Haha, I see. Ya, it is indeed pricey. Yup, I was a JPA scholar back then. It's pretty hard to secure any sponsorship for the 2 years of studies in the UK, but during your time in the Malaysia campus, you could easily secure PTPTN loan and partial tuition fee waiver if you manage to meet their academic requirement. I believe the information on the partial tuition fee waiver is available on the UoN Malaysia website.

Haha, I see. Ya, it is indeed pricey. Yup, I was a JPA scholar back then. It's pretty hard to secure any sponsorship for the 2 years of studies in the UK, but during your time in the Malaysia campus, you could easily secure PTPTN loan and partial tuition fee waiver if you manage to meet their academic requirement. I believe the information on the partial tuition fee waiver is available on the UoN Malaysia website.

Also, I've got news from a lecturer from the UK that one of the reasons why many MPharm twinning courses are being shut down over here is because of stricter visa laws overe there in the UK. They can no longer guarantee us a pre-reg slot as well even more so a job over there (the word he used was "impossible") because of the current economic climate over there.

consultation fees are generally controlled under regulations...even in private hospitals...doctors can only charge so high.. so the only way doctors can profit is to increase the price of medications.. otherwise technically every gp out there should charge the same fees isn't it?


what kind of cost? time wasted to find another parking (quoted from Dr Jim Loi). medication cost should remain the same if not cheaper (assuming if the doctor just writes the active ingredient for medications instead of specifying brands).

gps charge very much lower than the regulated fees....and make up for that from the medications profit margins....there are lots of leeway for them to up charges....with separation, they will charge more consultation fees to maintain income....and patients will then have to pay extra for the pharmacist's profit margin....

the transition period will see dual dispensing rights....we will see how the public will prefer.....

well at this moment the profit margin from drugs are ridiculously low.. pharmacies earn their bread and butter mostly through supplements and other stuff in the shop.. so we shall see how the prices changes after DS

hopefully the gps will be more honest to break down the prices and list them on the receipt if that's the case

Can u tell us after u have rceived their reply? Thanks. I also want to know whether the singapore pharmacy council still accept for credit transfer or not, although imu claims that their programme which consists of 2 years in imu and 2 years in queensland uni are accepted by singapore pharma council.

they will accept, if the qualification is awarded by the parent campus....as all matched/transferred students become students of the parent campus....

this will work for all imu-pms and imu-pds transferred students....as long as the clinical component is done in the parent campus....

this will also work for credit transfers, and that also means you change into a student in the transferred uni...

in any case, it is not difficult to enter pharmacy in uk/oz, so all this is moot if one just enrol directly into a uni there....

IF there's a DS!

I thought it would be intuitive for Malaysians to want DS, but after gathering some thoughts from my thread in RWI and reading the views offered in TheStar, I realize that there are plenty of misconceptions going around to fuel the anti-separation sentiment.

It's like people generally see this move as an act of benefiting government cronies instead of addressing safety issues. I was accused of fear mongering because I tried to correct a point that someone made about how if doctors really made mistakes, so many people would have doubted the GPs already.

With Doctors constantly writing in to TheStar trying to tell everyone how unreliable the pharmacy profession is and how this is all some government conspiracy, I really don't think DS is coming anytime soon. The rakyat still isn't properly informed about the roles of pharmacists in healthcare and about how drugs work in general.

I just came back from an interview with the malaysian pharmacy board at uni just now though, the professors assured us quite abit about how we don't necessarily need to have DS to make an impact in the healthcare system in Malaysia.

Most of the doctors (especially GPs who left the hospital line of work decades ago) don't know what pharmacists can offer anyway..they are also unaware of how DS actually works how it may benefit them. The rakyat has poor literacy in health because there is no dispensing separation.. in countries like US and Australia where pharmacists play a huge role in primary care as well as public health, this is where people get information from. nowhere else can u get free medical info just like that.

what professors? DS is not the main issue here.. it's the inducement of the whole medical profession and a need of a UHC. the government can't really afford to subsidise free medications for the people at this current pace for next decade or so.

subscribed.

Hi, I am an A Levels students that has finished AS and currently studying for A2. I'm interested in Pharmacy but I'm a bit unsure about which option I should take, which is to take a twinning course with Nottingham or IMU, to study in Australia or to study in UK.

The main factor affecting my decision lies in the job prospects in these three countries. Do any of you know whether its harder for foreign graduates to obtain work in Australia or UK? Or is it easier to just come back to Malaysia to get a job(Because of the anti-dispensing separation issue, I would expect getting a job to be quite hard in Malaysia, no?)?

I did look up job listings in Malaysia and Australia and it turns out that there are 700+ jobs for pharmacy degree holders in Australia compared to a measly 70+ in Malaysia. However, I am still unsure whether they would be open to foreign applicants. Is there anybody currently working in UK or AUS that can advise me on this?

P.S. I don't mind working in more rural areas

It is already very very hard for foreign graduates to get a job in the UK and Australia, not sure how it can get harder. 4 years down the road there will be even more graduates and pay and perks is only going to get lower. not sure what you are looking forward to in UK/Aus for this profession though. and australia has already closed its gates to pharmacist migration. but since you mentioned you don't mind working in more rural areas then perhaps there's still a chance of landing a job.

in malaysia the lack of dispensing separation is the one restricting the availability of jobs. once DS is passed the flood gates of jobs will definitely be opened for the community pharmacy sector. but that's a big IF though. the job listings in Malaysia do not include PRP so it's not an accurate picture. nevertheless there are still about 600 jobless pharmacy graduates at the moment

there is a surplus of pharmacists in australia....and pharmacy is off the sol...which means you cannot apply for independent skilled migration....however, if you have studied at least 2 years onshore in oz, you are eligible for the graduate visa, which allows you to stay back for up to 2 years...you can try look for jobs, but with with surplus, it may be difficult...but if you are lucky and do get a job, then your employer can sponsor you for a 4 year work visa...but after that, you have to leave....unless you find another way of getting another category of resident visa....

in the uk, they will allow you to complete the 1 year pupilship after graduation, but it may be difficult to get the tier 2 visa to continue working after that....you should be eligible, but that depends on getting a firm job offer, which is difficult to get, as there is also no shortage of pharmacists in uk, and they have to give preference to eu citizens...

just get married to a local

i purposely left that vague....but yes, that is one option....

I thought that work is hard to find in the UK ever since they took it off the Skilled Occupations List? Or is it that those who got a job are graduates from a few years ago when pharmacy was still on the list?

For IMU full 4 years local graduates, is it tough to get registered as a pharmacist? Are there limited spots or something like that? I am considering doing 4 years local and then going over to Australia to do my masters so that I can save money (4 years means I will be eligible for the scholarship) as well as eventually finding a job in Australia.

But then, many of the postgraduate entry requirements state that the applicant must be a registered pharmacist, so does that mean that I have to sit for a test first since the pharmacy council only recognise degrees from Australia, apply for registration there and then only I can go for the masters?

The sol is an Australian list, not UK.....

Registration as a pharmacist is based on your primary qualification, not postgraduate....so you cannot work in oz as the IMU qualification is not recognised....

If a condition of the masters programme is that of registration as a pharmacist in oz, then you are not eligible for that programme....

Programmes that does not, you can enrol....but on graduating from the masters, you must leave, as you cannot work as a pharmacist in oz....