Applicants to the pharmacy residency programs at VCU Health System must possess a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from a school of pharmacy accredited by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education. Candidates with baccalaureate degrees, Masters of Pharmacy and PhD programs will not be considered unless they have completed a PharmD program.Board certification cannot replace the Doctor of Pharmacy degree requirement.
The requirements for a graduate of a foreign school of pharmacy to become licensed in Virginia are outlined by the Virginia Board of Pharmacy in Guidance Document 110-17. Prior to application for a pharmacist license, a graduate of a foreign school of pharmacy must first complete the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Committee certification process (FPGEC). The FPGEC includes an education equivalency review and approval; a passing score on the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Exam; and a passing score on the TOEFL-iBT (or both the TOEFL and TSE). More information about this process is available on the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy website.
The Virginia Board of Pharmacy has no authority to waive the requirements for the FPGEC and does not approve any alternative educational credentials or alternative tests. Virginia requires the tests of written and spoken English for applicants from foreign colleges of pharmacy where English is the primary language in that country, such as the United Kingdom and parts of Canada. The Board has no authority to waive the requirements for the tests of English for those persons graduating from a foreign college of pharmacy even if English is the primary language.
VCU Health System generally does not support visas. The residencies are twelve-month positions that begin on July 1 and end on June 30 of the following year. All VCUHS PGY1 and PGY2 residency programs are accredited (except for the PGY2 Pediatrics and Solid Organ Transplant residencies, which have Candidate and Pre-Candidate status, respectively) and participate in the ASHP/NMS Residency Match Programs. Given the competition in our applicant pool and our adherence to timelines including the match, we do not sponsor visas for foreign residency applicants.