Key Takeaways
- The Intern Written Exam is a critical step for pharmacy interns to achieve registration in Australia.
- Mock tests are essential for building confidence, improving timing, and identifying weak areas.
- A phased preparation plan or foundation, topic practice, mocks, and review does works best.
- Avoid pitfalls like cramming, ignoring weaknesses, or relying on outdated materials.
- Elite Expertise provides structured coaching, mock tests, and expert support to guide you through every step of the journey.
What is the Intern Written Exam?
The Intern Written examinations as administered by the APC (Australian Pharmacy Council) is a computer-oriented and open-book examination that helps evaluate whether pharmacy interns are suitable and possess skills and knowledge to practice effectively and safely.- Format: 75 multiple choice type of questions (MCQs), each having four different options, and only one correct answer.
- Time: You get about two hours (120 minutes in total) to effectively complete the written exam.
- Allowed materials: Hand written referenced or printed references can be bought in, while electronic resources are strictly prohibited.
- Content: Topic does vary starting from patient care, span medicine management, disease states, drug safety, pharmaceutical calculations, law, ethics, health promotions, compounding.
Why Mock Tests Are Critical
Mock tests are not just a practice run, they are one of the most effective ways to boost your exam performance. Here’s why:- Simulating Real Conditions Mock exams replicate time constraints, question styles, exam software behaviour (if possible), and the pressure of the exam environment. This helps reduce anxiety and improves your speed and accuracy under stress.
- Identifying Weak Areas When you take full-length mock tests, patterns emerge. Maybe you’re slower with medication calculations, or you’re weaker in pharmacology than in law/ethics. Understanding your weaknesses gives you direction for focused study.
- Improving Time Management With 75 questions to clear in 120 minutes, timing does matter the most. Mock based tests do help you cope up with time allotment to answer for every question, and the right time to skip and return back, and the ways to balance speed with accuracy.
- Learning from Mistakes Every wrong answer you have made is certainly a chance for you to learn. Understanding the exact reasons behind wrong answers, reviewing explanations, and what makes them wrong will help you learn from your mistakes other than skipping them all in the first place.
- Building Confidence As you take more mocks, you gain familiarity. What once felt daunting starts to seem manageable. Confidence on exam day can reduce errors.
How to Structure Your Preparation Strategy
A smart preparation plan does help you cover up all the examination areas. Here is a well structured approach that you can follow.| Phase | Time Before Exam | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 – Foundation Building | 3 to 4 months out | Go through the full syllabus. Review major therapeutic areas. Learn regulations, law, drug classification, dose calculations. Build your medical/pharmacological knowledge. |
| Phase 2 – Daily Practice & Topic Reviews | 2 to 3 months out | Practice MCQs daily. Divide topics (e.g. cardiovascular, endocrinology, respiratory, etc.) and spend time on weaker spots. Use textbooks, APC sample papers, guideline documents. |
| Phase 3 – Mock Tests & Exam Simulation | 4 to 6 weeks out | Take full-length mock exams under timed conditions. Review each test thoroughly. Build a “mistake log” so you don’t repeat errors. Adjust study based on performance. |
| Phase 4 – Revision & Polishing | Last 2 weeks | Focus on high-weight topics, review flashcards, refine exam technique (eliminating wrong options quickly, reading questions carefully). Do lighter mocks and rest well to avoid burnout. |
Additional tips:
- Use a variety of resources. Sample papers from APC, free questions from trusted bodies, clinical guidelines, and trusted textbooks are all useful.
- Study in themes. For example, one week could focus on pharmacology, the next on ethics, then compounding, then calculations. This lets your brain build stronger connections within topics.
- Schedule regular revisions. Weekly review days help with retention. Going back over what you learned before stops forgetting what you studied early on.
- Simulate the open-book exam. Practice using your reference materials: know where things are, bookmark pages, write useful hand-written notes so you don’t waste time searching during the real exam.
- Practice exam software if available. Familiarity with how questions are presented and how navigation works reduces surprises. APC provides sample papers and sometimes software tutorials.
Sample Ways to Use Mock Tests Effectively
- Start by taking one mock test to get baseline results: speed, accuracy, time spent per question.
- After each mock based test, ensure to spend some time to review your mistakes before taking upon another mock based test.
- Maintain a mistake journal for yourself. Ensure to write down every question that you have missed to answer with the right choices for them, and other guidelines you must follow to answer them the next time.
- Incorporate mini tests that has about 20 MCQs in them, starting from cardiovascular or infectious disease topics only, to rightly address your weak topics.
- Simulate the entire examination for at least two to three times under the real exam-day conditions, time it down, provided only permitted materials, and minimal interruptions.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Cramming at the last minute. Trying to cover everything in a few days leads to shallow memorization. Spaced, regular studying is more effective.
- Ignoring weaker topics. It’s tempting to focus only on what you already know well. But high-risk or low-scoring areas may lose you essential marks.
- Not reviewing mistakes. Taking mocks without analyzing errors wastes the potential learning.
- Using outdated or irrelevant materials. Australian practice guidelines, legal frameworks, drug names etc. sometimes differ from what you learned elsewhere.
- Underestimating exam strategy. Guessing, eliminating bad options, prioritizing questions, managing time, these are skills in themselves.
Putting It All Together: Study Schedule Example
Here’s a sample weekly schedule you might follow in the middle of your preparation (say, 8 weeks before exam):- Monday: Review cardiovascular and respiratory topics; 20 MCQs practise
- Tuesday: Drug law & ethics, PBS system, professional conduct; flashcards and reading
- Wednesday: Therapeutics: infectious disease + pharmacology mechanisms; 20 MCQs
- Thursday: Mock test (full exam simulation)
- Friday: Review the mock test, focus on weak areas (e.g. pharmacokinetics or high-risk drugs)
- Saturday: Health promotion, compounding, patient counselling; mini tests
- Sunday: Rest or light review (flashcards, error log), plan week ahead
Final Tips for Exam Day
- Sleep well the night before; try not to cram at the last minute.
- Arrive early to the test centre—settle, relax, know your permitted materials.
- Read questions carefully. Watch for “most”, “least”, “NOT”, “except” etc.
- Manage time: don’t get stuck too long on one question. Mark it, move on, return when possible.
- If no negative marking, making educated guesses is better than leaving blank.
- Stay calm. If you’ve followed your prep plan, your mock tests, you’ve built the skills—trust it.
How Elite Expertise Helps You Ace the Intern Written Exam
If you’re looking for a systematic, structured way to prepare, Elite Expertise offers an Australian Pharmacist Intern Written Exam PREP Course designed specifically to set you up for success. Some of the key features:- Mock tests & high-yield practice questions aligned with what usually appears in the real exam.
- Expert instruction,which includes therapeutic management, real-life based counseling techniques, and disease state management.
- Flexible learning formats, provided with live expert lectures, recorded videos, and various handouts so you can effectively handle all your study schedule, despite your continuous other commitments.
- Personalised feedback on mock-based test performance so that you can focus more on your own weak topics.
Conclusion
The Pharmacy Intern Written Examination is certainly a difficult step to clear but it can be wisely done following various learning and practice sessions. By having a better understanding toward what the exam holds onto with solid preparation strategy, and mock-based exam practice, smart revisions, you can rightly approach the exam day with confidence. If you are certainly ready to invest in proper guidance and structure, then Elite Expertise does provide valuable resources alongside tailored coaching for this particular exam. Whether you are just starting or sharpening up your skills, their intern written examination prep does offer various insights that can be cornerstone to your success.Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About the Pharmacy Intern Written Exam
It is an open-book, computer-based exam administered by the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) to assess whether pharmacy interns have the knowledge and skills to practice safely and effectively.
The exam has 75 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) to be completed in 120 minutes. Each question has four options, with only one correct answer.
The exam covers patient care, medicine management, disease states, pharmaceutical calculations, drug safety, law and ethics, health promotion, and compounding.
Handwritten notes or printed references are permitted. However, electronic devices and digital resources are strictly prohibited.
Mock tests simulate real exam conditions, improve time management, highlight weak areas, reduce anxiety, and build exam-day confidence.
A four-phase plan works best:
Foundation Building (3–4 months out): Cover syllabus and key topics.
Topic Practice (2–3 months out): Daily MCQs and focused study.
Mocks (4–6 weeks out): Full-length tests and mistake review.
Revision (last 2 weeks): High-weight topics, flashcards, lighter mocks.
Cramming at the last minute, ignoring weak areas, not reviewing mistakes, using outdated materials, and underestimating exam strategy.
Review every mistake, maintain a “mistake log,” practice with mini-topic tests, and attempt at least 2–3 full-length mocks under exam-day conditions.
Arrive early, stay calm, manage your time wisely, use permitted notes efficiently, and make educated guesses if unsure (no negative marking).
Elite Expertise offers structured prep courses with expert lectures, high-yield mock tests, personalized feedback, flexible learning formats, and guidance tailored to ensure success on the first attempt.
