How to Study

Studying for the MPJE is tough. Questions are often not written by pharmacists and are meant to trick you by simply changing the wording. Also, every state is different. The one thing that is constant is federal law (except in cases where your state law is even more restrictive, then you go the state law, obviously).That being said, it should take a minimum of 2-3 weeks to study for it effectively. Now many people say that the more SATA and k-type questions, the better. This is not exactly true, so don't get bogged down from that. There are reports of people who have passed the exam with only 1/3 of the questions being SATA or k-type (k-type is actually getting phased out as of January 2024 but is technically still there). This was the case for me as well. The more important indicator is if you don't get super easy questions such as "do you need to be licensed to practice", or if you have questions that seem to "repeat" the topic or just change the wording. So here, I provide some tools to help you with your studies.

Note: DO NOT rely solely on RxPrep or PNN for law (MPJE). It only has federal law, and it is very little compared to what you actually need for the exam. The only benefit is that it is relatively concise. HOWEVER, they are good for preparing for the clinical section of the CPJE, especially PNN.

UNIFORM MPJE LAUNCHES SPRING 2026: https://nabp.pharmacy/news/blog/introducing-the-uniform-version-of-the-mpje/ 

• Content Outline: https://nabp.pharmacy/wp-content/uploads/Uniform-MPJE-Content-Outline.pdf 

How to Study:

• Put the MPJE Competency Statements / California Board of Pharmacy Detailed Content Outline (for CPJE only) points on Word or PowerPoint and fill them out!

  • I prefer PowerPoint because it...

    • forces you to summarize the information rather than just copy/paste

    • allows you to be able to use "visual" tools to simplify and visually see connections

    • has the "Notes" section where you can cite the sources/websites for each MPJE Competency Statement point.

• Fill it out starting with state-law and compounding info (RxPrep/PNN and any updated info at the bottom of this page) → THEN federal law info (mainly Pharmacist's Manual, Title 21, and RxPrep info). Remember, whenever there is an overlap between state-law and federal law, GO WITH THE STATE LAW as this is what will be tested on since they should be stricter than federal law.

• Fill out information from any newsletters/bulletins that your state might publish periodically to notify practitioners about any updates on pharmacy-related laws that may not have been updated on the state's law website/book. For any state laws that overlap on the state's website/law book and newsletters/bulletins, GO WITH THE INFO NEWSLETTERS/BULLETINS as these are more updated and enforceable. Your state's Board of Pharmacy (BOP) should have information of how far back you need to go for the examination, but most go 2-3 years.

  • If your pharmacy board is connected to NABP, you can find these here (select your state, and click "View Profile"): https://nabp.pharmacy/about/boards-of-pharmacy/.

  • Due note that some states are NOT connected to NABP, so you will need to find their newsletters on your pharmacy board website (by clicking the "View Site" button, until I add them in). This will be the case if you looked up your state on the link above, and nothing shows up after clicking "View Profile". 

• MEMORIZE, MEMORIZE MEMORIZE!!!! → Once you are done with your notes, these should be the only thing you have to refer to study.

• PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!! → The MPJE is notorious for asking questions in very strange ways. What do I mean by strange? They aren't always straightforward, most of the time. They may ask about things that may never actually run into or use in real life practice. They also may awkwardly worded sentences or answer choice. To me, this is the hardest part to grasp, and the only way to really get over it is to not only study the material well, but to practice as many "practice" problems as well. One of the BEST sources for practice problems for the MPJE that I have run into is PharmacyExam.com, which gives you REALLY GOOD practice questions for state and federal law (including in SATA format), both of which have cited sources for each correct answer for you to refer to. They technically have compounding questions too, which can be helpful, but they aren't very updated so keep that in mind. Now, there may be quizlets too, but keep in mind that they are only as good as the person who made them so very likely not accurate.