Longitudinal Trends in Pharmacists Licensure Examination Performance: Evidence for Outcomes-Based Quality Assurance in Pharmacy Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22029714Keywords:
pharmacy education, licensure examination, quality assurance, accreditation, outcomes-based education, program evaluation, Philippines.Abstract
Licensure examination performance is a relevant external outcome indicator in professional education and can provide evidence for program evaluation, benchmarking, and continuous quality improvement. Objective: This study examined longitudinal trends in Pharmacists Licensure Examination (PLE) performance at the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA–Calamba from January 2010 to April 2026 and explored their implications for outcomes-based quality assurance. Methods: A retrospective longitudinal descriptive study was conducted using aggregate institutional records from 29 PLE administrations. Variables were first-time taker passing percentage, overall institutional passing percentage, and national passing average. Examination-period means, institutional-national percentage-point gaps, period comparisons, and exploratory linear trends across sequential examination administrations were calculated. Because complete examinee-level denominators were unavailable for all observations, percentages were analyzed as unweighted examination-period measures rather than pooled cumulative pass rates. Results: Across 29 administrations, mean first-time taker, institutional, and national passing percentages were 62.70%, 50.79%, and 58.91%, respectively. In 2010–2019, the corresponding means were 49.33%, 43.15%, and 57.06%. In April 2022–April 2026, they were 89.34%, 64.27%, and 62.71%. The mean institutional-national gap shifted from −13.91 percentage points in 2010–2019 to +1.57 percentage points in the recent period. The institution exceeded the national average in six of nine recent administrations. Exploratory trend analysis showed positive trends for first-time performance (slope=1.87 percentage points per administration, r=0.64, p<.001) and overall institutional performance (slope=1.02, r=0.51, p=.005). Conclusion: Licensure outcomes improved substantially over the study period, especially among first-time takers. Longitudinal licensure data can function as one component of an outcomes-based quality assurance system when results are benchmarked, disaggregated, linked to academic interventions, and reassessed. The study does not establish that accreditation or any single institutional intervention caused the observed improvement.
Downloads
References
Commission on Higher Education. (2012). CMO No. 46, series of 2012: Policy-standard to enhance quality assurance (QA) in Philippine higher education through an outcomes-based and typology-based QA. Republic of the Philippines.
Commission on Higher Education. (2021). CMO No. 25, series of 2021: Policies, standards and guidelines for the Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy program. Republic of the Philippines.
International Pharmaceutical Federation. (2014). Quality assurance of pharmacy education: The FIP global framework (2nd ed.). FIP.
Maerten-Rivera, J., Park, S. K., Fiano, K. S., Allen, S. M., Bouldin, A. S., & DiPietro Mager, N. A. (2022). Multi-institutional analysis of student and program variables as predictors of performance on the NAPLEX. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 86(4), Article 8635. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe8635
McCall, K. L., MacLaughlin, E. J., Fike, D. S., & Ruiz, B. (2007). Preadmission predictors of PharmD graduates’ performance on the NAPLEX. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 71(1), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.5688/aj710105
Park, S. K., Phillips, J., & Pavuluri, N. (2021). Systematic review of predictors of success for the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 85(10), Article 8591. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe8591
Peterson, S. L., Wittstrom, K. M., & Smith, M. J. (2011). A course assessment process for curricular quality improvement. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 75(8), Article 157. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe758157
Ried, L. D., Hunter, T. S., Bos, A. J., & Ried, D. B. (2023). Association between accreditation era, North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination testing changes, and first-time pass rates. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 87(3), Article 8994. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe8994
Sobieraj, D. M., Chen, A. M. H., Kelsch, M. P., Lebovitz, L., Spinler, S. A., & Ray, M. E. (2023). NAPLEX preparation program characteristics and resources associated with first-time exam pass rates. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 87(4), Article 100580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpe.2023.100580
Spivey, C. A., Chisholm-Burns, M. A., Johnson, J. L., Stallings, J. E., & McDonough, S. L. (2020). Factors associated with student pharmacists’ academic progression and performance on the national licensure examination. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 84(2), Article 7561. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe7561
Williams, J. S., Spivey, C. A., Hagemann, T. M., Phelps, S. J., & Chisholm-Burns, M. (2019). Impact of pharmacy school characteristics on NAPLEX first-time pass rates. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 83(6), Article 6875. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe6875
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
