Health ministry to consider affected PharmD students’ qualifications

PETALING JAYA: The health ministry will consider the qualifications of graduates affected by the non-recognition of a pharmacy degree programme offered by Egypt’s University of Alexandria.

The ministry said in a statement today that the move aims to ensure the interests of affected students are considered without compromising the professional standards and competencies required to register and practise as pharmacists in Malaysia.

It said the students would be assessed on an individual basis under the provisions of the Registration of Pharmacists Act 1951 (Act 371) and would be contacted to submit applications.

“A preliminary assessment of each student’s eligibility will be conducted by reviewing academic transcripts and supporting documents before referral to the Pharmacy Board Malaysia (PBM) for further consideration,” it said.

“However, this effort does not waive the requirement for new pharmacy programmes to undergo the established recognition process to ensure that only programmes meeting the required standards are granted recognition.”

The health ministry added that the education ministry, through its Education Malaysia Egypt office and the Malaysian Qualifications Agency, will continue to facilitate the university’s application for programme recognition.

The issue came to light after reports that four students enrolled in the programme were unable to sit for the Poison Law examination last year while in their fourth year of study, as the programme they were pursuing was not recognised by the PBM.

The health ministry explained that the University of Alexandria had previously offered the Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science and Bachelor of Pharmacy (Clinical Pharmacy) programmes, both of which the PBM recognised.

“However, in 2019, the university replaced those programmes with the Bachelor of Pharmacy – PharmD, and Bachelor of Pharmacy – PharmD (Clinical Pharmacy), which have a different curriculum structure and have not undergone the evaluation and recognition process by PBM,” it said.

The board regulates the registration and practices of pharmacists under Act 371.