In oral exam candidates are expected to demonstrate their pharmacotherapy knowledge and their ability to apply the knowledge in practice. Intern pharmacist oral exam will be conducted by the pharmacy board of Australia. It will be held 3 times a year in February, July, and October every year.

To sit for the oral exam, the candidates must complete 75% of their approved supervised practice hours. Since October 2020 pharmacy board has reduced the supervised practice hours from 1824 to 1575 hours (due to COVID-19 pandemic). The total duration of Intern oral exam will be approximately 35minutes and it consist of 3 parts

1. Part A: primary healthcare

2. Part B: Legal and ethical practice

3. Part C: Problem solving and communication

Part A: Duration 10 minutes

During this part candidates will be presented with a case scenario related to primary healthcare. It is conducted as a role play and candidates are expected to identify patients’ primary healthcare related issues and recommend appropriate over-the-counter therapy along with lifestyle modifications. Whenever appropriate candidates should also refer the patients to a general practitioner. During this part no reference books or materials will be permitted.

Part B: Duration 5 minutes

During this part candidates are expected to explain the legal and ethical issues pertaining to a given scenario and recommend what actions to be taken for the satisfactory outcome of the patient. A case scenario will be given to the candidates and no reference books or materials will be permitted.

Part C: Duration 20 minutes

During this part candidates are expected to solve the issues related to prescription or any patients concerns. Candidates must communicate effectively with patient’s general practitioners or any other healthcare professions and resolve patient’s issues. Issues may be with drug doses, drug interactions, contraindications, duplication of medications, unintended change in medication or dose, drug induced illness and so on… candidates will also be assessed on their patient’s history taking ability. This part will be conducted as a role play and it is an open book exam it means candidates can refer to any books or materials within the given time frame.

For a candidate to pass the exam he/she must demonstrate as having satisfactory factual knowledge, can competently apply his/her knowledge to practice situations, and are proficient in decision making throughout the examination with good communication skills.

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