65-1631. Licensure required of pharmacists; qualification of applicants; application for licensure by examination; reciprocal licensure; fees; applicants from schools outside United States.

65-1631

Chapter 65.--PUBLIC HEALTH
Article 16.--REGULATION OF PHARMACISTS

      65-1631.   Licensure required of pharmacists;qualification of applicants; application for licensure by examination;reciprocal licensure; fees; applicants from schools outside UnitedStates.(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to practice as a pharmacist inthis state unless such person is licensed by the board as a pharmacist.Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d), every applicant forlicensure as a pharmacist shall be at least 18 years of age, shallbe a graduate of a school or college of pharmacy or department of auniversity recognized and approved by the board, shall file proofsatisfactory to the board, substantiated by proper affidavits, of a minimumof one year of pharmaceutical experience, acceptable to the board, underthe supervision of a preceptor and shall pass an examinationapprovedby the board. Pharmaceutical experience as required in this section shallbe under the supervision of a preceptor and shall be predominantly relatedto the dispensing of prescription medication, compounding prescriptions,preparing pharmaceutical preparations and keeping records and makingreports required under state and federal statutes. A school or collegeof pharmacy or department of a university recognized and approved by theboard under this subsection (a) shall have a standard of education notbelow that of the university of Kansas school of pharmacy. The boardshall adopt rules and regulations establishing the criteria which a schoolor college of pharmacy or department of a university shall satisfy inmeeting the standard of education established under this subsection (a).

      (b)   All applications for licensure by examinationshall be made on a form to beprescribed and furnished by the board. Each applicationfor a new license by examination shall be accompanied by a licensefee fixed by the board as provided inK.S.A. 65-1645 and amendments thereto.

      (c)   The board is authorized to adopt rules and regulations relatingto the grades which an applicant must receive in order to pass theexamination.

      (d)   Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this section, theboard may in its discretion license as a pharmacist, without examination,any person who is duly registered or licensed by examination in some otherstate, except that the board may require that such person take the lawexamination approved by the board. Such person shallfile proofsatisfactory to the board of having the education and training requiredof applicants for licensure under the provisions of the pharmacy act ofthis state. Persons who are registered or licensed as pharmacists byexamination in other states shall be required to satisfy only therequirements which existed in this state at the time they become registeredor licensed in such other states. The provisions of this subsection shallapply only if the state in which the person is registered or licensedgrants, under like conditions, reciprocal registrations or licenses aspharmacists, without examination, to pharmacists duly licensed byexamination in this state. Reciprocal licensure shall not be denied to anyapplicant otherwise qualified for reciprocal licensure under this sectionwho has met the internship requirements of the state from which theapplicant is reciprocating or who has at least one year of practice as alicensed pharmacist. A reciprocal licensure may be denied for any of thereasons set forth in subsections (a)(1) through (a)(13) of K.S.A. 65-1627 andamendments thereto.

      (e)   In the event that an applicant for reciprocal licensure has not beensubject to laws requiring continuing education as a condition for renewalof a registration or license, such applicant shall be required to satisfythe board through a competency examination that the applicant has theknowledge and ability to meet Kansas standards for licensure as a pharmacist.

      (f)   No applicant who has taken the examination for licensureapproved bythe board and has failed to complete it successfully shall be consideredfor licensure by reciprocity within one year from the date such applicantsat for the examination.

      (g)   All applicants for reciprocal licensure shall file theirapplications on a form to be prescribed and furnished by the board and suchapplication shall be accompanied by a reciprocal licensure feefixed by the board as provided in K.S.A. 65-1645and amendments thereto. The reciprocal licensure fee established by thissection immediately prior to the effective date of this act shall continue ineffect until a different reciprocal licensure fee is fixed by the board byrules and regulations as provided in K.S.A. 65-1645 and amendments thereto.

      (h)   The board shall take into consideration any felony conviction ofsuch person, but such conviction shall not automatically operate as a bar tolicensure.

      (i)   All applicants for licensure who graduate from a school or collegeof pharmacy outside the United States or who graduate from a school orcollege of pharmacy not approved by the board shall submit information tothe board, as specified by rules and regulations, and this informationshall be accompanied by an evaluation fee fixed bythe board as provided in K.S.A. 65-1645 andamendments thereto, which evaluation fee shall be inaddition to any other fee paid by the applicant under the pharmacy act of thestate of Kansas.The evaluationfee fixed by the board under this section immediately prior to the effectivedate of this act shall continue in effect until a different evaluation fee isfixed by the board by rules and regulations as provided in K.S.A. 65-1645 andamendments thereto.The board may contract with investigative agencies,commissions or consultants to assist the board in obtaining informationabout such schools or colleges of pharmacy. In entering such contracts theauthority to approve schools or colleges of pharmacy shall remain solely withthe board.

      (j)   All applicants for licensure who graduate from a school or collegeof pharmacy outside the United States or who are not citizens of the UnitedStates shall provide proof to the board that the applicant has a reasonableability to communicate with the general public in English. The board mayrequire such applicant to take the test of English as a foreign languageand to attain the grade for passing such test as established by the boardby rules and regulations.

      (k)   Every registered pharmacist holding a valid registrationas a pharmacist in effect on the day preceding the effective date of thisact shall be deemed to be a licensed pharmacist under this act, and suchperson shall not be required to file an original application hereunder for alicense.

      History:   L. 1953, ch. 290, § 17;L. 1962, ch. 37, § 1;L. 1967, ch. 342, § 1;L. 1972, ch. 231, § 6;L. 1974, ch. 252, § 1;L. 1975, ch. 319, § 17;L. 1981, ch. 247, § 1;L. 1982, ch. 263, § 1;L. 1986, ch. 235, § 3;L. 1986, ch. 231, § 20;L. 1986, ch. 236, § 2;L. 1987, ch. 236, § 2;L. 1988, ch. 243, § 7;L. 1991, ch. 187, § 2;L. 1998, ch. 98, § 3;L. 2002, ch. 184, § 1; July 1.