Over the past several weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to immerse myself in a unique and rewarding experience that has expanded my skill set far beyond what I anticipated. While preparing for the Iowa Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination (MPJE), I took on a dual-purpose project: creating a comprehensive Iowa law study guide to help other students and pharmacists prepare for the Iowa MPJE, while also using it as a tool to study for the exam myself. Developing this guide not only helped prepare me for taking the Iowa MPJE but also helped redefine my medical writing skills by working with a preceptor who is a professional medical writer. I was able to not only incorporate legal content into a easy to understand way for others but also grow many skills that I will take with me into any pharmacy career path.

What made this experience especially valuable was that it wasn’t just about studying — it was about teaching, synthesizing, and producing clear, usable content for others. In the process, I evolved from simply reviewing material to becoming a medical communicator, capable of translating complex legal information into practical study tools while creating questions and answers myself to help test others. This shift in perspective was challenging at times but also incredibly rewarding.

The Iowa MPJE is known for being dense and difficult, testing not only state-specific pharmacy regulations but also federal law, gray-area clinical judgment, and real-world application. Additionally, there is not much if at all study guides for the Iowa MPJE. I realized early on that I personally learn best through scenario-based questions, so I decided to create my own content that reflected the MPJE’s tone and style. As I created practice questions, summaries, and policy breakdowns, I realized that I wasn’t just studying for myself. I was building a tool that could be useful to others, a guide that approached MPJE preparation in a way that is active, clinically relevant, and easy to internalize.

Writing the guide pushed me to think like both a pharmacist and an educator. I had to break down lengthy Iowa Board of Pharmacy regulations and condense them into understandable concepts, questions, and high-level summaries. Then I had to apply them to fictional but realistic case scenarios. Each question needed to strike a careful balance: challenging enough to reflect MPJE standards, but not so obscure that it became frustrating or confusing. In doing this, I was building the same core skill set used in medical writing, the ability to translate technical content into accessible, evidence-based material that supports decision-making.

As the guide grew, I incorporated multiple domains: controlled substance regulations, licensing requirements, telepharmacy operations, statewide protocols for naloxone and tobacco cessation, pharmacist delegation, and emergency dispensing rules. Every topic required both true legal information while also providing clarity. To ensure I was providing precise information, I routinely referenced primary sources, including the Iowa Administrative Code, DEA resources, and the NABP MPJE Competency Statements.

Through this repetitive engagement with regulatory content, my own understanding of pharmacy law became deeply reinforced. I was no longer passively reading, I was also interpreting, teaching, and justifying decisions, which is exactly what the MPJE demands on exam day. I wasn’t just studying to pass, I was learning how to practice safely and legally, and that has been an incredibly empowering realization.

A defining part of this experience was the mentorship I received from my preceptor. His guidance transformed this from a solo learning project into a collaborative medical writing experience. From the very beginning, my preceptor encouraged me to take initiative and be creative, while ensuring that my content met the professional and ethical standards expected of regulatory writing. My preceptor’s depth of knowledge in both pharmacy law and medical writing was instrumental. He helped me refine my questions to ensure they were not only legally accurate but also exam-relevant, concise, and were clear to the readers. His feedback pushed me to think about how the reader want the information to be organized to keep engagement and be easy to follow with.   

We also discussed the core principles of medical writing, including appropriate sources, consistency of tone, and formatting for usability. I learned how important it is to cite regulatory sources, avoid ambiguous interpretations of law, and remain aligned with current policy language. My preceptor also met with me every 1-2 weeks to check in and provide any advice he had on my previous projects so I had guidance throughout the whole project.

His mentorship helped me see what all goes into medical writing, it’s not just about communicating drug information or disease states. In this case, it was about bridging pharmacy law and clinical practice through high-quality educational material. I am incredibly grateful for his support, generosity with time, and commitment to helping me grow.

This project gave me a strong foundation in medical writing, not just technical proficiency, but also process, professionalism, and purpose. Some of the key skills I developed include:

• Regulatory Interpretation: Learning how to read, summarize, and apply legal codes in a pharmacy-specific context.
• Case-Based Writing: Crafting realistic patient or workplace scenarios that highlight key legal and ethical decision points.
• Clarity and Tone: Writing content that is authoritative yet accessible, suitable for a clinical audience.
• Peer Education: Creating content not just for my own use, but with the goal of helping others prepare for licensure.
• Collaboration and Editing: Learning to accept and apply feedback, revise content, and communicate in a professional writing workflow.

These are skills I hope to carry forward into a career that includes not only patient care but also education, drug information, or clinical policy development. I now feel confident that I can write effectively for a professional audience, whether it’s developing CE modules, creating patient-facing materials, or contributing to clinical guidelines.

Creating the Iowa MPJE guide was an amazing experience to be apart of during the summer right before I started my residency. It pushed me out of passive studying and into active knowledge translation. It helped me see the depth and complexity of pharmacy law, and it reinforced how essential it is to be legally literate as a practicing pharmacist. Most importantly, it gave me confidence in my ability to contribute meaningfully to the field of medical and regulatory writing, a skill set that I know will serve me for years to come.

I’m deeply thankful to my preceptor for his mentorship and insight, and for showing me what high-quality writing looks like in our profession. This project reminded me that every pharmacist is also an educator, and that clear, thoughtful writing can be just as powerful as any medication we dispense.

-Kaley Wolff, PharmD