E-drug: Pharmacy profession in Kenya (cont'd)
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Dear Prof Kibwaye,
In UK a person cannot practice as a pharmacist, indeed cannot call
themselves a pharmacist, unless and until they have been accepted
onto the register of Pharmacists held by the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society of GB (RSPGB). To be accepted onto this register it is
necessary to fulfill the educational and practice requirements that have
been set out by the RSPGB. These are enshrined in statute and are
designed by the RSPGB to encompass the knowledge and skill
required to practice as a pharmacist and to fulfill the obligations to
patients and the public.
In practice this is achieved by the RSPGB setting out guidance for and
subsequently accrediting the courses in pharmacy that are offered in
the different universities throughout UK. The length of the course can
be distracting when comparing across national boundaries, when the
important aspect is the content, but in fact these are all now 4 year
courses leading to a degree of MPharm (again the actual degree title is
not easily transferable across countries). After that the post graduate
must complete a year of pre-registration training which again is closely
controlled and monitored by the RSPGB, and it is only after
satisfactorily completing this that a person can apply to be accepted
onto the Register of Pharmacists.
The same system is applied to people from outside UK who wish to
practice pharmacy in UK or indeed to call themselves a 'pharmacist'.
They must submit their educational record to the RSPGB for it to be
assessed against the already determined criteria for a pharmacist and,
depending on the outcome, they may be required to undertaken some
additional educational or practice experience before being accepted as
a pharmacist.
Pharmacy technicians and pharmacy assistants are trained and utilised
to fulfill a very different role from that of the pharmacist. In simple
terms the role of the technicians is to undertake technical
manipulation while the pharmacist makes pharmaceutical judgement.
the assistant is usually less qualified and will often undertake the more
menial repetitive tasks. Neither the technician or the assistant have
their training controlled in the same way as the pharmacists.
However, the pharmacists are closely involved in the design and
assessment of that training and it is expected as part of good practice
for a pharmacist to ensure that his staff are competent.
The underlying point in all this long answer is that the essence of the
control is set out in law. It is not put there to 'protect' pharmacists or
to create some elite in this branch of healthcare, but it is put there to
protect the patient and the public. The RSPGB and the profession as a
whole has a duty of care and it is partly through the excercising of
this law that this duty is delivered. I hope that helps, but please feel
free to contact me for any more assistance I can give, or you can
contact RSPGB directly for more help.
Tim Dodd, FRPharmS
Training Advisor,
Ghana National Drugs Programme
Email: Cath_and_Tim_Dodd@compuserve.com
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