Internships

Registration

On 30 April 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board decided to vary the requirements for supervised practice for interns. Issues such as self-isolation, illness or pharmacy closure may mean that interns may be unable to complete the required number of supervised practice hours within the usual 12-month timeframe. The following modifications to internships applied:

the number of supervised practice hours required for general registration has been reduced from 1,824 hours to 1,575 hours.

the requirement for interns to complete a minimum of 152 hours of supervised practice under the supervision of an individual preceptor for those hours to count towards the period of supervised practice has been waived.

the requirement for interns to complete a minimum of 80 hours of supervised practice during any four consecutive calendar weeks has been waived.

The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care website states that although the WHO Director-General has announced that WHO no longer considers COVID-19 to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the COVID-19 pandemic declaration is still active. The Board has given careful consideration to the impacts of the modified requirements for supervised practice, informed by the views of stakeholders and has agreed to maintain these requirements until a revised registration standard setting out supervised practice arrangements, approved by Ministers is implemented.

The Board is satisfied that the modified requirements continue to support interns to meet all eligibility requirements to gain general registration and practise safely, and provide adequate protection of the public as:

during their 12-month provisional registration period, interns can complete the minimum 1,575 hours or longer period if additional practice experience is needed

the registration standard still requires interns to satisfactorily complete an accredited intern training program including all assessment assigned by the program provider, and

a final assessment of competence is required by the Board in the form of a written examination and an oral examination which all interns must satisfactorily complete.

Graduates of an approved program of study or a substantially equivalent program are required to complete a period of supervised practice (internship) in accordance with the requirements set out in the Board’s Registration standard: Supervised practice arrangements to be eligible to apply for general registration. Before any supervised practice can take place, interns are required to:

hold provisional registration, and
have their supervised practice arrangements approved by the Board.

An intern training program must also be successfully completed and the registration examination must be passed to be eligible to apply for general registration at the end of the required period of supervised practice. The resources on this page give an overview of how graduates can smooth the path from study to work. They outline the requirements and responsibilities of graduates seeking provisional registration to complete an internship.

Diagram on the pathway to general registration

	Complete pharmacy degree (Board-approved or a substantially equivalent pharmacy program of study)


Apply for provisional registration (Granted by Board)	Nominate preceptor and premises (Approved by Board)	Enrol in intern training program (With an accredited provider)


	Start approved supervised practice (minimum 1,575 hours) After checking public register that: Provisional registration has been granted Supervised practice details have been recorded in the notations field

	Pass Board registration examination Consisting of: Written examination (APC) Oral examination (Ahpra) After completion of: Minimum of 75% of supervised practice hours (for exams conducted from 1 January 2021)

	Apply for general registration (Granted by Board)

Information video for pharmacy students and graduates

This video is most relevant to pharmacy students who are nearing the completion of their approved program of study in Australia and will soon be applying for provisional registration as a pharmacist.

Please note: The video below suggests starting your application 4-6 weeks before your graduation, however online registration for graduate applications has opened early this year. If you’ve completed your course, or you’re set to complete your course within the next three months and you’ve got your supervised practice arrangements (internship) signed off – we recommend you start your application for provisional registration now.

Transcript - Information video for students and graduates (360 KB,DOCX)

Applications for provisional registration and approval of supervised practice

Final-year students of an approved pharmacy program of study in Australia can apply:

for provisional registration by submitting an online application, and
to have the supervised practice approved by submitting an Application for approval of supervised practice - AASP-60 (below).

Document name	PDF	Document date
Application for approval of supervised practice - AASP-60	PDF (837KB)	11 September 2020

Applicants who graduated from New Zealand (not completed a Board-approved program of study) or another overseas country should submit an Application for provisional registration and supervised practice - APRO-60 (1.33 MB,PDF).

Internship and supervised practice

Information relating to the internship is provided in the Board's Intern pharmacist and preceptor guide, which is a combined document that replaced the previously published Intern Guide and Preceptor Guide. Further information is also available in FAQ for pharmacy interns and preceptors.

Document name	PDF	Accessible format	Document date
Intern pharmacist and preceptor guide	PDF (369KB)	Word version (556KB,DOC)	June 2021
FAQ for pharmacy interns and preceptors	PDF (304KB)	Word version (482KB,DOC)	1 September 2021

A component of the internship is the development of a site-based training plan to address the competencies required of a pharmacist. The sample community intern training plan and sample hospital intern training plan can be used as a guide in the preparation of the intern’s training plan.

Document name	Accessible format	Document date
Sample community intern training plan	Excel (69.5KB,XLS)	1 July 2010
Sample hospital intern training plan	Excel (68.0KB,XLS)	1 July 2010

Preparation of extemporaneous products also forms part of the internship. The Board has provided the following resources for preceptors and interns.

Document name	PDF	Accessible format	Document date
Letter to preceptors This outlines the requirements for this activity	PDF (22.3KB)		March 2015
Extemporaneous dispensing procedures	PDF (32.0KB)	Word version (44.8KB,DOCX)	October 2013
Extemporaneous dispensing product report This must be completed by the intern and preceptor or other supervising pharmacist.	PDF (33.0KB)		December 2011
Extemporaneous dispensing preceptor statutory declaration This must be completed by the preceptor once the intern has prepared the six extemporaneous products.	PDF (36.0KB)		March 2012

The statutory declaration and six product reports are to be submitted to the coordinator of the intern's intern training program.

Intern training program

The Board’s Registration standard: Supervised practice arrangements outlines that for graduates of an approved pharmacy program of study, the period of supervised practice must include satisfactory completion of an accredited intern training program. This also applies to overseas qualified pharmacists who are required to complete a full internship and to graduates of a substantially equivalent program of study.

The Board has authorised the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) to accredit intern training programs in Australia. A list of the accredited programs is published on the APC website. In addition to applying to the Board for provisional registration and approval of supervised practice, an intern must select an accredited intern training program and lodge an enrolment application with the relevant provider of the program.

Registration examination

The registration examination for general registration comprises a written examination and an oral examination.

The Board requires interns to complete a minimum percentage of the supervised practice hours* required for general registration to be eligible to undertake a written and an oral examination. In accumulating supervised practice hours to meet the examination entry criteria, interns may only count supervised practice hours completed:

during a period of provisional registration granted by the Board, and
on or after the date the Board approved the supervised practice hours.

Successful completion of the registration examination requires you to pass both the written and the oral (practice) examinations within 18-months.

For example:

An intern who is unsuccessful in the oral examination (practice) is required to resit and pass that examination within 18 months of having passed the written examination.
An intern who is unsuccessful in the written examination is required to resit and pass that examination within 18 months of having passed the oral examination (practice).

On 1 January 2021, changes to the registration examination take effect. Further information on these changes is available in the FAQ below.

Document name	PDF	Accessible format
FAQ – Registration examination changes effective as of 1 January 2021	PDF (168 KB)	Word version (108 KB,DOCX)	December 2020

^*This number may vary, refer to the table in the Applying for general registration section at the bottom of this webpage for the number of approved supervised practice hours required for registration.

Written examination

The written examination is conducted by the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC).

Further information including eligibility criteria and how to apply can be found on the APC website.

Oral examination

The oral examination is held in each jurisdiction according to the Schedule of Oral Examinations. An Application for a pharmacy intern to be a candidate for an oral examination (practice) - APOE-60 must be lodged by the published closing date for that examination period.

Further information about the oral examination is detailed in the Pharmacy oral examination (practice) candidate guide.

Document name	PDF	Accessible format	Document date
Application for a pharmacy intern to be a candidate for an oral examination (practice) - APOE-60	PDF (424KB)	-	November 2020
Pharmacy oral examination (practice) candidate guide	PDF (525KB)	Word version (337 KB,DOCX)	June 2022

Applying for general registration

To be eligible to apply for general registration an intern with provisional registration must have:

completed an intern training program
passed the written examination
passed the oral examination, and
completed the required period* of Board-approved supervised practice.

^*The number of approved supervised practice hours required for registration may vary, for example during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current modified requirement of 1,575 hours of Board-approved supervised practice for general registration will remain in place until a revised registration standard addressing supervised practice arrangements that has been approved by Ministers is implemented.

Period	Requirement for general registration	Requirement when applying for the oral or written examination
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic the usual requirements applied	1,824 hours of Board-approved supervised practice	75% of 1,824 hours of Board-approved supervised practice (1368 hours)
During the COVID-19 pandemic modified requirements are in effect until further notice	1,575 hours of Board-approved supervised practice	75% of 1,575 hours of Board-approved supervised practice (1181 hours)

More information about these requirements is in the Board’s registration standards.

General registration is easily applied for online.