INTERN pharmacists wishing to sit the Intern Written Examination will need to have completed 40% of their required approved supervised practice hours by the date of the examination, under new requirements confirmed by the Pharmacy Board of Australia on Fri.
The latest Board communiqu details the changes, which follow discussions with the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) and will become effective 01 Jan 2018.
The current eligibility requirement is completion of 30% of approved supervised practice hours, and this will be maintained for exams conducted in 2016 and 2017.
"The change in eligibility criteria will ensure interns have had sufficient time and experience in their supervised practice in order to demonstrate their competence, and also have the best possible chance to be successful at the examination," the Board said.
The decision was based on a recommendation from the Australian Pharmacy Council regarding the optimum time for candidates to sit the written examination during the intern year, and is based on a five year collection of APC data.
"With written examinations scheduled on a regular basis, the change in eligibility criteria is expected to have little or no impact on interns," the Board said.
The communiqu also revealed the latest quarterly registration data, with a total of 29,717 registered pharmacists in Australia as at Jun 2016 - including 26,948 with general registration, 1,727 with provisional registration, 1,035 with non-practising registration and seven with limited registration.
The board encouraged pharmacists to renew their registration online by 30 Nov.
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