Monash University to offer postgraduate prescribing education for pharmacists in Victoria
Monash University is working towards becoming the first University in Victoria to offer postgraduate education for pharmacists ready to join the state's prescribing workforce.
On 20 May it was announced the Victorian Government is investing $18 million to enable pharmacists who complete postgraduate training to prescribe treatment for 22 health conditions, including asthma, nausea, ear infections, dermatitis and type 2 diabetes.
The significant move also means the government will fund pharmacist consultation fees for the expanded program so patients will be able to access the care they need without an out-of-pocket cost - an Australian first.
In response, Monash University’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (FPPS) is spearheading the development of a postgraduate course to support pharmacists to take on this prescribing role.
The FPPS team will collaborate with the University's strong network of experts in the area of prescribing to design the course. Monash already has existing education programs for various groups of healthcare prescribers, including medical practitioners, nurse practitioners, paramedics and podiatrists.
Director of Experiential Development and Graduate Education (EDGE) at FPPS, Associate Professor Steven Walker, said the move from the government to expand the scope of practice for pharmacists is a welcome and appropriate development for the pharmacy profession in Victoria.
“As the medicine experts, pharmacists are well positioned to make person-centred prescribing decisions, which ultimately benefits patients,” Associate Professor Walker said.
“Education is central to expanding the conditions pharmacists can treat. As a world leader in pharmacy education, Monash University is well placed to deliver comprehensive post-graduate education to support pharmacists to take on this prescribing role.
“We’re currently working with healthcare colleagues across the University to design a course that will allow pharmacists to make collaborative, person-centred and safe prescribing decisions that support patient care and quality use of medicines.”
Professor Claire Palermo, Deputy Dean (Education) for Monash’s Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (MNHS), said the FPPS-MNHS long-standing partnership lends itself to designing thorough interdisciplinary education programs for professionals looking to upskill.
“Monash has extensive experience in designing and implementing high quality education to prepare nearly all prescribing professions for practice. Additionally, the University’s medicine and pharmacy educators have collaborated on interprofessional education for many years and we very much look forward to continuing this partnership in light of the decision to enable pharmacists to prescribe,” Professor Palermo said.
Enrolments for the Monash University prescribing course will be open from January 2026.