BCGP CE Requirements for Pharmacists
BCGP CE requirements made concrete: a 100-unit ACPE-accredited continuing education cycle, three BPS-aligned category floors, and a 7-year recertification window — laid out so you can plan the hours, log them cleanly, and clear audit on the first submission.
Track your BCGP CE units · 2-min setup · No credit card to start.
CE Hour Totals
ACPE-accredited CE hour totals for the BCGP cycle.
The Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) structures BCGP CE requirements around an ACPE-accredited 100-unit cycle distributed across three BPS-aligned category floors. One CE unit equals one contact hour of accredited pharmacy continuing education. Activities qualify when the provider is ACPE-accredited, the activity is mapped to a BCGP content domain, and the documentation (provider, activity number, units earned, completion date) is preserved for the BPS audit.
100
CE units per cycle
50
Geriatric-specific units
30
General pharmacy units
20
CPD units
ACPE (the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education) is the national accreditor for pharmacy CE in the United States; every BPS-mapped activity carries an ACPE Universal Activity Number (UAN) on the certificate. Rxelerate keeps the UAN alongside the activity title, units earned, and completion date so the audit file ties back to a verifiable source instead of a self-reported spreadsheet.
Category Rules
What counts toward each BPS-aligned track.
Each BCGP CE category has its own floor, its own definition of what counts, and its own audit-documentation rule. Picking up the total number of hours is not enough — every floor must be independently satisfied or the renewal returns a flag regardless of the unit sum.
| Track | Floor | What counts | Audit documentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geriatric-specific | 50 | CE units specifically tagged to geriatric pharmacy: pharmacotherapy of older adults, deprescribing, falls/cognition, and polypharmacy. | ACPE provider, UAN, units earned, and completion date; mapped to a BCGP geriatric content domain. |
| General pharmacy | 30 | CE units covering broader BPS Pharmacotherapy / general pharmacy content: evidence-based practice, communication, and systems-level topics. | ACPE provider, UAN, units earned, and completion date; mapped to a general BCGP content domain. |
| Continuing Professional Development (CPD) | 20 | Continuing Professional Development units covering self-directed learning, practice improvement, mentorship, and lifelong-learning activity. | Reflective log with the CPD activity description, date, and outcome; ACPE-accredited modules count toward CPD when mapped. |
Recertification Windows
The 7-year cycle and the dates that close it.
The BCGP cycle is a fixed 7-year recertification window — BPS treats the cycle end date as a hard line, not a calendar-quarter cushion. Knowing the dates BPS publishes ahead of that line is the difference between submitting cleanly and paying a late fee.
The 7-year recertification window.
Your cycle begins on the month your BCGP credential is issued, runs for seven full years, and ends on the printed cycle-end date. On the day your previous BCGP credential expires, you must be re-credentialed (CE path) or re-certified (exam path) before you can use the credential again. CE-path renewal submits 90 days ahead of that expiration.
Dates BPS publishes ahead of cycle end.
- ·Submission window — opens roughly 90 days before cycle end. CE units posted after that date do not count for the current cycle.
- ·Audit notification — BPS emails selected renewals about 8 weeks before cycle end. Selected candidates provide supporting documentation for the units claimed.
- ·Recertification paths — CE-path submission opens pre-expiration; the recertification-by-exam path runs on its own spring BPS testing window.
No rollover
The CE requirements reset on your cycle-end date — unused units do not roll into the next cycle. Rxelerate locks your cycle calendar against your BCGP credential begin date so the deadline + the per-track floors live on the dashboard the day you complete onboarding.
Plan the hours
Set up your BCGP CE plan in 2 minutes.
Onboarding captures your BCGP credential, your cycle start date, and your first free CE log. The wizard returns a per-track gap dashboard calibrated against the BPS floors above so the remaining hours per category turn into an actionable plan instead of a year-end scramble.
2-minute onboarding · Free tier covers one BPS specialty
Frequently asked
Common BCGP CE questions.
Short answers to the questions BCGP pharmacists ask most often during onboarding — the ones that, if missed at year one, surface painfully at year six.
How many CE hours do pharmacists need for BCGP recertification?+
Pharmacists holding the BCGP credential need 100 CE units per 7-year recertification cycle, distributed across three BPS-aligned category floors: 50 geriatric-specific units, 30 general-pharmacy units, and 20 CPD units. Each floor must be independently satisfied; the total alone does not satisfy the renewal. Rxelerate pricing tiers.
Are ACPE-accredited CE hours required for BCGP recertification?+
Yes. Every BCGP CE unit must come from an ACPE-accredited provider, carry a Universal Activity Number (UAN) on the certificate, and be mapped to a BCGP content domain. One CE unit equals one ACPE-accredited contact hour, and the unit mapping is preserved on the BPS renewal file. the onboarding wizard.
What is the BCGP recertification window in years, and can CE hours roll over?+
The BCGP recertification window is seven years from the cycle start date printed on the original certificate. Credits do not roll over — units earned in a previous cycle do not count toward the next. Renewal submits 90 days before the cycle-end date so the audit can clear in time. the recertification overview.