Australia/New Zealand

[admin]

I found this letter on the internet. The person who wrote it put a silly e-mail address so it wasn't possible to answer him. What do others think of this situation?

So England is closing the doors to overseas pharmacists, followed closely by
Ireland, presumably under pressure from the EU. This includes pharmacists
from Australia and New Zealand, 2 English speaking countries, which are even
members of the Commonwealth. This has been a great source of overseas
experience for New Zealand pharmacists, who are, by world standards,
extremely well qualified, having completed a 4 year Bachelor of Pharmacy
(BPharm) degree, followed by 1 year internship prior to registration. Now
if a NZ qualified pharmacist wishes to register in the UK, they need to do
ANOTHER 2 years study in the UK. What a joke. What is the UK going to do
when they don't have enough pharmacists? Thats happening now, going by the
recruitment ads in the journals and newspapers here. So much for the
Commonwealth. But then that little arrangement was effectively finished when
you stopped buing our lamb. We might as well tell your queen to go jump and
stick her commonwealth up her poncy bum. Time to become a republic.

--
Tony

Ok so he's getting a bit political, but is it really necessary for an Australian or New Zealand pharmacist to train for an extra two years to work here? I have worked with a lot of pharmacists from this part of the world, and they all seemed qualified enough to me.

[Pharmanaut]

As stated on another part of the site.
Removal of reciprocal registration for Aus/NZ pharmacists is complete madness. A former secretary of the society was from NZ. Do we rtreat Aus/NZ doctors and nurses like this.

It seems that hte RPSGB is afraid of any kind of litigation from the EU by giving more favourable registration terms to commonwealth countries. I wonder if France does the same with it's former colonies?

I'm happy to be in Europe, but it doesn't mean that we have to wipe out everything that has gone before.

[Zoggite]

I also agree that the removal of reciprocity agreements with Australia & NZ was total and utter madness; but it's not just Britain and the Commonwealth: many other european countries had similar arrangements with former colonies, eg Belgium and Zairean/congolese pharmacists, France and Senegalese Phcists, etc...
I think 2 extra years' training and an exam on top of that is a ridiculous requirement; it's hard enough having to familiarise oneself with a whole new country and its healthcare structures, regulations & laws, not to mention the language sometimes; just imagine if you were to go and live & work in, say, Poland or Portugal next month: what do their scripts look like? what are the VAT rates for medicines? Just converting everything to Euros is tough- I've been living in the UK for over 7 years now, and I still find myself working out prices in Belgian Francs to judge whether something is cheap or expensive!

[kemzero]

Dear Zoggite-
......Don't take this the wrong way you need to get a life and stop stressing yourself over prices I used to do that after a trip to the US of A so I do understand ;but after 7years...you should have been an accountant

[admin]

Originally Posted by kemzero

Dear Zoggite-
......Don't take this the wrong way you need to get a life and stop stressing yourself over prices I used to do that after a trip to the US of A so I do understand ;but after 7years...you should have been an accountant

Kemzero - our Zo is a very analytical type of person. I get the feeling she likes things just right - if you know what I mean!

I'd trust her to do my own accounts!

[Zoggite]

I'm not "stressing myself" over prices, it's just that I still haven't acquired that instinctive feel of "cheap" or "expensive" at a glance of a price;for instance, if I were to tell you that I bought a 3-bed Semi for £60k last month, you'd instantly say that that was a good deal; but if I said I'd bought it for 3.6 million francs, or 90,000 Euros, you'd have to do a bit of mental arithmetic first to work out whether it was a good deal or not. Well it's the same every day: £1.20 for a cup of coffee, is that OK or am I being ripped off? Let's see, that's roughly 80 francs, so no, that's pretty much the going rate in a café...
A pair of shoes, £50: Hmmm, that's 3000 francs, not cheap, but still OK if I really like them... Do you see what I'm getting at? it's that instant gut-reaction that I still need to develop... Or at least that's what my analyst tells me!

[admin]

Originally Posted by Zoggite

I'm not "stressing myself" over prices, it's just that I still haven't acquired that instinctive feel of "cheap" or "expensive" at a glance of a price;for instance, if I were to tell you that I bought a 3-bed Semi for £60k last month, you'd instantly say that that was a good deal; but if I said I'd bought it for 3.6 million francs, or 90,000 Euros, you'd have to do a bit of mental arithmetic first to work out whether it was a good deal or not. Well it's the same every day: £1.20 for a cup of coffee, is that OK or am I being ripped off? Let's see, that's roughly 80 francs, so no, that's pretty much the going rate in a café...
A pair of shoes, £50: Hmmm, that's 3000 francs, not cheap, but still OK if I really like them... Do you see what I'm getting at? it's that instant gut-reaction that I still need to develop... Or at least that's what my analyst tells me!

I totally understand you Zo. It's the same as when you go on holiday, and bag a bargain that wasn't a bargain when you work out the true cost!

What do you need an analyst for? Or is that a joke.............

[womble]

Originally Posted by Zoggite

... Do you see what I'm getting at? it's that instant gut-reaction that I still need to develop...

Phew - I have only been here 2 years - from NZ, and I still have no idea if something is cheap or not, so I am constanly multipyling by 3. But then I dont buy anything as it is all a rip off! AAARRRGhhh - good for saving though

[Makgoh]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone is/has going/gone through the registration process via the reciprocal agreements with OZ/NZ ???

I am currently looking into this and trying to beat the 1st December deadline for applicants from the UK, so any shared experiences and suggestions would be most helpful and appreciated!

[Smithy]

All this eec reciprocity (is that spelt ok) is one way.
I have emailed the german equivalent of the rpsgp and other agencies in german to see what one has to do to work in germany. i know my german is rubbish but i have not even had a reply---i dont think they want anyone from gb.