Planning to take the OPRA exam but not sure where to begin? You’re not alone. For many pharmacy graduates, the OPRA exam can feel confusing at first, especially when it focuses more on real-world clinical thinking than just textbook knowledge.
The good news is that once you understand the exam pattern and syllabus, preparation becomes much simpler and more organised. This blog walks you through everything you need to know about the OPRA exam structure, helping you study smarter, stay confident, and move closer to your goal of becoming a pharmacist in Australia.
OPRA Exam Syllabus
OPRA exam syllabus covers major pharmaceutical concepts and assesses them based on a fixed percentage of questions allotted. The OPRA exam consists of five major content areas:
Content area | Percentage of questions allocated |
Biomedical sciences | 20% |
Medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics | 10% |
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics | 10% |
Pharmacology and toxicology | 15% |
Therapeutics and patient care | 45% |
Biomedical Sciences
Content assessed | Topics |
| Physiological processes and normal bodily function for all systems | Central nervous, digestive, cardiovascular, lymphatic, nervous, respiratory, urinary, endocrine, and reproductive systems, and their integration; blood and other body fluids. |
| Pathophysiology | Alteration of normal physiological processes and genesis of disease states by genetic factors, environmental, chemical/drug causes, physical injury, infectious agents or other causes. |
| Medical Microbiology | Pathogenesis of infections (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other parasites). |
| Immunology | Immune responses and defence mechanisms against infectious agents. Vaccines and vaccine-preventable disease. |
| Disorders affecting bodily fluids | Fluid and electrolyte disorders, metabolic acid-base disorders, and blood disorders. |
| Symptoms and physiological values of disease states and disorders | Signs, symptoms of disease, diagnostic tests and laboratory investigations associated with normal and abnormal body functions, disease states, and disorders. |
Medicinal Chemistry and Biopharmaceutics
Content assessed | Topics |
| Physicochemical properties of drugs | Physicochemical properties of drugs of relevance to drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). |
| Formulations for the delivery of drugs | Properties of solids, solid dosage forms, solvents, solutes, solutions, aqueous and non-aqueous solutions, liquid-liquid solutions, solid-liquid solutions, gas-liquid solutions, suspensions, and emulsions. |
| Drug and chemical stability | Mechanisms of degradation (hydrolysis, oxidation), zero and first-order degradation, the effect of temperature and pH. |
| Solubility | Factors affecting solubility, dissolution, partition, and thermodynamics of pharmaceutical solutions. |
Drug formulation
| Materials and methods used in the formulation of drug delivery systems for common routes of administration, including oral, pulmonary, transdermal, parenteral, ophthalmic, nasal, rectal, and vaginal. |
| Pharmaceutical Microbiology | Preservation, antimicrobial agents, and sterilisation processes. |
Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics
Content assessed | Topics |
Drug metabolism
| Chemical and biochemical basis for drug action and pathways for drug metabolism, drug absorption, disposition, biotransformation, elimination, receptor theory, signal transduction mechanisms, and molecular pharmacology. |
| Principles of pharmacokinetics | Bioavailability and bioequivalence, biological half-life, elimination and clearance concepts, distribution, protein binding, steady state considerations. |
| Factors affecting drug impacts | Determinants of drug onset, drug duration, and effect of factors such as disease/conditions and diet on absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion. |
| Evaluation of pharmacokinetic data | Kinetics of drug interactions, drug concentration vs time curves and interpretation of pharmacokinetics of low-therapeutic-index drugs. |
| Using pharmacokinetic data in treating patients | Use of pharmacokinetics to calculate, evaluate, and individualise drug therapy, including monitoring and adjustment of doses in renal and hepatic dysfunction, loading and time to reach a steady state. |
Pharmacology and Toxicology
Content assessed | Topics |
| Impact of drugs on the body | Effects of drugs on organs and body systems, dose-response relationships, agonists, partial agonists, antagonists, enzyme inducers/substrates/inhibitors, genetic polymorphism, and clinical relevance. |
| Receptor theory | Drug receptor interactions, agonists/antagonists, dose-response curves, desensitisation, and super sensitivity. |
Mechanisms of action of drugs
| Mechanisms of action of various drug categories as they relate to organs and disease states. Including but not limited to central nervous system pharmacology, cardiovascular pharmacology, haemostasis and thrombosis, cancer chemotherapy, antihypertensives, and drugs for dyslipidaemia. |
| Adverse drug reactions | Adverse drug reactions, side effects of medicines and management and mechanisms of drug-drug interactions. |
| Drug interactions | Drug-drug interactions, drug-receptor interactions, drug-receptor binding, enzyme-substrate relationships, hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions. |
| Drug toxicity and treatment | Drug and chemical overdose and antidotes. Signs and symptoms of toxicity and mechanism of toxicity and its management. |
| Factors causing changes in the pharmacology and toxicity of drugs | Modulators of drug pharmacology and toxicity include pharmacologic factors (disposition, biotransformation, renal elimination), physiological factors (age, sex, genetics, pregnancy, etc), and pathophysiological factors (liver disease, renal dysfunction). |
Therapeutics and Patient Care
Content assessed | Topics |
| Screening | Calculation of common patient assessment parameters such as body mass index (BMI) and creatinine clearance. |
Dose calculations
| Amount of drug, number of doses, dosing based on body weight/ body surface area/ age/or other pharmacokinetic parameters, ratio and proportion, percentage, stock solutions, dilution and concentration, allegation, electrolyte solutions (milliequivalents/milliosmoles), reconstitution, infusion flow rates, isotonicity. |
| Primary health care | Selection of appropriate management options for treating illness and maintaining health and identification of circumstances where non pharmacological treatment is more appropriate. |
| Safe and effective use of medicines in populations requiring extended consideration | Consideration for medicine use, precautions, and contraindications in special populations: the elderly, children less than 12 years of age, during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. |
| Safe and effective use of medicines | Monitoring and review of management options, including medicines use and promoting adherence to medicines. |
| Harm minimisation | Knowledge about strategies for minimising misuse and abuse of medicines at the patient and community level. |
| Health promotion and disease prevention | Knowledge about general approaches for health promotion and disease prevention. Measures for promoting wellness proper use of nonpharmacological treatment options. |
| Confidentiality | Understanding of general principles about maintaining confidentiality and professionalism when providing medicines information and handling patient records. |
OPRA Exam Pattern
Here’s a detailed breakdown of the important features of the OPRA exam pattern-
Aspect | Details |
Format | Computer-based, multiple-choice questions (MCQs) |
Number of Papers | One single paper |
Number of Questions | 120 |
Duration | 2.5 hours |
Breaks | No breaks are allowed during the exam |
Cost | AUD 2190 (1,32,013 INR) |
Test centres |
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Testing Methodology | Rasch methodology |
Result Availability | Within 4 weeks post-exam |
Parting thoughts
Now you have a clear idea of everything you need to know to prepare for the OPRA exam. From understanding the requirements to meeting Australian Pharmacy Council standards, this journey becomes much easier with the right support.
If you’re looking for proper guidance, we are a one-stop solution for OPRA aspirants. We cover everything, from eligibility and exam strategies to study resources and preparation tips.
Join our OPRA preparation course for expert guidance, updated materials, and step-by-step support to help you clear the exam confidently. Stay focused, keep learning, and take one step closer to your pharmacy career in Australia.
