November/December 2009 - Ontario College of Pharmacists

egistration Q&A
Susan James
Manager, Registration Programs
What tests scores do I need to meet OCP’s fluency
Q requirement?
The College has adopted the language proficiency tests
and cut scores for pharmacists that were set nationally by
the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities
(NAPRA). The details of these tests and cut scores
are posted on the College website at www.ocpinfo.com
under licensing >training and assessments>fluency. Since
fluency refers more specifically to spoken language, we
use the term “language proficiency” because it encompasses
all the domains of reading, writing, listening and
speaking, which are all important to support effective
communication. You will see however that these terms
are often used interchangeably.
Is this requirement the same across the country?
Q At this time, all of the provincial regulatory authorities
have agreed to apply the same requirements for pharmacists.
Since tests are not perfectly designed, there is
a statistical calculation, the standard error of measurement
(SEM) which testing agencies use to address the
variability of a test score. The cut score is the minimal
accepted score to pass a test and when it is reported it
may or may not take the SEM into account. In Ontario,
if a candidate’s results are below the cut score but within
the recommended SEM for that test, he or she may apply
to a panel of the Registration Committee to determine
whether the results are acceptable.
would reflect the language proficiency needed for a pharmacy
technician to fulfill the requirements of their role.
Recommendations from the workshop will be considered
at NAPRA’s fall board meeting, and once approved the
College will consider adopting the same requirements for
Ontario. More details about the requirements for pharmacy
technicians will be posted once they are available.
What is “non-objective evidence of fluency?”
Q There may be situations where candidates do not
wish to take an objective test and may request to have a
panel of the Registration Committee consider other information
(often subjective) as a measure of evidence of
their language proficiency. Each situation is unique so it’s
difficult to provide “guidelines” of what a panel will accept.
An example of non-objective evidence that panels
have accepted is where a candidate has completed their
pharmacy education abroad but has evidence of completing
grade school and high school in Canada. While there is
no restriction on the type of information you may submit
to a panel, it must be sufficiently reliable and persuasive
to satisfy a panel that you possess reasonable language
proficiency in English or French. Further information and
examples of non-objective evidence can be found on the
College website as noted above.
Are the fluency requirements the same for
Q pharmacy technicians?
Candidates pursuing registration to practice as a pharmacy
technician will also be required to demonstrate language
proficiency, however the requirements are still under development.
NAPRA and OCP co-hosted a workshop this
past summer to determine the tests and cut scores that
pharmacyconnection • November/December 2009
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