BROOKINGS – Results from the national pharmacy licensing exam have been tabulated, and they show that every 2018 graduate of the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions at South Dakota State University who took the exam passed on the first attempt.

That 100 percent pass rate for the May graduates of the Pharm.D. pharmacy program compares with a national average of 91.64 percent. The average score for the 76 SDSU students was 102.17 compared to 97.54 nationally.

The SDSU marks are in line with the program’s history.

Since the first Pharm.D. students graduated from South Dakota State University in 1998, 1,266 have taken the exam and 1,258 have passed on the first attempt (99.4 percent pass rate).  In fact, for the most recently available data (2015-2017) SDSU is No. 1 in the nation for first time pass rate (99.1 percent)

Dean Jane Mort said, “The consistent successes point to a program where expectations are high, faculty and staff are committed to excellence and students are focused on being great practitioners. Those factors have been in place since the beginning of the Pharm.D. program and are a tradition everyone within the college wants to see continue. We take great pride in our students’ success.

“We continuously work to recruit and retain outstanding faculty and improve our curriculum and facilitates to make sure our graduates are getting a state-of-the-art experience.  This is one example of their success.”

When SDSU posted a 100 percent mark in 2015, it was one of only two schools to hit that mark. The comprehensive numbers for 2018 haven’t been posted.

The NAPLEX is one component of the licensure process and is used by state boards of pharmacy as part of their assessment of a candidate’s competence to practice as a pharmacist.