Shortage of NT pharmacists sees CDU reinstate program | NT Independent

Shortage of NT pharmacists sees CDU reinstate program

by | Jan 27, 2022 | Business | 0 comments

Charles Darwin University will reinstate a pharmacy program in the 2023 academic year, four years after ceasing its previous program amid warnings at the time of a looming critical shortage of Territory pharmacists.

The university said it is introducing a new Master of Pharmacy course to meet the demand for pharmacists in the Territory and address the critical shortage. The new program will be open to those who have already completed a degree in health sciences.

CDU Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy, Heather Volk, said the reintroduction of pharmacy training would give the Northern Territory’s pharmacist cohort a much-needed boost.

“We don’t have enough pharmacists here and getting the right people with the right skills is important to the health of the NT,” Ms Volk said.

Ms Volk said Australia-wide, there are 88 pharmacists per 100,000 people, but the NT has only 63 per 100,000.

“There’s clearly a shortage of pharmacists in the Territory that needs to be addressed,” she said.

Once they finish their training, pharmacy graduates complete a 12-month internship before they can register as a pharmacist.

“The employment prospects for pharmacists are 100 per cent and they’ll receive well above average pay because they’re in high demand,” Ms Volk said.

CDU’s previous four-year Bachelor of Pharmacy course was established in the early 2000s.

According to CDU, the course produced a steady stream of pharmacy graduates, “many of whom stayed in the Territory to complete their internships and to work as registered pharmacists”.

After nearly two decades of teaching the pharmacy course, CDU had ceased offering it in 2019 due to low enrollment numbers which the university said at the time was financially unsustainable.

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia had warned that CDU’s decision to cut the pharmacy program would result in a “dangerous shortage of Territory pharmacists.”

NT branch president Terry Battalis said it is ideal to train and employ local people as pharmacists rather than turning to skilled migration to fill the gap.

In 2019, Mr Battalis said there were 40 community pharmacies in the NT. He is also a pharmacy owner in the Northern Territory and remote Western Australia, heavily involved in Aboriginal health.

CDU’s two-year Master of Pharmacy course will be offered on a graduate entry basis for students who hold a degree in health sciences.

CDU said enrollment will begin in 2023 with an initial entry of 30 students.

CDU’s College of Health and Human Sciences Dean, Professor Dominic Upton, said the pharmacy course would equip students with essential professional skills.

“With the world’s ongoing battle with COVID-19, pharmacy has become an increasingly important field of study that can improve health outcomes for the whole community,” Professor Upton said.

CDU said the pharmacy course will have an emphasis on First Nations health, as well as practising pharmacy in challenging environments including rural and remote communities.

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