Board Certification Exposure and Awareness Among United States Doctor of Pharmacy Programs

ABSTRACT Background Board certification by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) is increasingly recognized as a marker of advanced clinical pharmacy practice for clinical pharmacists providing direct patient care. While board certification exposure and awareness have been described in pharmacy residency programs, data are lacking regarding within Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) curricula. Methods A national cross‐sectional survey was distributed to administrators involved in curriculum oversight or pharmacy practice department chairs at Pharm.D. programs at U.S. Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy (CSoP). The primary outcome was the percentage of CSoPs intentionally delivering board certification exposure within the Pharm.D. curriculum. Secondary outcomes included delivery methods, faculty perceptions regarding board certification, awareness of BPS student resources, and factors associated with curricular inclusion. Results The response rate was 71.0% (98/138). Overall, 41.8% (41/98) of programs intentionally delivered board certification exposure. Among programs providing exposure, required didactic coursework was the most common setting (82.9%), most devoted ≤ 1 h to this content (43.9%), and lecture was the predominant delivery method (82.9%). Only 24.5% of respondents were aware that BPS resources were available for pharmacy students. Carnegie Classification was significantly associated with curricular inclusion of board certification exposure (Cramer's V = 0.40; p = 0.010) with most being RCU (84.6%) than R1 (40.6%) or R2 (30.8%) CSoPs. Pharm.D. programs who include board certification exposure currently were more likely to indicate that board certification should be included within the curriculum (Cramer's V = 0.46; p = 0.001). Conclusion Fewer than half of responding U.S. CSoPs intentionally deliver board certification exposure within the Pharm.D. curriculum despite general support for its inclusion. Exposure typically requires minimal curricular time and is most often incorporated into required didactic courses. Increased awareness and utilization of available BPS student resources may represent an opportunity to enhance professional development and career readiness among pharmacy students.