Sydney supports moratorium
July 29, 2011
PROFESSOR Iqbal Ramzan, Dean
of the Sydney University Faculty of
Pharmacy, has added his support to
a review of pharmacy schools in
Australia, defending Sydney from
recent suggestions that larger unis
are to blame for the oversupply of
pharmacists in Australia.
“This is a simplistic and narrow
view of the issue for which there is
no evidence,” he told PD today.
“To continue our focus on
research-informed quality teaching,
we maintain a consistent level of
admissions to ensure our students
experience a higher staff to student
ratio, allowing for more time to
spend with students,” he said.
Ramzan said he also supports a
moratorium on new schools, along
with a freeze on numbers in
existing courses, as well as an
evaluation of current accreditation
processes and standards.
He said that despite commentary
on the oversupply, the Graduate
Careers Australia report (PD 05 Jul)
indicates that pharmacy graduates
are in fact “securing full-time work
at rates above other professions,”
with these figures backed up by
employment rates for University of
Sydney pharmacy alumni.
Sydney University would “happily
contribute to a summit on the
topic” as suggested by the Council
of Pharmacy Schools, with Ramzan
saying he supports an “educated,
robust but respectful discussion
about the issues so that the best
outcomes are arrived at for this
noble profession”.
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