Intern Training Programme Policy

This policy was set in June 2004, and updated September 2008.

Prescribed Qualification

The EVOLVE Intern Training Programme of the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand (Inc) is a prescribed qualification for registration as a pharmacist under s.12 of the HPCA Act 2003.

Length of Intern programme & minimum hours requirement

All New Zealand and Australian B.Pharm graduates who have met the qualifications for practice in the scope of practice of an intern pharmacist and are eligible to call themselves intern pharmacists, are required to undertake supervised practice under an approved preceptor in an approved site. The Evolve Intern Programme runs between 1 February until 30 November of each year and supervised practice must be undertaken concurrently whilst completing the assessment requirements of the intern programme.

The minimum period of supervised practice is 44 weeks. In addition to this, an intern pharmacist must continue to practice in their intern training site until results of the programme are available and they are eligible to apply for registration as a pharmacist. This is usually mid December of the year of the programme.

A NZ or Australian B.Pharm graduate intern pharmacist is required to work a minimum period of 35 hours per week during the Evolve Intern Programme period of 1 February to 30 November.

Overseas qualified pharmacists who have met the qualifications for practise in the intern pharmacist scope of practice through the non- Recognised Equivalent Qualification Route (Non-REQR) are required to undertake supervised practice under an approved preceptor in an approved site for a minimum period of 26 weeks concurrently whilst completing the assessment requirements of the preregistration programme.

Overseas qualified intern pharmacists, registering under the non-REQR qualification route, are required to work a minimum of 35 hours per week during the supervised practice period. Consideration may be given to intern pharmacists who wish to extend their practice period to the full year programme

Approval of Preceptors

All Preceptor pharmacists must be approved for this purpose.

A pharmacist applying for approval to be a preceptor pharmacist for purposes of training and assessing an intern pharmacist must meet the following requirements set by the Pharmacy Council:

Have had a minimum of three years post-registration experience in pharmacy and hold a current annual practising certificate without conditions or interim conditions attached. In the case of a pharmacist previously registered in a country outside New Zealand, at least one year of this experience must be subsequent to registration in New Zealand
Not have been found guilty of a charge brought under a disciplinary action within the preceding five years of applying to be a preceptor.
Not have been the subject of a major complaint or series of minor complaints within the preceding five years of applying to be a preceptor.
Be actively undertaking Continuing Professional Development.
Have completed the training for a preceptor as currently required by the Pharmacy Council. At this date this is Workplace Assessor Training Unit Standard 4098 on the NZQA framework. If training is not completed before an intern pharmacist commences, the preceptor must give an undertaking to Council that this will be completed before the due date of the final appraisal.

Workplace Assessment Training Requirements

The Workplace Assessment Training requirement for a preceptor pharmacist is successful completion of Unit Standard 4098 - Use standards to assess candidate performance. This qualification is a 5 credit qualification on level 4 of the National Qualifications Framework.

Approval of Intern Training Sites

All intern training sites must be approved for this purpose.

Any training site applying for approval as an Intern training site, be it a single pharmacy or a combination of pharmacy and non-direct patient care training sites, must meet the requirements set by the Pharmacy Council that include all of the below:

Have a license or equivalent to operate as a pharmacy under the Medicines Act, free of any conditions imposed by the licensing authority. (This does not include the 2 conditions normally placed on pharmacy licences);
Meet the requirements of the Pharmacy Quality Audit or equivalent, as required by Medicines Control of the Ministry of Health (community pharmacies only);
Hold the current recommended resources (be they paper, computer disk or on-line resources) required to meet the Quality in Pharmacy Standards;
Have a contract with the Ministry of Health to dispense medicines under the Pharmaceutical Schedule, or an equivalent for hospital pharmacies;
Have a comprehensive range of pharmacy services and products;
Have adequate resources, including staff, physical resources and information resources, to support the training of an intern pharmacist;
Have active involvement in consultation with other health professionals;
Have access to patients or the public that allow direct patient care practice;
Have involvement in health promotion through community and service organisations;
Have internal training programmes in place for staff and encourage participation in external training courses.
The Council reserves the right to review sites on a case by case basis where conditions have been placed on their license by Medsafe.
Split-site non-traditional site arrangements may be approved, providing that a minimum of 35 hours per fortnight is practised in a traditional direct patient care site (community pharmacy/hospital pharmacy) and a maximum of 35 hours per fortnight is worked in a non-traditional non-direct patient care site.
Intern pharmacists undertaking split-site internships with Schools of Pharmacy who are teaching, supervising or demonstrating to undergraduate pharmacy students will have no more than three hours per 35 hour week of these activities recognised as part of their intern training.
Intern pharmacists in split-site internships with Schools of Pharmacy, undertaking pharmacy practice research, are limited to research that influences clinical practice and public safety, and the research must be supervised by an approved registered pharmacist preceptor.
Two intern pharmacists per approved preceptor
An individual approved preceptor may supervise and assess a maximum of two intern pharmacists in the workplace.

Two Assessment Centres per year

The Assessment Centre of the Intern Training programme is available to eligible intern pharmacist candidates in May and November each year.

Law and Ethics Examination requirements

Successful completion of the current Law and Ethics examination of the PSNZ is a requirement of the Intern Training programme, but that New Zealand and Australian B.Pharm graduates are exempt from this requirement.

Entry into the Intern Training programme within two years of graduation/equivalency*

All intern pharmacists must register as Interns and enter the Intern Training programme within two years of graduation or successful completion of the APEC Stage 1 examinations, whichever applies.

Successful completion of Intern Training programme*

An intern pharmacist is required to complete all assessment and training components of the Intern training programme, as accredited by the Pharmacy Council, and successful completion of the programme will be determined by the Preregistration Assessment Board (PRAB), a sub-committee of Council. All intern pharmacists must complete the requirements of the Intern Training programme within two years of registration in the Intern Scope of practise.

* These periods may be extended by 1 year in exceptional circumstances at the Pharmacy Council's discretion.