OMSB pharmacist exam: the OEP paper

Facts last verified 5 October 2026.

Practise choosing medicines and calculating doses. The OEP booklet sets a 15% weight for pharmaceutical calculations. Each category can vary by up to ±5%.

Is this the right paper for you?

The Omani Examination for Pharmacists (OEP) needs a recognised bachelor’s degree in pharmacy (pharmacist booklet).

Pass 60%

Format at a glance

100 questions. Time: 2 h 30 min. Pass mark: 60%.

Delivered by Pearson VUE.

Sources: OMSB pharmacist booklet

What the paper covers

ProMCQ sets these topic targets for its mock papers, using the published OMSB blueprint as a guide. They can differ from the official weights, so check the blueprint for those. Each mock includes national-topic content, so its final question shares can differ slightly from these targets.

  • Patient-centered care & pharmacotherapeutics (33%): Choose drugs, change doses for kidney or liver disease, and check interactions. Plan what to monitor.
  • Pharmaceutical calculations (14%): Work through doses, dilutions, infusion rates and concentrations. Include creatinine clearance.
  • Pharmacy practice (8%): Check prescriptions and dispensing. Practise counselling and choices for over-the-counter care.
  • Quality and safety (10%): Prevent medicine errors. Check high-alert drugs and look-alike names. Report adverse events.
  • Pharmaceutical sciences (10%): Review how the body handles drugs, formulations and stability. Know how drugs act.
  • Ethics, regulations, professionalism (5%): Revise conduct and confidentiality. Know the rules on supplying medicines.
  • Research & EBP (5%): Read a trial and check its design and bias. Review risk measures and number needed to treat.
  • Public health & outcomes (5%): Cover vaccines and screening. Check the effects of drug use on groups of people.
  • Communication skills (5%): Counsel patients and answer a prescriber’s question clearly and safely.
  • Pharmacy management & administration (5%): Check stock, buying and storage. Review how to run a pharmacy.

Sample questions

Eight original practice questions from the OMSB pharmacists bank. They are written to the paper's style, not taken from the live exam. Pick an answer to see the key and explanation.

  1. An adult with topical-refractory atopic dermatitis develops new conjunctivitis and dry eye after starting systemic treatment. Which treatment is most characteristically associated with this reaction?

    1. Upadacitinib
    2. Abrocitinib
    3. Dupilumab
    4. Baricitinib
    Answer

    C. Dupilumab is distinctively associated with conjunctivitis and dry eye in patients treated for atopic dermatitis.

  2. A 43-year-old woman with major burns is receiving an intravenous drug. Her estimated volume of distribution is 42 L and clearance is 7 L/hour. The elimination half-life is calculated from these two pharmacokinetic parameters. The calculation uses 0.693 multiplied by volume of distribution and divided by clearance. Burn injury can alter both parameters. What is the estimated elimination half-life?

    1. 0.17 hours
    2. 4.16 hours
    3. 6.00 hours
    4. 8.66 hours
    Answer

    B. Major burns can create a hypermetabolic state with increased clearance. For the stated values, t½ = 0.693 × 42/7 = 4.16 hours.

  3. A 63-year-old woman on a medical ward is to start a continuous intravenous infusion of a drug that is not parenteral nutrition. Its calculated osmolarity is 950 mOsm/L. A colleague insists it must run through a central venous catheter because the figure exceeds 900 mOsm/L. Which criteria should govern the choice of vascular access for this infusion?

    1. ASPEN PPN osmolarity ceiling
    2. Serum osmolality comparison
    3. Peripheral bolus tolerance data
    4. Drug-specific infusion characteristics
    Answer

    D. The ASPEN ~900 mOsm/L limit is a PPN recommendation. A non-PN drug infusion is not governed by it; its own drug-specific infusion characteristics determine peripheral versus central access.

  4. A 58-year-old woman with capacity previously chose her brother to make medication decisions. During a consultation, she tells the pharmacist that she now wants her daughter to take that role. Her record still identifies her brother, and a medication decision is scheduled for tomorrow. What should the pharmacist do about the documented arrangement?

    1. Obtain her brother's permission
    2. Retain the existing arrangement
    3. Request a joint family decision
    4. Update her delegated decision-maker
    Answer

    D. A capable patient can choose another person to make decisions and can change that delegation. The pharmacist should update the record so subsequent decisions reflect her current arrangement.

  5. A 66-year-old woman is being discharged after an admission for heart failure. One tablet she has taken for years is continued. During the admission, its frequency was changed from once daily to twice daily. The pharmacist has only a few minutes to counsel her. What hazard makes counselling on this particular tablet essential?

    1. Reverting to the old dose
    2. Unfamiliarity with a new drug
    3. Narrow therapeutic index harm
    4. Long-standing poor adherence
    Answer

    A. In the N-C-H discharge priorities, a medicine with a changed dose or frequency needs counselling because the patient risks reverting to the old, wrong dose at home. This patient has taken the tablet once daily for years, and the frequency is now twice daily.

  6. A hospital audit of heparin infusion errors finds that smart pump alerts fired before almost none of the incidents. Pump logs show nurses often keyed in the rate and volume manually instead of selecting heparin from the drug library, which holds the standard concentration and dose limits. Which intervention best addresses the cause of these errors?

    1. Narrow the library's dose limits
    2. Add non-standard library concentrations
    3. Enforce consistent drug-library use
    4. Double-check basic-mode rate entries
    Answer

    C. Pump alerts catch programming slips and miscalculated doses, but many errors happen when the drug library is bypassed and rate and volume are keyed in manually. Consistent use of the library, with standard concentrations and infusion ranges, is essential for the pump to prevent errors.

  7. A 46-year-old woman attends her first pharmacy consultation. Her registration record contains her name and contact details but no language preferences. The pharmacy offers counselling and written information in several languages. Before arranging language support, the pharmacist needs to establish which languages she wants used. How should the pharmacist determine her communication preferences?

    1. Use her previous prescription language
    2. Use her accompanying relative's language
    3. Ask about spoken and written preferences
    4. Infer them from her surname
    Answer

    C. Establish spoken and written language preferences directly with the patient, record the preferred language, and determine whether an interpreter is needed before the clinical interview.

  8. A 52-year-old man sets a quit date and starts varenicline. The pharmacist schedules contacts at the start, one week after the quit date, and monthly thereafter. He smokes most after coffee and when stressed at work, and asks when they will plan how to handle these triggers. When should relapse-prevention strategies be discussed?

    1. Only after his first lapse occurs
    2. At the final follow-up contact
    3. Early, then revisited at every contact
    4. Once withdrawal symptoms have settled
    Answer

    C. A concrete coping plan identifies personal triggers with a written replacement activity for each; relapse-prevention strategies are introduced early in the quit attempt and revisited at every contact.

Full papers in the real format

10 timed mock papers of 100 questions each, built to the weights above. No question repeats across papers.

How to prepare

  • Write the units on paper. The booklet prints suggested pharmacokinetic equations. It does not say you get them in the exam.
  • Read DiPiro, Remington, Lippincott, Oman laws and reporting guidance (OEP reading list).
  • The OEP booklet gives 100 single-best-answer questions in 2 hours 30 minutes. Our sum gives 90 seconds per question (booklet time).
  • Our Oman notes cover the formulary and medicines. They also cover law, epidemiology and health services.

Licensing steps

  1. Check licence requirements: Follow licence steps for documents and your employer’s role.
  2. Plan fees and book: Use fees and booking to plan costs and check your ID.
  3. Use your result: Follow results and next steps after a pass or fail.

Frequently asked questions

What is the OEP pass mark?

60% (OEP booklet).

How much calculation practice does ProMCQ target?

ProMCQ’s calculation target is 14%.

Can you trust every answer key in the OEP samples?

Sample 7 asks which choice gives you the most quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) per Omani rial (OMR). The booklet’s key does not agree with its table. Use the table to work it out.

Do you need an oral VIVA after the written paper?

Yes, before you get the MOH licence (licence service). Follow Oman licence steps.

Sources

Facts last verified 2026-10-05.

  1. Omani Examination for Pharmacists booklet (August 2025), Oman Medical Specialty Board
  2. Get License to Practice Profession: Pharmacist, Pharmacy Assistant or Medical Representative, Oman Ministry of Health