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TOEFL for Pharmacists

Why TOEFL?

Many national pharmacy accreditation boards require that pharmacists get a score of 89 on the iBT, which is almost never a problem for these test takers. Unfortunately, though, pharmacy boards require minimum sub-scores as well (Reading 21, Listening 18, Speaking 26, Writing 24) and most pharmacist find it difficult to impossible to achieve these scores no matter how hard they study.

A Speaking score of 26 Needs Accent Modification

See our Physical Therapy page for details on how to achieve a 26 on the Speaking section of the iBT.

A writing score of 24 needs an essay with "development"

When your writing has "development," it establishes logical connections from paragraph to paragraph. For example, what is said in paragraph two makes it possible for paragraph three's claims. Development is the opposite of "episodic" writing. The body paragraphs in episodic writing can go in any order because they do not have a continuously developing argument that forces them into a certain order. If your writing lacks development, then it will be hard to score over a 24.

Licensure requirements need private tutoring

Because accents are so individual and unique (see Physical Therapy for details), and because no two people develop arguments in the same say, it will be very difficult to improve your Speaking and Writing scores by attending a group class, where the teacher has 10-15 other students in the room. This means that you're only getting about 1 minute every hour dedicated to your specific issues. Clearly, this is not enough time. In contrast, Strictly English's 1:1 tutoring dedicates the full hour to only you, allowing you to progress more quickly.

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Requirements & Results

Q: How do you improve your score?
A: Use your Strengths, Eliminate your Weaknesses!

Strengths

A Pharmacist typically has:

• High conversational fluency
• Good listening comprehension

Weaknesses

A Pharmacist usually:

• Lacks effective structures for writing and speaking
• Lacks familiarity with non-medical academic topics
• Has answers that are not precise

Solutions

Strictly English teaches you how to:

• Clearly organize your written and spoken TOEFL answers
• Comprehend the structure of college-level readings and lectures that talk about non-medical subjects (such as history, literature, geology, and meteorology)

Methods

Strictly English teaches TOEFL the way Pharmacists learned pharmacy:

• By using the same critical thinking skills used in pharmacy school
• By memorizing checklists of standard procedures and then repeatedly practicing those procedure

More Information

For more information download the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Committee™ bulletin. NOTE: Failure to meet the requirement for one section means the FPGEC will not accept your TEOFL score, even it the total score is over 90.

EXAMPLE:

Missing the reading by one point means this Pharmacist will have to retake the TOEFL exam.