Fachapotheker/in FPH Spital study guide
Fachapotheker/in FPH Spital · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Fachapotheker/in FPH Spital (Pharmacien hospitalier FPH) is a Swiss postgraduate continuing-education title in hospital pharmacy, awarded under the auspices of the FPH (Foederatio Pharmaceutica Helvetiae) and organised through pharmaSuisse together with the hospital pharmacy community. It is aimed at pharmacists who already hold the Swiss federal diploma or an equivalent recognised qualification and who work, or intend to work, in a hospital, clinic or other inpatient setting where they take responsibility for drug therapy, preparation and supply. The Fachapotheker/in FPH Spital study guide has 9 sections and about 3,707 words.
01Hospital pharmacy organization, law and professional ethics (Swissmedic, HMG, BetmVV, formulary governance)
This domain tests whether you can place everyday hospital pharmacy work - manufacturing, dispensing, formulary decisions, data handling - inside the Swiss legal framework, and whether you can argue an ethical position instead of reciting rules. HMG (SR 812.21) regulates medicinal products: authorisation, manufacture, dispensing, advertising and vigilance.
463 words, about 2 min02Clinical pharmacy and pharmaceutical care in hospitalized patients: reconciliation, drug therapy review, ward rounds
This domain tests the operational core of ward pharmacy: can you build a reliable medication history, spot the discrepancies that matter, and convert a drug therapy review into a recommendation a prescriber accepts? Take the best possible medication history (BPMH) from at least two independent sources - structured patient interview, community pharmacy dispensing record, GP letter, blister packs, eMediplan.
399 words, about 2 min03Pharmacotherapy of major disease states and internal medicine (ID, cardiology, oncology, ICU, paediatrics, geriatrics)
This domain tests applied therapeutics across the hospital's case mix. The exam rarely asks for a definition; it gives a patient with a comorbidity and a laboratory value and asks what you change and why.
387 words, about 2 min04Drug compounding, sterile and non-sterile preparations, hospital manufacturing and quality assurance (GMP, pharmacopoeia)
This domain tests whether you can run and defend in-house production: cleanroom design, validation, documentation and pharmacopoeial limits. Expect one calculation and one deviation scenario.
413 words, about 2 min05Hospital drug logistics and supply chain: procurement, storage, distribution, automated dispensing, narcotics
This domain tests whether you can keep the right drug in the right condition at the right place, and prove it. The examiner looks for system thinking plus the specific Swiss narcotics and cold-chain rules.
410 words, about 2 min06Medication safety, pharmacovigilance and risk management: ADRs, errors, hygiene, cytotoxic safety
This domain tests whether you can distinguish an adverse drug reaction from a medication error, report each through the correct channel, and fix the system rather than the person. An ADR is a noxious and unintended response to a drug, at normal doses; it may or may not be preventable.
426 words, about 2 min07Clinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and therapeutic drug monitoring
This domain tests quantitative reasoning: can you predict what a dose will do in this patient, and interpret a measured concentration correctly? Volume of distribution (Vd), clearance (CL), half-life (t½ ≈ 0.693 × Vd/CL), bioavailability (F).
391 words, about 2 min08Research, evidence-based medicine, statistics and scientific communication
This domain tests whether you can read a paper critically, extract the number that matters, and explain it to a committee in three minutes. Randomised controlled trial (strongest for causality), cohort (incidence, multiple outcomes), case-control (rare outcomes, recall bias), cross-sectional (prevalence), diagnostic accuracy study.
401 words, about 2 min09Management, leadership, teaching and interprofessional collaboration
This domain tests whether you can run a pharmacy service and develop the people in it: structure, change, teaching design and team behaviour, applied to hospital realities. Clarify mission, structure, span of control and skill mix; budget and staffing models follow activity, not history.
417 words, about 2 min