Nope

May I know is Pharmacy graduate from Monash Malaysia is eligible to practice in Singapore

Yeah, for local pharmacy graduates other than USM, how do one go about to 'break' into Singapore pharmacy service ?
What kind of exams, if any ?

Not recognised....but Monash Melbourne is recognised....

None so far.

enrol in a recognised course....

Appreciate your replies, mates.

It seems like this restriction is not only apply to Pharmacy, MBBS too for all graduate from local private U. Nowday too costly to study Australia indeed.

Thx, I'm appreciate your reply.

Hi I am new here, just finish my a level.
Actually, I am in a dilemma in choosing between medicine and pharmacy.

In comparison between biology and chemistry, I love biology more. But chemistry is not bad also. And I wish that my future career do involve helping people, so I do consider medicine (but I scared of surgery cuts, and long working hrs), and for pharmacy, I might prefer hospital pharmacy.

-For pharmacy, can u advise me about its jobscope (preferable hospital- or maybe others like retail better?), and its lifestyle (like : working hrs, do we need on call, need to have shift, as busy as doctor or?)

-and its earnings (PRP, liscenced pharmacist, and its future progression – I heard pharmacist progression quite low, less promotion),

-and also its postgraduate studies option after pharmacy (as I see not much master programme offered in Malaysia),

-and do pharmacist get a salary increment if they have a master?

-Any relevant experience that you wanna share to me aso welcome

Sry to ask a lot ya, maybe this might clear up my doubts so that I will choose better between these two...
Tq and appreciate it a lot 🙂

Have you read the first post?

YA sry, I miss look some part, but there are a few questions here (as I thought that post might be outdated - since2012)

-I heard that the current pay of a pharmacist decreases, due to an oversupply of pharmacist, is that true? (I heard RM2600 for a fresh graduate)

-Anyone who is doing pharmacist in hospital mind to share your experience? (working hrs, shift, workload) - I am interested in this area (wish to get more info) but I scared that I might not get a posting from the government.

-And also there is less info about the master programme, so I might want to know what are the career pathway if we study master? Anyone currently studying? Do pharmacist get higher pay if they hold a master?

-Is the future of a pharmacist quite bleak? (4-5 yrs ltr), my parents worry about that..., will technology displace the work of a pharmacist?

THanks ya

1. If you are doing your PRP in the private sector then yes that is the expected salary. If you don't mind waiting for government posting which may take 6-8 months then the salary will start around 4k.

2. As a PRP you will be doing a lot of shifts that's for sure. The workload is proportionate to the size of the hospital.

3. Pharmacists usually do Masters in Clinical Pharmacy, public health, health economics etc. So far masters doesn't warrant you any extra pay. Things may change when you graduate.

4. Nope.. but the lack of dispensing separation will. Get your parents to worry on that first

Ya the dispensing problem seems to be a trouble. Thanks ya

Pharmacists are getting dispensing rights in all gomen hospitals and (possibly) KK's.
Same scenario might be true in all private hospitals, CMIIMW.
So the 'contest' is confined to 'traditional' dispensing rights of private GP's, forming some 20-30 % of local doctor population or so I read.
In the grand scheme of things in local professional health care per se, is it such a big deal as it's made up to be ?
Sorry, I'm just curious.
Could someone explains ?

Yes it is a big deal as patient safety is at stake


1) Medication Safety. This is our main emphasis. Dispensing may look like a very simple task on the outside but it has involved pharmacists 4 years of university and 1 year of housemanship to do it well. It is not merely 'giving out medications' per say.

The first step would be to screen a prescribers's prescription. Pharmacists will check its validity, whether it's the correct medication, correct dose, no drug interactions, no multiple medications from the same 'family' (e.g antibiotics with similar coverage) etc. If there are any issues (which may include illegible handwriting) we would call the doctor to clarify. Pharmacists also make evidence based recommendations to doctors in the case where we do not agree with what the doctor is prescribing for the patient. Of course the final decision lies with the doctor but we can say that we already did our part to ensure the patients safety. In the current scenario whereby your medication is dispensed by an unqualified personnel, let's say if he/she gives you 3 medications. How sure are you that you are supposed to take 3, but not 2 or 4 medications without a prescription?

Then we will pack the medications and print the appropriate labels in accordance to the requirements of the Poisons Act 1952 and check. The final step would be the dispensing of medications to the patient. We would do a final check on the medications and verify with the patient before handing them over. In our public hospitals and public clinics, all of these steps (screening, packing, labelling, dispensing) are done by different pharmacists (if the man power allows) to ensure multiple levels of safety net before the medications finally arrive on the patients hands. A thorough counselling will be done given to the patient to ensure the patient truly understands the purpose of all the medications and how to take them properly and also be compliant. All of these safety measures are currently ABSENT in GP clinics. Which is why we advocate for mandatory prescriptions which also lists the exact name of the medication that the patient is taking.

Some doctors would argue pharmacist assistants can also do dispensing. But they are not educated enough, to properly screen and query/challenge a doctor's therapeutic decision and make recommendations confidently.

2) Cost. I do not have solid data for this but I can safely say that most pharmacies will at least carry two different brands of a particular medication. The original brand and the generic version. This allows the patient a choice to choose whichever medication that he would prefer (assuming brand substitution is allowed by the doctor. For example patients on warfarin, a blood thinner, should not be switching brands. But a patient who is having a runny nose, multiple options are available.) Compared to clinics who only usually keep a single brand that they prefer. Generic options as you all know are usually much cheaper. In pharmacies the prices are transparent. You won't be charged a premium price for generics unlike in clinics where there are no itemised billing in general.

3) No limitations on medication prescribing. Cost issue aside, doctors are also free to prescribe whatever he thinks is the best drug option for the patient without the limitations of medication stored in the clinic. Doctors can also spend more time on diagnosing and patient management instead of worrying about diminishing stocks every month.

Well said.I support you all the way.This country has turned upside down and years backward.MMC capitalised on their political power to maintained the dispensing right.Pharmacists will have to dream on to be fully productive.Maybe pharmacists should all be politicians to have their rights recognised.

MMC is not involved in issues of dispensing....decision is made by the minister of health and the cabinet....

Not really. Public and private tertiary and secondary hospitals, public community clinics, all have dispensing separation. And all have shown great success with DS. Only sector without DS is the general practitioner clinic and community pharmacy.

The DG and deputy DG and MMA presidents are all in the council. Of course they have tonnes of influence there on the Ministry of Health and cabinet.

This post has been edited by zstan: Jan 5 2018, 10:53 PM

that is incorrect...

mmc has no powers over this matter, and makes NO decisions on this....

individuals within the council may have "tonnes of influence there on the Ministry of Health and cabinet", but that has no bearing on the MMC functions....which does not involve dispensing...

i hope you are not implying the mmc as a body influences the minister and cabinet.....the reverse is actually the case...it may be wise to read up the medical act and know what the powers and responsibilities of the mmc are, before making such allegations...

This post has been edited by limeuu: Jan 6 2018, 12:24 AM

You are right. It is the members invidiually and not the role of MMC per say. My bad.