LA TROBE University in Bendigo will be the first university in Victoria to train pharmacy students in the business of immunisation through a new partnership with the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA).
The training program is being offered in response to the Victorian Government's recent legislative change (PD 11 May 16), which enables registered pharmacists to immunise.
La Trobe University lecturer in clinical pharmacy Richard Summers said the program was designed to upskill pharmacy graduates, giving them greater flexibility for when they complete their degrees.
"Immunising within the pharmacy setting makes sense for many reasons and importantly it has been shown to enhance vaccination rates in the community," Summers said.
"If our students have the confidence and skills to immunise when they graduate, it will make their transition to the workplace that much easier.
"Pharmacist-delivered immunisations will soon be commonplace, and when that happens, our alumni will be ready to embrace it," he added.
PSA executive director Practice Support and Education, Jan Ridd, welcomed the support of the university to ensure future pharmacists are skilled in this new area of pharmacist practice, saying of the past year PSA had trained more than 2300 pharmacists around the country "to deliver high-quality immunisation services and to provide a major public health boost in local communities".
Pictured above are Richard Summers, La Trobe University and Katherine Hancy, PSA with fourth-year pharmacy students Sam Brown and Hassan El-Saafien.
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