Rural pharmacy program

Funded by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, the Rural Pharmacy Program (RPLO) is a collaboration between Monash University and the University of Melbourne. As a component of the Rural and Remote Pharmacy Workforce Development strategy, the Monash/Melbourne RPLO partnership is well placed to contribute to achieving the primary aims of:

• maintaining and improving access to quality community pharmacy services for the community in rural and remote areas of Australia and
• increasing the proportion of the total pharmacy workforce starting and staying in practice, for at least five years, in rural and remote Australia.

The RPLO initiative seeks to develop and implement local level response in south east and northern Victoria that address the following four objectives:

• providing support to practicing rural community pharmacies and pharmacy students on placement in rural areas
• promoting interprofessional collaboration with pharmacies, pharmacists, pharmacy students and other universities
• strengthening mentoring and advisory arrangements for pharmacies, pharmacists and pharmacy students
• facilitating professional development and networking opportunities for pharmacies, pharmacists and pharmacy students.

Monash's RPLO program is committed to working in partnership with universities, rural pharmacists, health services, private providers and health professionals across the region to achieve these goals. The program is keen to support rural pharmacists to engage and maintain involvement in this initiative.