COP Academic Progression Examination Policy

Students are required to take the annual Progression Examinations (PE) or PCOA® at the end of the first, second, and third professional years of the curriculum. These exams serve to assess the learning and retention of content covered during the respective academic year by students and assess preparedness for the next academic year. These exams are a progression requirement for movement to the next professional year.

Students are required to take the PCOA® exam in the third year of the curriculum. The exam encompasses the four broad curricular domains of the didactic curriculum required of all ACPE-accredited programs. Exam results provides data to facilitate the review of individual students’ performance - in comparison to national data.

The purpose of these examinations is to promote systematic learning approaches for long term retention of essential topics assessed by the board examinations. Examination results will help students identify areas of deficiency where more strategic focus should be placed. By monitoring the growth and development of students’ knowledge base, identifying deficiencies and offering opportunities for growth and remediation. The purpose is to track student outcomes and to allow students to confidently sit for their board exams.

The annual Progression Examinations (PE) occur at a specific time point as students progress through the didactic and experiential curriculum. PE are focused on the primary topics and terminal outcomes covered each year. Objectives that cover the scope of the examinations will be made available to students.

The PCOA® exam developed by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP).

Requirements Applicable to PES

All students must pass the PE to progress to the next academic year, as set by the College Administrative Committee based on norms associated with historical data. Students who do not pass a PE exam will be reviewed by the Academic Performance and Standards Committee. A maximum of two attempts may be allowed; that is, the original exam plus one remediation exam. Failure of a second attempt may subject the student to repeating that year of the program.

Requirements Applicable to PCOA

All students must pass the PCOA® exam based on norms associated with national data of the PCOA® exam (exam is graded on a curve based on national data with a passing performance determined by the College Administrative Committee). Students who do not pass the PCOA® exam will be reviewed by the Academic Performance and Standards Committee for a possible remediation plan, which will include requiring the student to pass a remediation exam. Failure to pass a remediation exam may result in delayed progression to the 4th year or dismissal from the program.