharmacy Council of India under section 12 of the Pharmacy Act, 1948.

After having passed the Diploma in Pharmacy Exit Examination, a candidate shall be entitled to registration as a pharmacist subject to fulfilment of the conditions enumerated in section 32(2) of the Pharmacy Act, 1948,” a notification stated. PCI through its circular further elaborated, “The exit exam shall have three papers of multiple choice questions in Pharmaceutics, Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Hospital and Clinical Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical jurisprudence and Drug Store Management. The language of the examination shall be English. The test for each paper shall be of three hours’ duration. The detailed scheme and syllabus of the exit exam shall be announced by the PCI in near future