PREPARING THE BEST GRADUATES
AT present, there is a stiff competition among pharmacy graduates to obtain provisional training placements at hospitals and premises approved by the government due to the insufficient number of positions for the Provisionally Registered Pharmacist (PRP). Such predicaments are quite similar to the situation currently faced by medical graduates, who wait for up to one year to get housemanship placements at government hospitals.
The 1,400 pharmacy students, who graduate annually, only rub salt into the wound. If they do not pass the assessments during the one-year training and score excellent marks, the PRP will neither be granted the practicing licence nor allowed to work as registered pharmacists.
Liberalisation of PRP training in Malaysia has been extended to private facilities such as community pharmacies, private hospitals, the pharmaceutical industry and research and development centres recognised by the Pharmacy Board Malaysia (PBM), in addition to the government hospital facilities or institutions. PBM introduced the recent move to provide more working opportunities and increase the number of pharmacy graduate employment in the country.
Several measures have been taken by the government to assist unemployed pharmacy graduates and increase the number of training placements including the liberalisation of PRP training.
The Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS) has urged for a moratorium of at least five years on pharmacy programmes, calling for a freeze in the intake of students enrolled in a pharmacy programme in tertiary institutions in the country.
More recently, the government introduced a policy to offer service contracts to medical, dental and pharmacy graduates due to constraints in the permanent posts. Pharmacy graduates must attend an interview by appointed panels of the Public Services Commission of Malaysia as a prerequisite to obtain PRP training placements.
Selection of candidates to be interviewed is generally dependent on Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) and other criteria set by the Public Services Commission. Those who have high CGPA will have higher chances of being shortlisted for the interview. Success at the interview, however, depends on many factors and not simply on CGPA. Thorough preparation must be done to be successful at making a good impression on the interviewers.
Pharmacists are involved in solving complex problems such as managing patients with various diseases on multiple medications and identifying possible drug-drug or drug-food interactions. It is therefore vital for them to communicate effectively and play a crucial role in the provision of primary care.
In the wake of rising unemployment, pharmacy students must be prepared to be ideal candidates for the job and do their best to increase future employability.
In a 2014 study by Dr Norazrina Azmi of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, several factors affecting the academic performance among pharmacy students in local public universities were identified based on their CGPA. The majority of the students who obtained high GCPA were revealed to have remarkable time management skills and high academic competence.
Although the pharmacy curriculum in the local public universities has interweaved sev-