The ABPI exam is a certified qualification for current or prospective medical representatives and other people who promote medicines in the UK.
These qualifications examine the skills and knowledge required to promote medicines and since 2014 it has been accredited by Industrial Qualifications based accredited units, resulting in:
* as defined in Clause 16 of the ABPI Code of Practice
Medical Representative = promoting medicines to doctors and other prescribers on the basis of their therapeutic properties.
Generic Representative = promoting medicines based on price, quality and availability to those who do not prescribe.
The ABPI Code of Practice states that medical representatives must take exams for all units within one year of beginning employment in the promotion of medicines to prescribers and pass all units within two years. This time limit does not apply to candidates not currently employed in the promotion of medicines to prescribers.
| Mandatory units | |
|---|---|
| Unit 01 | Code of Practice and NHS [30 Questions] |
| Unit 02 | Human body systems (part 1) [40 Questions] |
| Unit 03 | Human body systems (part 2) [40 Questions] |
| Unit 04 | Development and use of medicines [45 Questions] |
| Optional units [50 Questions each except CV = 100 Questions] | |
|---|---|
| Unit 05 | Arthritis |
| Unit 06 | Cardiovascular disease |
| Unit 07 | Dermatological disorders |
| Unit 08 | Diabetes |
| Unit 09 | Diseases of the CNS |
| Unit 10 | Bone |
| Unit 11 | Female reproductive health disorders |
| Unit 12 | Gastrointestinal tract problems |
| Unit 13 | Disorders of the male genitourinary system |
| Unit 14 | Oncology |
| Unit 15 | Psychiatric disorders |
| Uniy 16 | Respiratory |
Since November 2019, the current edition of the learning manual is Edition 8.4. This is two learning manuals, one for the compulsory units and one for the optional units, plus the latest Code of Practice. The NHS section is incorporated in Vol. 1 and any revisions to this section will be emailed to the candidate about 4 weeks before a booking to sit Unit 1.
The Learning Manuals are published by the ABPI.
We suggest that you obtain copies of the Learning manuals before you book the exam so that you can estimate how much time you will need to study.
It is always best to book your first sitting well in advance of your time limits.
All exam bookings are made via the ABPI website. There is one exam held every month, towards the end of the month in one of three venues – Park Inn Hotel, Heathrow; Hilton, East Midlands Airport; Hilton, Manchester Airport.
If it is your first attempt you must sit all units (mandatory or optional disease area) at the same time. Mandatory units are sat in the morning (10am - 12.30pm) and optional disease area units are sat in the afternoon (2pm – 4.15pm). If possible, we recommend that you sit the morning and afternoon sessions on different days.
If you change your mind within fourteen days of booking you may cancel your exam and receive a full refund. After fourteen days no refund is available but you may postpone or change your entry until the booking cut-off date which is usually 4 weeks before.
If you fail any unit, you may re-sit, as long as you are within your time limit for passing the exam and it can be booked in the normal way.
Candidates should take into account the substantial amount of content that needs to be studied for the exam.
Each unit is assigned a number of credits (all optional subjects are 5 credits apart from Psychiatric disorders and Cardiovascular diseases. Each credit indicates about 10 hours of study for someone with no prior knowledge of the subject.
Therefore, the full Diploma of 46 credits can imply 460 hours of study – that is 38 x 12hour days!
The accredited ABPI exam requires understanding of the subject matter, not just recall of key facts. This results in more sustained learning and ability to apply what has been learned in other situations. Some exam questions require information to be interpreted in order to identify the correct answer.
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