Clinical Cannabinoid Pharmacy Certificate (CCPC)

The International Society of Cannabis Pharmacists (ISCPh) is committed to standardizing the role of the Pharmacist and healthcare professionals in Cannabinoid medicine.

Our goal to standardize cannabinoid medicine requires the standardization of clinical management and dosing recommendations. To ensure consistency and reliability, successful completion of the competency exam is required to obtain your Clinical Cannabinoid Pharmacy Certificate (CCPC).

 

Approved Prerequisites:

Required for Competency Exam Eligibility

1. ISCPh’s Clinical Cannabinoid Pharmacy 2020

2. Elite’s Clinical Cannabinoid Pharmacy Certificate 

 

Required Domains:

I. Patient Centered Pharmacotherapy (60%) 

  • Side effects- and recommendations for patients 
  • Drug interactions – recommendations for patients
  • Device counseling on administration and storage 
  • Assessing baseline medical conditions for initial recommendations

 

II. Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics (30%)

  • Formulations – onset and duration 
  • Metabolism – drug/food/disease  interactions  
  • Reviewing concentrations and doses; include pictures of actual products and require dose calculation and days supply 

 

III. Evidence-Based Medicine and Biostatistics  (10%)

  • Review of primary literature: main point/conclusion, strengths, weakness  
  • NNT, p values, NNH, absolute risk

 

Reasons for obtaining the Clinical Cannabinoid Pharmacy Certificate (CCPC)

 

  • Provide evidence-based and patient-centered medication therapy management for patients using cannabinoids for symptomatic or therapeutic use. 
  • Distinguish your expertise in the emerging field of Cannabinoid medicine 
  • Highlight your specialized understanding of Cannabis therapeutics 
  • Assess treatment goals and define monitoring parameters to ensure safe and effective care 

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

 

What is CCPC?

Clinical Cannabinoid Pharmacy Certificate program is a 16-hour ACPE accredited curriculum and the first designed to support healthcare professionals in making evidence-based recommendations. Our curriculum is carefully curated and led by industry experts including Dustin Sulak, DO, Bonni Goldstein, MD, and Linda Klumpers, PhD. The competency assessment ensures participants have mastered the necessary skills for managing Cannabis-based medicines across diverse patient populations. With an equal focus on safety and efficacy, CCPC is the gold standard when it comes to clinical cannabinoid medicine. 

 

Who is eligible for CCPC?

At this time, only pharmacists are able to receive continuing education credits through our partnership with CEImpact. Any healthcare professional (MD, DO, ND, NP, PA, DC, etc) is eligible to review the curriculum and attempt the competency exam to earn their certificate. Basic pharmacological principles are not reviewed and a basic understanding of pharmacology and pharmacokinetics is required for successful 

 

What are the requirements to earn CCPC?

Interested healthcare professionals must complete an approved prerequisite and successfully pass the competency exam. 

 

What is the Competency Exam?

The competency exam is a 30 questions exam designed to ensure a basic understanding of cannabinoid pharmacy and application to patient cases. The duration of the exam is 1 hour and a passing score is 80% and above. There are 3 domains: Patient Centered Pharmacotherapy (60%), Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics (30%), and Data and Statistics (10%). The exam is virtually proctored to ensure exam and certificate integrity. This is a closed-book exam, which means you will not be able to use your curriculum slides or notes to complete the exam. All necessary information will be provided to you unless specifically stated during the curriculum. For example, you will need to know how to complete basic calculations for calculating dose and dispensed days supply, and reference ranges for onset and duration of common formulation routes.  

 

Is there a cost to earn CCPC? 

The 16-hour curriculum CCPC 2020 is available on-demand for $499 for non-members and $399 for active ISCPh members. The cost for the exam is $249 and there is no discount for ISCPh members. Any retake of the exam is an additional $249. 

 

How do I sign up for the exam?

Once you have completed CCPC curriculum, you will receive a link to register with our online exam proctoring service. You will pick a day and time that is convenient for you as virtual proctors are available 24/7. The exam registration is open until 10/25/2023. The last day to take the competency exam is 10/31/2023. 

 

What are the system requirements for CCPC Competency Exam?

You will need a computer (desktop or laptop) with a microphone and webcam for our virtual proctors. The proctors will also open a screen share to view your screen in real-time. The minimum upload speed requirements are 512 kbps/0.512 mbps. The following browsers are supported:

Chrome – Version 63 and above 

Firefox- Version 52 and above 

Safari- Version 12 and above 

 

Am I able to qualify for Disability Accommodations for the Competency Exam?

Yes, we are able to accept ADA approved disabilities that require extra time to complete the exam or a larger font size. There are other disabilities that we can accommodate for, please contact us directly if you have questions.  

 

Does the Certificate expire or require renewal?

Although we recognize the medical Cannabis industry is constantly expanding its evidence and research, there is no expiration to this certificate. ISCPh will continue to support its members and provide accredited continuing education courses and educational activities as new research becomes available. 

 

What materials should I study?

The exam questions come directly from CCPC 2020 curriculum. You should review the slides and the post-assessment questions (when submitting for CE credits). There is also a practice exam available. 

 

Is there a practice test available?

There is a 15 question practice test that can be taken at home and timed to be completed in 30 minutes. The practice exam is reviewed in detail in our Study Session II. Review sessions were recorded and available for optional additional support and preparation for the Competency Exam. Review sessions and practice exam are included with on-demand purchase.