Dear Pharmacists,

PHARMACISTS SURVEY 2007 - To Be Conducted Jointly by MOH & NUS Pharmacy Department Soon.

The Chief Pharmacist’s Office of the Ministry of Health in partnership with The Department of Pharmacy of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Singapore Pharmacy Board will like to survey all Pharmacy graduates from the Classes of 1970 to 2005 from NUS and its predecessor institutions. This survey will collect information on the career choices and the perception of pharmacy graduates towards patient-care and non-patient-care responsibilities, as well as the pharmacy profession in general.

The demand of pharmacists has increased and in tandem with it, supply of local pharmacy graduates has also increased. Notwithstanding, pharmacists are still in short supply in some sectors. The anticipated growth in the biomedical and pharmaceutical sectors and other factors such as our ageing population, the many new and more potent medications and SingaporeMedicine, that is Singapore’s goal to draw 1 million medical tourists per year by 2012, may further fuel the demand for pharmacy graduates in the near future.

This survey will provide critical information for manpower planning, career and professional development needs of all who have received pharmacy education and who may or may not be practising as pharmacists.  It will serve as a basis for the formulation of policies for the development of the pharmacy profession.

The survey questionnaire will be sent out to all NUS pharmacy graduates in March 2007.

We seek the help of all pharmacy graduates to respond to this important survey so that the findings will be representative and useful. Please encourage your colleagues, classmates and fellow pharmacy alumni (who may not be registered pharmacists or members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore) to participate in this survey.

Thank You and Best Wishes,

Ms Ang Hui Gek                                       Associate Professor Chan Sui Yung
Chief Pharmacist and                                Head of Department,
President /Registrar                                  Department of Pharmacy
Singapore Pharmacy Board                        Faculty of Science
Ministry of Health                                     National University of Singapore

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