Passed the UMPJE on 9/10/2026. Sharing my experience.

Passed the UMPJE on 9/10/26 for licensure reciprocity. I'm over 10 years as an RPh. Sharing my experience.

Exam 9/10. Results 9/21.

Study duration: 3-4 weeks, 2-3 hours a day, more hours the last few days.

Study materials:

1. PharmPrepPro ($170). Bummer that it didn't allow for printing, control find, or copy and paste. I only used it for the practice questions and practice. I don't recommend this.

2. Youtube MedPrepPrime videos. Very helpful

3. MedPrepPrime practice exam. $10. Do recommend

4. NABP pre-UMPJE exam. $90 for 40 questions (what a rip off!). It provides a score but no explanations. 80% of the topics on here showed up on the actual exam. Know the topics very well. Highly recommend.

5. Google AI and ChatGPT were my unreliable, often incorrect study buddy for my questions. I caught some wrong answers from them often. Use with caution. Arrive at your own conclusion because it can be dumb. Partial on recommendation

6. Reddit posts. Helpful

TLDR. I didn't like it because the wording was so hard to follow. It's as if they copy and paste from the actual law itself. The way it was presented felt messy and clustered. One look at it and I immediately did not want to read. It was not helpful to me. My studying style does not recommend this cluster of cereal. Waste of money.

I could not for the life of me read the DEA manual or any law material without falling asleep within 5 minutes. So 95% of the time, I only did the practice questions and pause to ask my study buddies, Google AI or ChatGPT, to help me understand a topic I didn't know.

One of the authors of one of the UMPJE study books said this, "study law through scenarios, not isolated definitions. A definition tells you what a term means; a scenario shows you how the exam will test it." This works well for me. So I did this because it was easier than reading the dry and boring law stuff in sophisticatedly weird wording.

The actual exam:

Multiple choice, A, B, or C (yayy)

I finished in 1 hour and 15 minutes

Suggested things to review:

C2, controller substance. Know this so very well

USP rules. 795, 797, 800. Know well

Compounding. Know well. Iso 5, 7, 8. Pec, c-pec, c-sec, buffer room, anteroom

Hazardous drugs (hd) and the steps to cleaning them up. The definition of each step. Example, what's the definition of deactivation? It is to render drug inert.

Pharmacist not at the pharmacy, can it be open? Can it be closed but intern works inside?

Technician responsibilities. What they are allowed to do and what not. Can they count controlled substance inventory?

Agencies and what they do. Example, OSHA, OCR, HHS.

Know HIPAA, PHI, the agency that oversees it. Example, which scenario violates PHI, sharing with a friend about a patient's dog's medications or sharing with a friend about a deceased person's medications. Answer: deceased. Law doesn't cover animals.

Which agency to report a peer pharmacist stealing from the pharmacy.

Which violation is this, a family member works at the pharmacy and opens up their cousin's chart to see their med list

Know very well the different scenarios of adulterated vs misbranded. Example, delivery truck got rained on, bottles got wet, labels smeared. misbranded, adulterated, or mislabeled? Answer: misbranded.

Define CDTA. Know different scenarios

Pharmacy sells a bottle of drugs for an in-office use. What type of transaction is this?

Can a tech wear a sweater and earplugs underneath the sterile gown in IV room because it's loud and cold in there? Answer: no, bc of particle shedding.

C2 partial fill, time to complete remaining partial fill. C2 in LTCF, how long can fill Rx if filling a small amount each time. Know very well different scenarios of partial fill due to pharmacy not having enough vs partial fill per pt's request.

C3-5, when is it ok to estimate count vs exact count. Less than 1,000 tabs then ok to estimate. Must do exact count if over 1,000 tabs.

A C4 is faxed to pharmacy, is it ok to fill? Yes.

Prospective DUR. Know it. What is it. What agency requires it. What does the pharmacist do when performing DUR. Can an intern perform DUR.

Checking PMP. Why, when, for what.

What is the orange or purple book used for.

C2 Rx and 90 days supply.

Info on an Rx script. Easier to remember what's not required on the script such as pt's phone and DOB. However, prescriber's phone number must be on the script so rph can immediately call if has questions.

Info on a prescription label. Diagnosis code not required.

Pharmacy is setting up a med take back bin. What's required before pharmacy can accept ther disposed drugs. Example, need DEA permission to be a collector.

How to verify if an online pharmacy is legitimate?

Some things worth mentioning:

1. Can a C2 rx be transferred?

yes, only if the receiving pharmacy computer system can accept erx transfers. It must be erx to erx, no verbal or fax transfer. So Walgreens to Walgreens transfer is ok. Walgreens to CVS transfer is not ok.

If C2 Erx is filled, sitting in will-call, not yet picked up. No, cannot reverse and transfer b/c it's already filled.

2. Can C3, 4, 5 Rx's be transferred?

Yes, if transferring refills (not first fill) then ok to transfer via fax or phone.

If the Rx is on hold and has not been filled, then the transfer must be erx to erx. No phone or fax transfer.

Rule for transferring the initial fill of an eRX controlled substance, c2-5, must be erx to erx, not erx to phone/fax. Must not have been filled. So if c2 is filled, sitting on will-call,not yet picked up, then no can't transfer.

Rule for transferring refills (ex. fill #2, fill #3), ok to transfer by phone or fax. one time only. c3,4,5 only. no c2

Overall, my strategy was doing a bunch a practice questions. About 500 questions. Did about 6 practice exams. Briefly read up on topics I didn't know after getting the practice questions wrong. It sticks better this way than reading the definition of the law by itself.

On the UMPJE, I guessed on 21 questions. My goal was to miss less than 25 questions. I didn't need a perfect score. I just needed to pass. I didn't study as hard as the first time because of this mentality. I thought the UMPJE was easier than the MPJE. I left the testing center feeling good. Whereas, with the previous MPJE many years ago, I walked out feeling terrified that I failed. But I did pass.

Questions are welcome. Good luck on your UMPJE. And it would be so wonderful if you can pay it forward after you took the exam.