General Information

Immunization

Students must show proof* of current immunization against tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, Hepatitis B, varicella (if non-immune) and a negative two-step Mantoux (TB) test prior to admission to the College.

Evidence of a negative two-step tuberculin testing (Mantoux) is required before all hospital rotations. Students are responsible for the cost of all tests and immunizations.

*Students must complete the Faculty of Health Professions’ infectious disease and immunization checklist.

Each student is required to maintain their personal immunization record, and submit a copy by a set deadline for their student file. Individual sites may require students to present immunization records prior to acceptance at a practice site. Individual clinical practice sites may have additional immunization requirements. Failure to provide this information may result in a student being denied access to a placement site.

Career Opportunities

Pharmacy is a health profession in which pharmacists provide care for their patients as one member of the health care team. This care focuses on the patient from the perspective of drug therapy. The pharmacist is responsible to identify, prevent and resolve patient drug therapy problems. Specific activities include: taking medication histories, identifying goals for drug therapy, providing recommendations and education to patients regarding self-medication, providing recommendations to other health care providers on drug therapy, working with patients to maximize benefits and minimize adverse effects of drug therapy, maintaining patient drug profiles, counseling patients on prescribed medication, monitoring drug interactions, adverse drug reactions and patient compliance with their drug treatment. Other activities include the provision of information on drugs to patients and other health professionals, the preparation of suitable materials for use as medicines from natural and synthetic sources, the compounding of drugs and the dispensing of suitable medication.

Pharmacy graduates have a wide range of career opportunities. The majority enter community pharmacy practice. Hospital pharmacy also provides an interesting challenge for pharmacists, particularly in view of their expanding role within the clinical setting. The pharmaceutical industry provides opportunities for pharmacists in the fields of sales and marketing, production, research and quality control.

The increased role of federal and provincial governments in public health provides opportunities for pharmacists in analytical laboratories and in administrative position as consultants, government inspectors and health officers. Opportunities may also be available in universities as teachers and researchers.

A Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy is necessary for those who wish to practice as licensed pharmacists. For those who wish to enter research or teaching, a Master of Science degree or further postgraduate study is usually required.

Practice Requirements

1. License in Pharmacy

The College of Pharmacy, being purely educational, has no jurisdiction in matters related to licensing or to registration as a Pharmacist. These functions are entirely under the control of the provincial regulatory authority concerned; a period of practical training or apprenticeship is required by the provincial regulatory authority before a graduate in pharmacy is licensed as a pharmacist. Information regarding licensing or registration in each province may be obtained from the respective provincial regulatory authority: New Brunswick College of Pharmacists; Prince Edward Island College of Pharmacists; Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists.

2. Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC)

The Pharmacy Examining board of Canada was created by Federal Statute on December 21, 1963, to establish qualifications for pharmacists acceptable to participating pharmacy provincial regulatory authorities. The Board provides for annual examinations and issues a certificate to the successful candidate, which may be filed with a Canadian provincial regulatory authority in connection with an application for license to practice pharmacy under the laws of that province. Baccalaureate graduates from Faculties of Pharmacy accredited by the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs are eligible to write these examinations. Successful completion of these examinations is a prerequisite to licensure in Canada.

Individuals who are not graduates of an accredited Canadian Faculty of Pharmacy must first complete the PEBC Qualifying Exam.

Student Pharmacy Society

The basic aims of the Student Pharmacy Society are to promote a closer liaison with the other societies on campus, to give the pharmacy students a strong position with regard to Student Council activities, to provide a means of communications between students and their respective provincial regulatory authorities in the Maritimes, and to provide an organizational body which plans and finances the various unique Pharmacy Society activities.

Membership in the Pharmacy Society includes membership in the Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns and membership in the Canadian Pharmacists Association.