Pharmacist Qualifying Examination - References and Learning Resources

Pharmacy Review Guides

This American pharmacy review guides cover many subject areas related to pharmacy education
and practice issues, as well as practice multiple-choice questions. Note that drug names and units of
measure may be different in Canada. Federal law review questions must be avoided as they are
based on American legislation, not Canadian.

NAPLEX Prep, Kaplan Medical

Canadian Pharmacy References

These four listings are all resources published by The Canadian Pharmacists Association
(www.pharmacists.ca) and are available in print and online versions.

Compendium of Therapeutic Choices

Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties

Compendium of Therapeutics for Minor Ailments

Compendium of Products for Minor Ailments

Pharmacy Textbooks (current editions)

The following references are examples of textbooks currently being used in Canadian pharmacy
education programs.

Category Textbook Author Publisher

Comprehensive Koda-Kimble and Young's ed. by Aldridge et Wolters Kluwer
Textbooks on Applied Therapeutics, The al
Pathophysiology, Clinical Use of Drugs
Pharmacology
Pharmacotherapy: A ed. by DiPiro et al McGraw-Hill
&/or Pathophysiologic Approach
Therapeutics
Pharmacotherapy: Principles Chisholm-Burns et McGraw-Hill
and Practice al

Goodman & Gilman’s: The ed. by Brunton et al McGraw-Hill

Pharmacological Basis of
Therapeutics
Other Textbooks Basic Skills in Interpreting Lee American Society of
Laboratory Data Health-System
Pharmacists

Clinical Pharmacokinetics Murphy American Society of

Health-System
Pharmacists
 Category Textbook Author Publisher

Applied Biopharmaceutics and Shargel et al McGraw Hill

Pharmacokinetics: Principles
of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring

Drugs in Pregnancy and Briggs et al Wolters Kluwer

Lactation: A Reference Guide
to Fetal and Neonatal Risk

Clinical Handbook of Procyshyn et al Hogrefe

Psychotropic Drugs

Herbal Medicines Barnes The Pharmaceutical

Press

Drug Information: A Guide for Malone et al McGraw-Hill

Pharmacists

How to Read a Paper: The Greenhalgh BMJ Books

Basics of Evidence-Based
Medicine

Pharmaceutical Calculations Ansel Wolters Kluwer

Compounding: Guidelines for Canadian Society of

Pharmacies Hospital Pharmacists
(CSHP)

Pharmaceutical Care Practice: Cipolle et al McGraw-Hill

The Patient Centred Approach
to Medication Management

Communication Skills in Beardsley et al Wolters Kluwer

Pharmacy Practice

Pharmacoethics A Problem- Gettman et al CRC Press

Based Approach

Pharmacy Management in ed. by Canadian

Canada Hindmarsh et al Foundation for
Pharmacy

Free On-Line Information Sources

PubMed – www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed - free access to primary literature through Medline

Cochrane Library – www.cochrane.org – access to systematic reviews of the effects of healthcare

interventions

Rxfiles – www.rxfiles.ca – limited free information is available on-line; access otherwise by

subscription

CredibleMeds - www.crediblemeds.org - information on drugs that cause QT prolongation or

torsades de pointes
Tools for Practice – www.acfp.ca/tools-for-practice - practice tools on a variety of topics, sponsored
by the Alberta College of Family Physicians

Therapeutics Initiative – www.ti.ubc.ca – evidence-based information on healthcare interventions

Medication InfoShare – http://medicationinfoshare.com – information to support treatment decisions

for mental health and other health problems

Subscription-Based Drug Information Databases

Micromedex Healthcare: DRUGDEX – drug information database; POISINDEX – information on

drug overdoses and toxicologic exposures
Lexicomp – drug information database
AHFS DI Essentials - drug information database
UpToDate - evidence-based, clinical decision support database
Dynamed - evidence-based, clinical decision support database

Internet Resources
The websites listed in the table below provide information on federal legislation and other topics that
are useful to practising pharmacists, as well as candidates seeking licensure as pharmacists in
Canada.
Organization
National Association of
Provincial Regulatory
Authorities (NAPRA)
Health Canada
Canadian Agency for
Drugs & Technologies in
Health (CADTH)
Office of the Privacy
Commissioner of Canada
Public Health Agency of
Canada
Website URL Topics/Links of Interest
www.napra.ca  Practice and Regulatory
Resources
 National Drug Schedules
www.hc-sc.gc.ca  Canada Health Act
 Food & Drugs Act & Regulations
 Controlled Drugs & Substances
Act & Regulations (including
Precursor Control Regulation)
 Narcotic Control Regulations
 Benzodiazepines & Other
Targeted Substances
Regulations
 Marihuana Medical Access
Regulations
 MedEffect
 Canada Vigilance Programme
www.cadth.ca  Common Drug Review
https://www,priv.gc.ca  Personal Information Protection
& Electronic Documents Act
(PIPEDA)
www.phac-aspc.gc.ca  Canadian Immunization Guide
 Institute for Safe
Medication Practices
(ISMP U.S. & Canada)
Canadian Patient Safety
Institute (CPSI)
www.ismp.org  Medication Safety Tools
www.ismp-canada.org  Safety Bulletins
www.patientsafetyinstitute.ca  Tools & Resources

Clinical Practice Guidelines

To obtain up to date evidence-based information designed to assist in patient care decisions for the
management of specific disease states, several Canadian practice guidelines are available. Some
examples are included in the following table.

Organization Website URL Guideline(s)

Hypertension Canada www.hypertension.ca  Hypertension
Canadian Cardiovascular www.ccs.ca  Various cardiovascular
Society diseases
Diabetes Canada www.diabetes.ca  Diabetes
Canadian Thoracic Society https://cts.lung.ca  Asthma
 COPD

International Pharmacy Graduate "Bridging" Programs

www.ipgcanada.ca (University of Toronto)

Canadian Pharmacy Skills
Enhanced Language Program

www.cpd.pharmacy.ubc.ca (University of British Columbia)

Canadian Pharmacy Practice Programme

www.bredin.ca (Alberta)
International Pharmacy Bridging Program

www.iehpcanada.utoronto.ca (Canada)
Orientation course on the Canadian healthcare system for internationally educated healthcare
professionals

Continuing Education (CE)

Continuing Education in Pharmacy in Canada is coordinated by CCCEP: the Canadian Council on

Continuing Education in Pharmacy. CCCEP-approved learning programs are available from a wide
variety of sources. Some of these include the following:

www.pharmacists.ca
Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) - click on "Professional Development"

www.canadianhealthcarenetwork.ca
Canadian Healthcare Network - provides CE lessons from Pharmacy Practice and other sources
www.rxbriefcase.com
RxBriefCase - includes links to various CE learning resources

http://cpd.pharmacy.utoronto.ca
Continuous Professional Development, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto

Most CE learning modules are designed to enhance individual knowledge in therapeutics and
disease state management. When choosing to self-study with CCEPP-approved CE learning
modules, it is important for a candidate to self-assess the wide range of available topics and make
selections to ensure that:
1) individual gaps in knowledge will be addressed, and
2) disease topics reflect those seen most frequently in patient care practice settings, as well
as those where drug therapy plays an important and critical role in patient care outcomes.