Examination introduced for registering in Australia
UK qualified pharmacists who want to work in Australia will soon have to take a competency examination before they can register, the Council of Pharmacy Registering Authorities (COPRA) and the Australian Pharmacy Examining Council have announced.
Pharmacists from the UK and Ireland have enjoyed long-standing reciprocal arrangements between the respective registering authorities, which make them exempt from the usual assessment process required of other overseas pharmacists wishing to register in Australia. Following the ending of reciprocal arrangements between the UK, Ireland, and Australia and New Zealand last month (PJ, 16 April 2005, p465), COPRA has reviewed its current recognition process for overseas-trained pharmacists.
From 1 December 2006, all overseas trained pharmacists, irrespective of their country of origin, will be required to be assessed for competency to practise in Australia. A shortened process will be used to assess pharmacists who have qualified in the UK, Ireland, the US or Canada. These pharmacists will be required to pass an examination called the competency assessment of overseas pharmacists, which will be offered four times a year in Australia and overseas. Successful candidates will then be eligible for registration after they have satisfactorily completed a minimum period of four weeks’ supervised practice in Australia and an assessment by the state registering authority. Holders of UK and Irish qualifications who wish to register in Australia under the current reciprocal arrangements need to apply to the relevant registering authority before 1 December and be registered no later than 31 January 2007.
Pharmacists who have qualified in countries other than the UK, Ireland, the US or Canada will continue to be assessed by the current processes.
The Pharmacy Council of New Zealand has announced similar proposals for the registration of UK and Irish qualified pharmacists in New Zealand.
Commenting on the announcement, Graham Phillips, chairman of the Society’s education committee, told The Journal: “The Society is pleased that the Council of Pharmacy Registering Authorities has agreed new procedures for recognising UK-registered pharmacists wishing to work in Australia. It is important to note they are very similar to the Society’s new proposals for recognising Australian (and New Zealand) pharmacists.
“The sequencing of tests and supervised practise for UK and Australian pharmacists is based on the recognition of similar prior experience where that can be demonstrated. I think we all have to accept that in the modern regulatory environment we have to make judgements on the basis of evidence and demonstrations of competence.
“At its meeting next week the education committee will be considering COPRA’s policy in detail so we can communicate the new procedures to members at the earliest opportunity. The Pharmacy Council of New Zealand has issued proposals for recognising UK-registered pharmacists, which the Society will be responding to. Again, once the policy for New Zealand is in place, the Society will pass it on to members as soon as possible.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader