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Seventeen new health-care professionals are due to start work in Nova Scotia this week, after being recruited from Jordan through a new pharmacist licensure pilot program.
The group, which also includes professionals from Syria and Iraq, arrived in the province Jan. 13.
They have been going through orientation since then to prepare them for work in Canada.
Ahmed Hlal is part of the cohort.
The 28-year-old is originally from Syria but left due to the civil war and went on to get his degree in Jordan.
But because of regulations, he said, he was not able to practise there.
“It’s going to be a great chance because Nova Scotia gives the pharmacists the ability to practise their full scope and become a meaningful part of the health-care system,” he said.
The Jordan Pharmacy Licensure Pathway was launched by the Nova Scotia Pharmacy Regulator to help fill a growing need in the sector.
“We have a significant shortage of pharmacists in the province and pharmacies are struggling to have the staff they need to meet the needs of their patients,” said Beverley Zwicker, the regulator’s CEO and registrar.
The province’s pharmacist shortage is estimated at about 500 this year, Zwicker said.
She was among a team of people from several organizations who made visits to Jordan last year.
The trips included evaluations of pharmacy education programs, meetings with the government of Jordan and assessment and recruitment of candidates.
Beverley Zwicker, CEO and registrar of the Nova Scotia Pharmacy Regulator, said the province’s pharmacist shortage is estimated to be around 500. (Gareth Hampshire/CBC)
“Jordan has a large surplus of pharmacists who are currently unemployed due to different nationality and licensing requirements in the country,” said Kyle Wilby, the director of the College of Pharmacy at Dalhousie University.
He also travelled to Jordan to assess candidates.
“Pharmacists are well trained through American certified programs, through universities that offer similar education to Canada,” he said.
Candidates begin training placements this week
According to the pharmacy regulator, 11 of the candidates had refugee status and are now either permanent residents of Canada or on the path to residency.
The program is being funded by the provincial department of health and wellness.
“If you have a small rural pharmacy and you have one additional pharmacist that comes to your team, what a difference that can make in terms of your ability to stay open and provide care,” said Health Minister Michelle Thompson. “In urban centres as well, pharmacists are an important role.”
Kyle Wilby, third from left, poses with Ahmed Hlal, second from left, and two other Jordan Pharmacy Licensure Pathway pharmacists during training sessions in Jordan in October. (Nova Scotia Pharmacy Regulator)
Wilby is leading an intensive practice-readiness program for the candidates to get them ready for work in Nova Scotia.
The program was developed to modernize licensing pathways for pharmacists who were trained abroad.
The candidates are entering the third and final phase of training this week, which involves being placed at community and hospital pharmacies in New Glasgow and Halifax, where they will work under supervision for 10 weeks.
“With that model, we can really be assured that they’re ready to provide pharmacy care for patients in Nova Scotia,” Wilby said.
The pharmacy regulator says it will make the final determination on licensing after recommendations are made by a competency committee.
Hlal will be working at a community pharmacy in Halifax and says he’s keen to get started in a job he has always wanted.
“The most important thing and the most meaningful thing for me is helping patients,” he said.
Another recruiting trip to Jordan is being planned for May, according to the pharmacy regulator.
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