• Qualification for general registration - initial registrants
• Eligibility to undertake the Registration Examination
• Requirements for the conduct of Supervised Practice
• Record of Supervised Practice
• Additional requirements for initial General Registration
• Application for initial general registration in the State of Victoria
• The role of the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC)

1. A course of study in pharmacy practice
   
   A course of study in pharmacy practice must be approved by the Board.
   
   
   Policy
   
   To meet the requirement outlined in section 5(a) of the Act and be eligible for general registration, a person must successfully complete a course of study in pharmacy practice approved by the Board such as:
   
   (i)    a pharmacy course conducted in Australia or New Zealand which has been awarded provisional or full accreditation by the Australian Pharmacy Council  (APC); or
   
   (ii)    any other pharmacy courses conducted by an overseas course provider, provided that the holder of that qualification has had his/her qualification assessed and accepted by the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) as being equivalent to Australian qualifications, and the holder of that qualification has completed the relevant APC procedure for registration (refer to the role of APC).
   
   
2. A period of supervised practice approved by the Board (S 5(b))
   
   Supervised practice is undertaken by a provisionally registered person  after successful completion of an approved course in pharmacy practice, for the purpose of meeting the requirement outlined in section 5(b) of the Act.  Supervised practice is undertaken in premises and under the supervision of a preceptor (pharmacist with general registration status) approved by the Board.  'Pre-registrant training hours' is the term previously used by the Board for the period of supervised practice required for initial general registration.
   
   
   Policy
   
   Supervised practice includes undertaking tasks under the direct supervision of a pharmacist (with general registration status), whilst the pharmacist is providing pharmacy services.
   
   
   Policy
   
   The period of supervised practice required to meet the requirement of section 5(b) of the Act is 1824 hours, which must be undertaken in accordance with the conditions of supervised practice outlined by the Board after successful completion of a course in pharmacy practice approved by the Board.
   
   (Note:   
   
   1. Clinical training undertaken as part of a course in pharmacy practice (for the purpose of meeting the requirements of section 5(a) of the act) may not be counted as part of the 1824 supervised practice hours required for initial registration in Victoria.
   2. Overseas qualified pharmacists may be required to undertake less than 1824 supervised practice hours if undertaking the APC process for registration.  The number of hours allocated to such individuals is determined by the Board on a case-by-case basis.  Refer to APC for further information regarding the APC process).
   
   Conditions of supervised practice.  The 1824 hours of supervised practice required for initial general registration must be undertaken under the following conditions:
   
   
   1. Hours are undertaken in a pharmacy, pharmacy department, school of pharmacy or pharmaceutical manufacturing premises under the supervision of a pharmacist (preceptor) and the premises and preceptor are approved by the Board for each supervised practice period prior to commencement of those hours.
   2. Each period of supervised practice is undertaken under the direction and / or supervision of the one pharmacist (preceptor) approved by the Board for a minimum period of 114 hours.
   3. During the course of supervised practice, hours are undertaken regularly and consistently such that during a three consecutive week period, a minimum of 90 hours are undertaken.
      
      (Note:    During a three consecutive week period, a maximum of 135 hours may be counted as training hours)
3. An examination
   
   To meet the requirement outlined in section 5(c) of the Act and to be judged competent to practise, an applicant for initial registration (other than overseas pharmacists undertaking APC examinations for registration) must have passed the Board's Registration Examination in accordance with the rules outlined in the Board's "Registration Examination Candidate Guide."
   
   
   Policy
   
   The Registration Examination comprises the following:
   
   1. the National Forensic, Ethics and Calculations Examination (NFECE);
   2. the Pharmacy Law (Victoria) Examination;
   3. the Australian Competency Assessment Tool (APCAT); and
   4. an oral examination on pharmacy law and pharmacy practice
   (Note:   
   
   1. The Board conducts each examination up to three times during each calendar year on dates published in its 'Registration Examination Candidate Guide' on its website.
   2. The Board utilises the document "Competency Standards for Pharmacists in Australia 2003" in the development and conduct of these assessments.
   3. Interns are expected to be fluent in spoken and written English, sufficient to satisfy the Board at the Registration Examination that they can effectively communicate at professional and lay levels.  Failure to meet this requirement of general registration is grounds for refusal of registration by the Board as per section 6(2)(f) of the Act.  Interns who believe they need assistance in improving their ability in this area are invited to seek guidance from -
      • student counsellors at their School of Pharmacy;
      • counsellors at those educational institutions which provide suitable communication courses;
      • course providers of Pre-registration Training Program providers approved by the Board; or
      • the Board's Education Pharmacist
   4. As outlined in the information under 'The role of APC', in the case of overseas qualified pharmacists undertaking the APEC process for registration, details regarding the APEC examinations must be obtained from APEC).

To be eligible to undertake the Registration Examination, a candidate must meet all eligibility criteria published by the Board.

1. passed the National Forensic, Ethics and Calculations Examination (NFECE), the Pharmacy Law (Victoria) Examination and the Australian Pharmacy Competency Assessment Tool (APCAT);
   (Note:  
   
   1. A candidate must undertake at least 30% of the 1824 hours of supervised practice required for initial registration to be eligible to undertake NFECE, the Pharmacy Law (Victoria) Examination and APCAT;
   2. A pass in NFECE, the Pharmacy Law (Victoria) Examination and APCAT remain valid for a period of 12 months (or until a date determined and notified by the Board), after which a candidate is required to re-sit the examination(s) to meet the criteria for eligibility for entry into the oral component of the registration examination;
   3. A candidate must lodge an application form with payment of the fee for each examination no later than the closing date for the examinations).
      
2. by the date of commencement of the oral examination, undertaken
   
   1. a minimum of 85% of the 1824 hours of supervised practice required for initial registration (unless specifically approved by the Board to take the examination earlier);
   2. at least 912 supervised practice hours in a pharmacy and / or a pharmacy department;
3. lodged an application form with payment of the examination fee no later than the closing date for the oral examination, declaring that he/she is eligible to undertake the oral examination;
4. been evaluated by a Board Education Pharmacist in regard to their progress in on-site practical training; and
5. been evaluated by their preceptor as having progressed satisfactorily in the form of periodic written evaluations sought by the Board during the training period.

1. Candidates should refer to the Board's "Registration Examination Candidate Guide" for further information regarding the examinations and examination rules. 
2. As outlined in the information under 'The role of APC', in the case of overseas qualified pharmacists undertaking the APC process for registration, details regarding the APC examinations must be obtained from APC.
3. Unsuccessful candidates seeking to undertake a subsequent oral examination conducted by the Board should note that the Board expects such candidates to seek further supervised practice experience to remedy any deficiencies noted in their previous examination attempt. The Board mutually recognises the outcomes of registration examinations conducted by other examining bodies where the candidate has been unsuccessful in those examinations. In the case of interns who were unsuccessful in registration examinations conducted by other examining bodies, the Board will not admit an intern into the oral component of its registration examination -
   • within the three month period between an unsuccessful examination attempt and the date of commencement of the Board's oral examination, and
   • if the intern, at the time of the Board's oral examination, does not hold a current pass in NFECE, the Pharmacy Law (Victoria) Examination and APCAT or met any other eligibility criteria for entry into the oral examination).

Policy

In regard to the conduct of any proportion of the supervised practice hours for initial registration required under section 5(b) of the Act, both the preceptor and provisionally registered person must comply with the following requirements:

• The provisionally registered person:
  
  1. maintains provisional registration for the entire period of supervised practice; and
  2. the provisionally registered person has informed his or her preceptor regarding any condition imposed by the Board on his / her provisional registration which will impact on supervised practice.
• The preceptor has:
  
  1. held general registration and has practised as a pharmacist for the previous 12 months or longer (unless the pharmacist has been registered for a shorter period and is approved by the Board to act as preceptor);
  2. sighted evidence of provisional registration (in the form of a provisional registration certificate, issued by this Board) which is valid at the time supervised practice commences and at the time of renewal of provisional registration is due;
  3. taken into consideration, any condition which applies to the provisional registration and planned the training accordingly; and
  4. no conditions placed on his/her general registration which would otherwise impact on the supervised practice of the provisionally registered person.

(Note: The Board conducts training sessions each year for preceptors of provisionally registered persons.  Preceptors who have not undertaken this period of training for three years, or who are new preceptors are advised to attend this training.  In addition, the Board's Education Pharmacist is available to provide advice to preceptors regarding training and supervision of provisionally registered persons.  Preceptors should also refer to the Board's Pharmacy Intern Practical Training Guide for further information regarding the responsibilities of preceptors and information on training programs).

• Premises requirements:
  
  1. the premises in which the training will be conducted must be an approved pharmacy business or pharmacy department under section 103 of the Act, an accredited school of pharmacy or a pharmaceutical manufacturing premises;
  2. in the case of a pharmacy business or pharmacy department, practice is conducted in accordance with the Act and the Board's guidelines, policies and procedures including maintaining current editions of all reference books required by the Board.
• Approval requirements:
  
  The provisionally registered person or the pharmacist seeking approval as preceptor has submitted to the office of the Board and prior to commencement of training, an 'Application for approval of supervised practice' form (completed in full) for the Board to approve the premises and preceptor for that proposed period of supervised practice to be undertaken by the provisionally registered person.

(Note:

• An application must be submitted on every occasion, prior to commencement of supervised practice for each occasion that a period of supervised practice is conducted by a preceptor.
• More than one site may be included in the supervised practice program if all sites are part of a rotation program under the direction of one approved preceptor.
• For short rotations (totalling 180 hours or less) additional approval from the Board is not required. 
• In the case of rotations totalling more than 180 hours, each additional site must be nominated for each provisionally registered person and the number of supervised practice hours to be undertaken at each site specified.
• A provisionally registered person may commence supervised practice after the 'Application for approval of supervised practice' form has been received at the office of the Board.
• A certificate of approval is issued to both the preceptor and the provisionally registered person subsequent to the meeting of the Board at which the approval application was considered (usually within four weeks).
• Approval granted by the Board for the nominated preceptor to conduct supervised practice for the provisionally registered person at the nominated site remains valid for 12 months from the date of approval).
  

• On-site supervised practice requirements
  
  1. in the event that a preceptor cannot directly supervise a provisionally registered person, the responsibility for supervision may be devolved to a suitably experienced pharmacist with general registration status;
  2. the provisionally registered person must receive a level of supervision which ensures that an individual pharmacist with general registration status is present on the premises at all times for each provisionally registered person who is present.  The number of provisionally registered persons must not exceed the number of pharmacists (refer to 'A guide for preceptors' in the Pharmacy Intern Practical Training Guide for further information regarding the level of supervision required by interns);
  3.  where additional premises are involved in the conduct of supervised practice, the approved preceptor is in consultation and agreement with the supervising pharmacist at each additional premises, regarding that parts of the training program to be conducted at respective sites during the rotation;
  4. a training program has been implemented at the approved training site and conducted by the approved preceptor and has been designed to instruct the provisionally registered pharmacist in the following topics:
     • dispensing procedures and practice;
     • clinical pharmacy;
     • treatment of commonly occurring minor ailments;
     • communication to patients, health professionals and the community;
     • law applying to pharmacy practice;
     • pharmacy and pharmacy department practice management;
     • good manufacturing practice;
     • drug information procedures

(Note:   

• This program should include the opportunity for provisionally registered persons to attend seminars provided through an approved pharmacy pre-registration training program (refer to 'initial requirements for general registration' below).
• Sample training programs are published in the Board's Pharmacy Intern Practical Training Guide
• Offsite training programs / events can not replace the onsite training program which is to be conducted by the preceptor.
• The performance and progress of provisionally registered persons in the on-site training program will be evaluated three times each year.  Evaluation forms will be provided to preceptors who will be required to complete them carefully and discuss them with the provisionally registered person(s) who are given the opportunity to comment in writing about those evaluations, either on the form itself or directly to the Board). 

Policy

A preceptor is required to provide a signed record of supervised practice  undertaken by a provisionally registered person under his or her supervision which is accepted by the Board.  The record must be in the form of a "Statutory Declaration of Weekly Record of Supervised Practice Hours" provided by the Board.

• by a provisionally registered person after successful completion of the final year of an accredited course in pharmacy practice where the board of examiners of the course have passed that candidate at those examinations and all undergraduate requirements have been satisfactorily completed rendering a student eligible to be admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Pharmacy;
  
• under the direction and / or supervision of the one pharmacist for a minimum period of 114 hours and accumulated at a rate such that during any three consecutive weeks of a supervised practice period, a minimum of 90 hours have been undertaken;
  
  (Note:    During a three consecutive week period, a maximum of 135 hours may be counted as supervised practice hours).
• at premises approved by the Board and under the supervision of the pharmacist nominated in the 'Application for approval of supervised practice' form submitted to the office of the Board prior to commencement of supervised practice,
  
  (Note:    The approved preceptor must sign the weekly record of supervised practice hours, even when the responsibility of supervision has been devolved to other suitably experienced pharmacists);
  
• at approved premises or other premises during rotations or by means of attending seminars of an approved pharmacy pre-registration training program;
  
  (Note:    Absences from work for public holidays, accrued days of, sick leave or for other purposes (unless by prior approval of the Board) are not to be counted towards the period of supervised practice to be completed before initial general registration).
  

Policy

In addition to achieving the qualifications for general registration outlined in section 5 of the Act, to be eligible for initial general registration in Victoria, provisionally registered pharmacists are required to have satisfactorily completed any additional requirements specified by the Board.

• a Level 2 / Senior first aid course or equivalent
  
  (Note:
  
  1. Equivalent first aid courses completed prior to the supervised practice period may be acceptable if the certificate of completion is valid at the time that application for initial registration is made.
  2. Enquiries regarding the equivalence of courses should be directed to first aid course providers).
     
     
• an approved management course which may be one of either:
  
  1. the management course offered by the Australian College of Pharmacy Practice and Management ("Introduction to Pharmacy Management Program"); or
  2. "Diploma in Frontline Management" course delivered by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (Victorian branch); or
  3. the management components of the undergraduate pharmacy courses conducted by the Victorian College of Pharmacy, Monash University and La Trobe University, Bendigo Campus; or
  4. evidence of satisfactory training and management experience accepted by the Board.
  
  (Note:   
  1.   An application for recognition of prior learning must be made to the Board, in writing, in advance of lodging an application for initial general registration
  2.   When considering an application for recognition of prior learning for a previously completed management course, the Board assesses the application against 'Functional Area 2 - Manage work issues and interpersonal relationships in pharmacy practice' and 'Functional Area 8 - Apply organisational skills in the practise of pharmacy' of the Competency Standards for Pharmacists in Australia 2003).
  
  
• a pharmacy pre-registration training program which may be one of either:
  
  1. the Monash University Pre-registration Program; or
  2. the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (Vic Branch) Pre-registration Program; or
  3. a pharmacy pre registration training program acceptable to the Board (course information must be provided to the Board prior to commencement of the course).
• an on-site assessment on the preparation of extemporaneously prepared products conducted under the direction of the preceptor.
  (Note:
  
  1. The relevant assessment material is provided by the Board to all preceptors and may also be accessed on the Board's website).
  2. This assessment is not a set requirement for provisionally registered persons undertaking the APEC requirements for registration however, it may be undertaken as a training exercise.
  3. Provisionally registered persons are required to submit this assessment by due dates published by the Board).

• acknowledges there is a legislative basis for registration / licensure of pharmacists
• considers the practice of pharmacy to be substantially equivalent to Australia
• considers the level of competency required to practise pharmacy to be substantially equivalent to Australia.

Policy

Overseas trained pharmacists (other than those registered in New Zealand) who propose to seek registration in Victoria are required in the first instance to make an application to the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) and complete the APC process for registration. 

Australian Pharmacy Council
PO Box 269
Civic Square   ACT   2608
Tel (02) 6247 5088
Fax (02) 6247 9611
E-mail apec@pharmacycouncil.org.au
Website www.pharmacycouncil.org.au