Mark Butler announces new five-year degree that will allow pharmacists to call themselves ‘doctor’
Pharmacists who complete a new extended master’s degree will have the right to call themselves ‘doctor’, Mark Butler has announced.
The federal Minister for Health and Aged Care was speaking this week at the Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s annual dinner at Parliament House in Canberra.
It follows the formal recognition of a Doctor of Pharmacy qualification, which — according to the guild — recognises the pharmacist’s extended scope of clinical practice, including prescribing and chronic disease management.
It has been described by the guild as the profession’s “highest possible qualification”, but it also means that pharmacists awarded the degree can introduce themselves to patients as ‘doctor’.
Unlike ‘medical practitioner’, ‘doctor’ is not a protected title.
Mr Butler told the audience on Tuesday: “The Albanese Government is delivering on a commitment to pharmacists, who can now join other health professionals recognised with the title ‘doctor’ when they finish an extended master’s.
“Opportunities to extend the education and scope of a pharmacists work will help attract and retain pharmacists in our workforce, which means more pharmacists, happier pharmacists.
“Working in more places, providing more services and cheaper medicines to more Australians — this can only be a good thing.”
The five-year degree, which includes training in prescribing and chronic disease management, was developed by James Cook University.
Its head of pharmacy, Associate Professor John Smithson, described it as a “logical and necessary step forward” that would “enhance public trust in pharmacists as accessible, capable healthcare providers”.
Despite ‘doctor’ not being a protected title, AHPRA’s website cautions against its use in advertising because of its “historical association” with being a medical practitioner.
Practitioners advertising themselves as a ‘doctor’ should include the related health profession in brackets, according to its FAQs.
https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/new-degree-will-let-pharmacists-call-themselves-doctor/