E-drug: Community service for young pharmacists (cont'd)
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I am a South African Pharmacist working in the Sultanate of Oman. I
do not necessarily think that a year of community service for newly
qualified Pharmacists in the Public sector is a bad idea. Many young
interns apply to work in the state hospitals and there are only a certain
number of posts available. Interns realise that the best internships are
often obtained in the Public sector, where there are structured
programs and the intern has access to all aspects of Pharmacy e.g.
TPN, Cytotoxics, ward pharmacy, manufacturing.
By introducing a compulsory year of community service in the state,
many students who were not able to obtain an internship in the Public
sector, would also benefit from the broader training obtained in the
Public sector. Newly qualified Pharmacists are also then guaranteed a
job in their first year of qualification even though it may be at a lower
salary than in the Private sector. It would also give the newly qualified
Pharmacist a chance to decide what area of Pharmacy interests them
the most.
I think it would be advisable for the authorities to take care that the
newly qualified Pharmacists are not treated as "cheap labour" but that
they are placed in institutions with good training programmes, where
the Pharmacists are offered the opportunity to further their
knowledge. Also, much resistance is as a result of the impression that
these Pharmacists will not be given much choice as to where they will
be placed and how far this may be from their area of choice.
Wendy Grosvenor (BScPharm)
Al Shatti Hospital
Sultanate of Oman
e-mail: dwgoman@omantel.net.om
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