Pharmacist education needs refresh
AUSTRALIAN pharmacy schools need to increase their focus on complementary medicines category in their curricula, former Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President, Kos Sclavos believes.
Speaking at a trade media event hosted by Metagenics, last week, Sclavos said evidence-based natural health products offered a significant opportunity for the community pharmacy sector to grow, already valued at $1.78 billion a year.
He said it was important for pharmacy staff to “speak with confidence” when recommending products such as probiotics, but warned that many graduates were likely to have had minimal exposure to natural medicines during their pharmacy degree.
“There’s a lot of research [about the benefits of probiotics], and a lot of this research isn’t that new, but it’s not in the pharmacy curriculum,” he said.
“So we’ve got recent graduates who’ve all the confidence in the world, but they’re not aware of the facts [about probiotics].
“They feel like they know it all and it’s hard to say to them, ‘hold on, there’s a whole space, a major category of pharmacy you need to know more on.”
Sclavos said acceptance of the benefits of probiotics by some older pharmacy owners, was a challenge for growing the category.
“[However], I think it starts at the universities, where I’m not convinced all the heads of schools understand that this is something that should be core [to the curriculum],” he said.
He added that manufacturers needed to get their products onto the shelves of pharmacy schools’ mock stores.
“They’ve all got mock pharmacies, they’ve got the video cameras, they record the pharmacists in their last year [when] they’re doing counselling sessions,” he said.
“So having it on the shelf will get these kids more familiar with the product and that’s an opportunity for the profession.”
Meanwhile, Metagencs will launch its new Activ-vial packaging to deliver fridge-free probiotics, from 01 Aug.
The company revealed the probiotic category has experienced significant growth in the last 12 months, however just 17% of Australians have reported using probiotics compared to 73% who have taken a vitamin.