CELEBRATING REGULATION OF PHARMACY TECHNICIANS ...

REGISTRAR'S MESSAGE
Making the decision
to step down is never
an easy one and like
all of my decisions, it
was made after a great
deal of thought and
consideration
Deanna Williams, R.Ph., B.Sc. Phm.,
C.Dir., CAE
Registrar
Another year is upon us — as
always, a time for reflection and this
year, a time for a change. I will be
stepping down as Registrar after 11
years in the position effective May
31, 2011. As I prepare to do so, I
reflect with much pride on all that
we have accomplished together
during my time at the College.
Most recently, we realized our goal
to regulate pharmacy technicians
as a new and separate class of
registered professional within our
profession! The recent passage
of the College’s new registration
regulation made Ontario the first
jurisdiction in Canada to formally
recognize and register pharmacy
technicians as new regulated health
professionals and we are very
proud of that. When the College
started this process back in 1996,
we really were ‘going it alone’ —
there was little or no support for
pursuing pharmacy technician
regulation across Canada and
support amongst the profession
was lukewarm at best. Today,
regulating pharmacy technicians is
widely viewed as a necessary step
in enabling pharmacists to work
within their enhanced scope of
practice and a number of provinces
— Alberta, British Columbia, Nova
Scotia and Saskatchewan are now
pursuing regulated Pharmacy
Technicians as well. By the end of
2010 — just a few weeks after
the passage of the new registration
regulation, over 100 new pharmacy
technicians were already registered
by the College! More than 6,000
applicants are either eligible for or
already enrolled in the educational
bridging program required for
registration — numbers that
surpass initial expectations.
The International Pharmacy
Graduate (IPG) program was
developed in partnership with
Ontario’s Ministry of Training,
Colleges and Universities, the
Faculty of Pharmacy at U of T,
and the College in 1998 and
is now recognized as a leading
bridging education program for
internationally trained professionals.
Graduates of the IPG program
report similar levels of success
as North American graduates in
achieving licensure and in all areas
of practice. We are extremely proud
of the College’s role in establishing
this program.
Over the past two years, the
College has transitioned completely
to a telecommuting platform with
much success, and I am pleased that
OCP is the first health regulatory
body in Ontario to do so. Council’s
vision and leadership in embracing
the move to the telecommuting
platform enabled us to remain in
our flagship building on Huron
Street but more importantly, allows
us to attract and retain talented
team members who do not
necessarily reside in the Greater
Toronto Area.
While I was Director of Programs
in 1997, the College implemented
its Quality Assurance (QA) program
to meet obligations under the
Regulated Health Professions
Act, 1993. While not very
popular at the time, today the
College’s QA program — which
demonstrates the clear linkages
between Continuous Professional
Development (CPD) and
professional competency — has
evolved into the Continuing
Competency and Practice Review
process that is cited nationally
and internationally as a model
for pharmacists and other health
professionals. Most recently, College
Council was very pleased to learn
PHARMACY CONNECTION ~ WINTER 2011 ~ PAGE 5