SITTING IN LIMBO

Dozens of pharmacy graduates awaiting their licensure to secure jobs have been left in limbo for months amid the absence of a Pharmacy Council, the body responsible for regulating the profession.

More than 50 graduates who completed their one-year internship and licensing exam in September have not been able to take up job opportunities because they are not registered pharmacists.

The Pharmacy Council of Jamaica, the body established in 1975 with responsibility for the regulation of pharmacists, pharmaceutical students, pharmacy owners, and authorised sellers of poisons, had been without its full membership to constitute a professional body for several weeks.

The Gleaner had learnt that Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton had not yet appointed members to the council, but when our news team contacted him on Monday, he said he was unable to comment. His ministry moved last night to announce the appointment of a new council.

The council maintains the registers for all the aforementioned groups and sets standards for pharmacists’ education, scope of practice and conduct.

Under the Pharmacy Act (1966), the council should comprise 10 members, six of whom must be elected by the Pharmaceutical Society of Jamaica and four, including the chairman, appointed by the minister of health and wellness.

The members are elected or appointed every three years. The tenure of the previous council came to an end earlier this year, but was extended up to the end of September.

“Right now, as it is, we have no Pharmacy Council in Jamaica, or at least none that we know of,” one frustrated graduate, who did not want to be identified, told The Gleaner earlier on Monday.

“So we’ve passed our exams, but we can’t go any further. The council is supposed to deal with our pharmacy registration for our licence to practise, but we’re unable to do so because there is no council. Every time we talk about it or try to get information, we’re not hearing anything,” the graduate added.

“We have available pharmacy jobs. Every single day you see companies advertising. I have colleagues who have done interviews but cannot work because they have no licence. We need to know what is going on and we need to hear that from the minister of health,” the graduate asserted.

DEPRESSION

A second graduate, who also requested anonymity, said the delay in first getting the licensing exam results from the council and now encountering further delay in getting the licensure have heightened anxiety and depression within the cohort.

“They’ve robbed our joy of celebration. We knew at the end of September that there was no council, but we did not know that it would take so long to reinstate one,” the frustrated graduate said.

She said that she exhausted her savings and had to turn to a business process outsourcing job to pay her monthly bills and medical expenses.

“I was depressed. I have a pharmacy degree. I have a skill and I’m here sitting in a call centre. I was embarrassed to tell others that this is where I’m at. I’ve graduated, passed my exam and did my internship, and now I have to wait on the Government for a piece of paper so that I can go out there and work,” the graduate said.

“We are not hearing any feedback from anyone. When we get feedback, we are the ones who had to be asking. The response is, ‘No update at the moment’. That is not satisfactory. I have received many job offers. Some I’ve had to turn away, while some are still waiting on me,” she added.

A month ago, Opposition Spokesperson on Health and Wellness Dr Morais Guy called on Tufton to immediately appoint a new council as there is a shortage of pharmacists in both the public and private sectors.

He urged the health minister to immediately take a submission to Cabinet that would enable the appointment of members, including a chairman, whom he must name according to the law. He said then that any delay would be unnecessary and only bring further hardship.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com