Building a Unified Approach to Pharmacy Law: Inside the Development of the UMPJE

In this Q&A with Pharmacy Times, Jasmina Bjegovic, PharmD, an experienced pharmacy operations leader and director of exam services at the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), explains the purpose and development of the upcoming Uniform Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination™ (UMPJE), a standardized exam designed to assess pharmacists’ knowledge of federal and broadly applicable pharmacy laws across participating states. She outlines how the UMPJE differs from the traditional state-specific MPJE and describes how it will maintain state-level relevance through optional “plus modules” that boards can use to evaluate local regulations. Bjegovic also emphasizes that strong pharmacy law competency is essential for ensuring patient safety and compliance in a highly regulated practice environment, and a uniform exam could streamline multistate licensure for pharmacists.

There was an extensive multiyear development process for the UMPJE that included practice analyses, content outline validation, item development, and upcoming standard setting. The examination is expected to launch in spring 2026, and Bjegovic notes her enthusiasm for its role in supporting boards of pharmacy, academic institutions, and licensure candidates.

Pharmacy Times: Can you introduce yourself?

Jasmina Bjegovic, PharmD: My name is Jasmina Bjegovic. I am an experienced pharmacy operations leader with over 20 years of industry experience. Currently, I serve as the Director of Exam Services with the NABP. I have been with the Association since 2021, and I have a passion for advancing pharmacy practice through education, assessment, and regulatory strategy. In my current role, I oversee the development of all NABP examinations, including our high-stakes pharmacist licensure exams and practice exams, as well as the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Committee^TM (FPGEC®) Certification program. Prior to joining NABP, I held various roles at Walgreens retail and specialty locations and spent much of my time at the Support Office in Deerfield, IL.

Pharmacy Times: Can you explain what the UMPJE is and how it differs from the current state-specific MPJE exams?

Bjegovic: The uniform version of the MPJE is designed to leverage commonality among state laws and will focus on assessing knowledge of uniform pharmacy laws and regulations applicable across all participating jurisdictions. While the UMPJE will cover applicable federal law, it should not be considered a federal law exam.

The MPJE was developed to standardize the assessment of regulatory knowledge and application of federal and state-specific rules and regulations to meet the state’s public health and safety needs. Jurisdiction-specific content is tailored to reflect the terminology and characteristics unique to each participating state’s rules and regulations; however, the exam's development is standardized across all participating jurisdictions.

A great way to see how the 2 exams differ is to review each exam blueprint. You can find the content outline for the UMPJE and the competency statements for the state-specific MPJE on our website.

Pharmacy Times: How does the UMPJE balance the need for national consistency while still respecting individual state laws and regulations?

Bjegovic: NABP will encourage—but not require—states using the UMPJE to develop and implement a supplementary “plus module” to assess licensure candidates' knowledge of state-specific laws and regulations. NABP is available to provide development resources and support to states that wish to implement a “plus module” that assesses candidates' knowledge of their state-specific laws and regulations. NABP looks forward to partnering with boards of pharmacy to ensure that licensees understand laws and rules specific to their states. Boards can explore options such as developing state-specific CE modules, incorporating an attestation on the pharmacist license application to ensure that applicants are aware of their responsibility to understand the nuances of state law, or developing reference material outlining the important caveats of state law that licensees need to be aware of.

Pharmacy Times: From your perspective, why is a strong understanding of pharmacy law so critical to a pharmacist’s daily responsibilities?

Bjegovic: Pharmacy practice and the distribution of prescription drugs and controlled substances are among the most highly regulated business practices across the US. Pharmacists are responsible for ensuring safe delivery and security in the last leg of the prescription drug supply chain. Understanding the laws and rules governing this practice is paramount to protecting public health. At NABP, we pride ourselves on developing and delivering valid, evidence-based, psychometrically sound, and secure high-stakes licensure exams and practice exams that are credible, defensible, and meet the needs of the industry and regulators. A pharmacy law exam is a critical component of the licensure process.

NABP supports patient safety by offering examinations that assess a pharmacist’s competency to practice. Our pharmacy law exams are specifically designed to evaluate candidates’ understanding and application of federal and state-specific laws and regulations. A thorough understanding of the laws and regulations in the jurisdiction where a pharmacist practices is vital to patient safety. Assessment of pharmacy law knowledge is a safety measure to ensure a licensure candidate has demonstrated the ability to apply the minimally required knowledge and skills to engage in unsupervised (independent) practice.

Pharmacy Times: In what ways do pharmacists play a role in maintaining compliance with both state and federal regulations, and how could a uniform exam reinforce this accountability?

Bjegovic: As I mentioned, pharmacists are practicing in a highly regulated environment and are responsible for ensuring the security and safe delivery of medications to patients. An excellent example of this is pharmacists’ “corresponding responsibility,” or the legal duty to exercise professional judgment to ensure that a controlled substance prescription is issued for a legitimate medical purpose. Knowing and understanding such rules and regulations is essential for practicing pharmacists.

For more than 50 years, NABP has been developing, securing, and administering high-stakes exams. Like all NABP exams, the UMPJE has undergone an ongoing exam development process to ensure that the scores provided by the test are an accurate means of assessing a candidate’s competence to practice pharmacy. This includes evaluations of the test design and plan, surveys and blueprint review, standard setting, item development, and ongoing analysis and refining. Pharmacists who pass the UMPJE will have demonstrated that they have the necessary knowledge of uniform pharmacy laws and regulations applicable across all participating jurisdictions; however, it is important for licensees to remember that they are still responsible for adhering to state-specific laws, even if they are not covered on the exam. State boards, of course, retain the authority to grant licensure and enact rules for compliance with their regulations.

Pharmacy Times: How could the introduction of the UMPJE impact pharmacists who hold or seek multiple state licenses?

Bjegovic: Currently, pharmacists seeking licensure in multiple states must sit for and pass multiple MPJEs. This could make it more difficult for qualified pharmacists to obtain licensure for specific pharmacy practice settings, a concern that has become increasingly evident as more pharmacists engage in multistate or remote nonresident pharmacy practice.

The UMPJE, with its focus on uniform laws and optional state-specific modules, will streamline the current reciprocity model by allowing candidates to take only one law exam to satisfy the requirements of participating states. In addition, boards of pharmacy will spend less time reviewing eligibility to take MPJEs, potentially streamlining the licensure transfer process and reducing wait times for applicants.

Pharmacy Times: The UMPJE is expected to launch in spring 2026. What milestones have been achieved so far, and what remains in development?

Bjegovic: A steering committee convened in 2023 to explore the feasibility of the standardized exam and determine how it could be implemented to meet the diverse needs of the boards of pharmacy. The committee decided that the uniform version of the MPJE will focus on assessing knowledge of pharmacy laws and regulations applicable across participating jurisdictions.

In October 2024, a practice analysis was conducted, which included the newly formed Uniform MPJE Review Committee. As part of the practice analysis process, a content outline was drafted, and a survey was administered to gather feedback on the drafted outline. The survey was administered to thousands of practicing pharmacists to validate that the content outline assesses core legal principles that all pharmacists must know, regardless of the state in which they practice. The content outline was finalized and posted on the NABP website in May 2025.

An Item Development Workshop was held in April 2025, where dedicated volunteers from all areas of pharmacy practice and law—as well as faculty from colleges of pharmacy—refined the exam content. Following the Item Development Workshop, the UMPJE Review Committee met in August 2025 to evaluate the exam content developed during the Item Development Workshop.

The Pre-UMPJE, which is the practice exam version of the high-stakes test, will be available in January 2026. The standard setting for the UMPJE will be conducted in the spring of 2026, prior to the official launch of the UMPJE.

Pharmacy Times: Any final or concluding thoughts?

Bjegovic: Launching a new high-stakes licensure examination requires careful coordination of operational, exam development, and psychometric activities, as well as key stakeholder engagement, and critical decision points to ensure a smooth, successful rollout. After years of development, we are excited to launch a new pharmacy jurisprudence exam to meet the needs of our member boards of pharmacy, schools/colleges of pharmacy, and, of course, licensure candidates!