Do you want to live and work in one of the most exciting super cities in the world?
In Hong Kong, the law governing pharmacy practice is the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance, Cap. 138 (available at: www.legislation.gov.hk/eng/home.htm), and the governing body is the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, with which one must be registered. In order to qualify for registration, you must first be professionally registered (or due to be registered) as a pharmacist.
Application for registration
In applying for registration, you need to produce the original (with photocopies) or certified copies of the supporting documents to the board (see www.drugnet.com.hk/tea/iss_exam.htm). You can contact the board directly (see Panel below) for more information.
Pharmacy and Poisons Board Hong KongThe Pharmacy and Poisons Board Secretariat 1/F, Shun Feng International Centre 182 Queen’s Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong Tel: (+852) 2527 8418 Fax: (+852) 2527 2277 |
Successful applicants will be contacted by the board with details about the registration examination that you must pass before your name can be added on the register. The examination takes place twice yearly in June and December. The deadline for applications for the June examination is 28 February and for the December examination the deadline is 31 August.
The examination consists of three papers: pharmacy legislation in Hong Kong, pharmacy practice and pharmacology. The good news for British applicants is that all the papers are set in English.
According to the Pharmacy and Poison Board (HK) Annual Report 2009, the pass rates in 2009 for the pharmacy legislation, pharmacy practice and pharmacology paper were 54.6 per cent, 48.6 per cent and 54.7 per cent, respectively. But do not let that put you off. A little preparation and study goes a long way. It is recommended that you obtain at least five years’ worth of past papers from the board to get a scope of the type of questions that are asked in the examination.
Provided you have passed the examination, you will be invited to register with the board.
Hospital pharmacy
The main difference between Hong Kong and UK pharmacy practice is that, in the UK, pharmacists are more recognised as one of the key members in a multidisciplinary team. The role of a pharmacist is clearly defined, supported by Government White Papers, etc. Also, clinical pharmacy is well practised and pharmacists have a pivotal role in the multidisciplinary team on the ward and the dispensary.
In Hong Kong, hospital pharmacists focus on ensuring the smooth operation in the dispensary and many do not have the opportunity to do clinical work on wards (unlike in the UK).
In saying that, the recognition of pharmacists as key members of the healthcare team is growing rapidly. Many new clinical services are being developed by the hospital authority (similar to the NHS), including medication reconciliation, antibiotic stewardship programmes, clinical paediatrics, clinical oncology and geriatrics.
There are also some innovative services, such as pharmacy intravenous admixture services to improve medication safety, and electronic health records, which link up the medication records to both private and public sectors. Private hospitals have also been expanding their pharmacy departments rapidly. These have helped open up more career opportunities for pharmacists.
Pharmaceutical industry
In the pharmaceutical industry, the main differences between Hong Kong and the UK are the variety of areas within the industry and the scale in each area. In Hong Kong, land is scarce and expensive so it is impractical for large pharmaceutical companies to base their manufacturing sites and research and development laboratories there. As a result, career opportunities for pharmacists in the industry in Hong Kong are mainly in sales and marketing, and medical and regulatory affairs.
Nonetheless, there are some smaller local pharmaceutical companies in Hong Kong that operate their manufacturing and R&D sites in remote parts of the city, while the larger companies are based in mainland China.
Recent adverse drug incidents have put the quality of pharmaceutical products under the spotlight. There is now growing attention on the quality control and assurance of pharmaceutical products. This has caused a surge in career opportunities. More pharmacists are now employed in quality control and assurance to oversee the manufacturing process and biological testing, etc.
Community pharmacy
Community pharmacies in Hong Kong tend to have a high turnover of customers and patients because everything is so compact and conveniently located. Therefore, it is no surprise that building stable relationships with customers and patients can be challenging.
The other issue is most patients obtain their medicines from hospitals or GPs (the majority of GPs dispense medicines in their surgeries as well). This makes it difficult to obtain up-to-date medication histories of patients.
Traditionally, the role of pharmacists is not well understood by the public. Most see pharmacists as “pill counters” and nothing more. This situation has taken a positive turn in the past decade when, in 2002, a group of pharmacists decided to promote the image of the profession to the public via the media (eg, radio and television appearances, newspaper columns, etc). They were also actively engaged in public health talks and medication counselling sessions.
Nowadays, the public are more aware of the roles and capabilities of pharmacists and this has, in turn, created an increase in the demand for community pharmacists. There are also plans to implement services such as medicines use reviews in the future.
The department of health
The Department of Health (Hong Kong) is the governing body that upholds the law and the regulation of pharmaceutical products. As a result of the tightening of the law in quality assurance and quality control of pharmaceutical products, and the recently announced legal requirement that all proprietary Chinese medicines need to be registered, the department announced last year that over 90 pharmacist positions would become available over the next few years. These positions include inspectors and regulatory officers.
Academia
There are many academic positions in the two schools of pharmacy in Hong Kong (see useful links below). There are also pharmacist-led teaching positions at the Institute of Vocational Education for the training of pharmacy technicians. However, it is important to note that the essential requirement for a teaching position at the pharmacy schools is either a PharmD or PhD in relevant fields.
Conclusion
Although pharmacy practice in Hong Kong may not be as clinically driven as in the UK, the profession is growing rapidly in the right direction and the demand for pharmacists will continue to increase over the next few years. If you would like to be part of this change (and live in one of the most exciting super cities in the world), then you may want to consider registering and working as a pharmacist in Hong Kong.
Useful links
1. Bilingual laws information system. Department of Justice. HKSAR, Available at: www.legislation.gov.hk/eng/home.htm (accessed 20 July 2011).
2. The School of Pharmacy, Chinese University Hong Kong. Available at: www.pharmacy.cuhk.edu.hk (accessed 20 July 2011).
3. The School of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, the University of Hong Kong. Available at: www3.hku.hk/pharma/current/ (accessed 20 July 2011).
Phoebe Chan is a pharmacist at United Christian Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong
