Prescriber training

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Hello all,
Is anyone currently studying/ looking at the Pharmacology course run through Uni of SA as a prerequisite for prescribing rights? Was told at the NSW Pod conf that it is 6 months, about $1000, external. The only one I could find was around $1900, 4.5 units.
Cheers,
Kara

 

For what reason would you be doing that course? I believe it is for nurse practitioners who wish to prescribe, i might be mistakent though. I think if you are looking for the podiatric specific one that delas will podiatric pharmacology and thereapeutics is the one run by La Trobe university and is only around $665.

 

Kara, what is absolutely disgraceful is that the University of Newcastle Podiatry degree has not been accredited by the PBOA as satisfying Pharmacology requirements for Podiatric prescribing purposes. The Newcastle course deals extensively with systemic Pharmacology across an entire spectrum of drugs, including pharmacokinetics of even psychiatric and chemo therapeutic agents!! What I am saying is that it is a very comprehensive Pharmacology program yet has not been accredited by the PBOA as
meeting requirements.

If the board continues to discredit the Newcastle program as not meeting Podiatric pharmacological requirements, I fully intend to complain to the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

 

Surfboy,
I agree, we were told that it would meet the requirements when studying, but I see it & Western Sydney aren't on the list.

Pdoan1,
Part of the criteria you have to meet is to complete a logbook of different classes of drugs, not just Podiatry related ones. However, if you can do a "Podiatry Specific" one at La Trobe & be seen as eligible for prescribing rights, then this proves Surfboy's point.
I would be interested in knowing more about the La Trobe course, if you can do it externally & it meets the criteria.

I'm only considering it at this stage, because prior to the conference I thought it was impossible to meet the criteria. Now it is more feasible. Finding a GP who is :
A) willing to mentor you
B) has the time to do it
& C) would give up time when they could be earning money
might just be the insurmountable part.

The ultimate aim is that you can prescribe, but then what you prescribe isn't funded by PBS at this stage.
Will px pay full price for their medications?
Maybe if it's cheaper than going to a GP who doesn't bulk bill/ charges well above the Medicare rate/ is booked out weeks ahead ( yes, all of the above happen in rural areas)
I'm still wondering if it's worth the hassle, would love to hear from anyone who is prescribing/ plans to.
Cheers,
Kara.

 

The PodBA, has not accredited any new courses re: Pharmacology. All the approved courses were approved prior to national registration by the PodBVic. The role has now been outsourced to ANZPAC, who due to unfortunate events have not been functioning very well, but that now seems to have improved.
The LaTrobe course is an update course for those with the necessary under or post grad pharmacology. If your UG course isn't approved at a base grade for pharmacology, you need to complete such a course (possibly with some recognition of prior learning) this can be done as a course, or through single subjects. But yes put pressure on the Board to review and approve more courses.

 

Do the math folks.
The course is not recognised by PBS.
How much will prescribing rights cost you?

How much billable time will you have to devote to gain prescribing rights?
How much $$$$ is the course itself going to cost you?

How much will your prescribing rights contribute to your clinics bottom line? ($0.00)

Your patient is not going to thank you when the pharmacy tells them that they must pay in full for their script to be dispensed.

If you work in a hospital great, if not, there are plenty of other areas of study that will give you a return on your investment and improve your bottom line.

A cost benefit analysis is required for everything you do in your practice. There is nowhere to enter "warm fuzzy feeling" in the formula

 

Trevor,

For non health care card holders, the difference in the cost of most of the poditry available medicines is pretty much the same under PBS as private script, with, for most patients, a further saving in time and cost associated with seeing a GP.

And if you want to defer the treatment of your patients to others, good on you, a lot of podiatrists are health professionals first, and want to provide the best care we possibly can to patients, which leads to improved return business, and word of mouth referrals.

 

One of the pods in our private clinic can prescribe and the difference in cost of AB's for the patient is miniscule. Best thing she has ever done. Now to get my head around doing it too.

 

I asked our local Pharmacist what the difference in price would be for PBS vs Non PBS items, eg antibiotics. He stated price can vary between $15 - $30 on average, so not a huge outlay.

 

The Podiatry Board published the number of podiatrists that have a scheduled medicines endorsement.
NSW = 2
QLD = 2
SA = 4
Vic = 14
Total of 25.

Take out the folks in the public health system and how many would you have?
Trevor

 

And 25 in WA, don't know the mix.

In NSW, QLD and SA all the endorsed Pods are in private practice, with them all being Pod Surgeons.

In Victoria, of the 14, 5 work exclusively in the public sector, 3 mixed, 3 surgeons and 3 private.

Endorsement is still in its infancy, and will develop initially slowly, but if it follows the optometry example, eventually all new graduates will be endorsed when initially registering.

 

I am considering going down the S4 prescription path, for fear of being left behind by all the new pods coming through and having the S4 prescription ability in the not too distant future.
I have studied and obtained a post grad cert in podiatry at Curtin (completed in 2009) I undertook both the pharmacology and advanced pharmacology units. Does this study fulfill the boards requirements or because I didn't complete my masters are they obsolete??

 

LCG,

It is highly likely that the Post Grad study that you have undertaken will be approved by ANZPAC, but only the Masters from Curtin is approved at the moment.

It may be worth you contacting ANZPAC, now that the PodBA has approved the ANZPAC framework for approving courses that meet the endorsement standard.

 

The Podiatry Council score is then
3573 registered podiatrists to 3 registered and endorsed private practice podiatrists.

 

So what is your point?

This is an infinite increase on Feb 2010.