Second section of the state examination in pharmacy

What subjects does the Second Section cover?

§ 18 of the Pharmacists' Licensing Regulations lists five subjects: Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Biology, Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, Pharmacology and Toxicology, and Clinical Pharmacy. The examination is oral, held before a committee of the state examination office. At least 20 and at most 40 minutes are scheduled per subject per candidate. The five subject examinations are usually spread over several days, in many states within a few weeks. Examinations are often held in small groups, but assessment is carried out individually for each candidate.

How does the procedure work?

Candidates are admitted once they have passed the First Section and can demonstrate at least four years of pharmacy study, together with the certificates of the prescribed courses from the main study period. The registration deadlines of 10 January and 10 June also apply here. Each of the five subject examinations may be retaken twice; if the second resit fails in even one subject, the entire section is permanently failed. Candidates who have passed receive a certificate and may then seek a place for the pre-registration pharmacist training year. Places in hospital pharmacies and in industry are scarce and are sometimes allocated a year in advance. Anyone aiming for a particular direction should therefore apply during the main study period.

What does this mean for graduates from EU countries?

Anyone who completes their studies in Bulgaria, Serbia, or Bosnia does not sit a Second Section under German law. For degrees from EU states, automatic recognition applies via Annex V no. 5.6.2 of Directive 2005/36/EC. For degrees from Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina, the third-country procedure applies instead, with an equivalence assessment and, if required, a knowledge test. Anyone who transfers to Germany during their studies will as a rule need to make up the German practical course certificates from the main study period, because these are specified in detail in the annexes to the AAppO. This typically costs an additional one to two semesters.

Common misconceptions

The Second Section is not the end of training. Without the Third Section there is no approbation. And the mark for this section does not replace a doctoral thesis: the rules of the respective faculty govern that.