Over 100 foreign trained pharmacists in N.S. 1 year after new recruitment program

One year after its launch, a streamlined licensing program to attract international pharmacists to Nova Scotia has drawn more than 100 applications.

The Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists launched the program for pharmacists from the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand last December.

The change was made possible through the provincial Patient Access to Care Act, which waived the national licensing exam and internship period that is otherwise mandatory when internationally trained pharmacists come to practice in Canada.

Since then, 102 pharmacists have applied to be licensed in Nova Scotia — 32 have their licences and 70 applications are in progress.

Bev Zwicker, CEO and registrar of the Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists, says the countries were selected because their education models, scope of practice and regulatory oversight is most like Canada’s.

She says the program reduces the wait-time for pharmacists from these countries to become licensed to a matter of “weeks versus years.”