FeR

I don’t think anyone would be interested and for those who care, you’d probably know the entire story anyway.
But it’s my blog!

So this is the story.

Why I am here in New Zealand.

I’m currently working through my internship to get registered as a pharmacist here.

I’m starting my 18th week tomorrow and in 5 weeks, I will be attending a final assessment in Wellington (if I pass my law exam and my 3rd appraisal, which is due on the 10th of October). I qualified for the 26-weeks internship but as long as I have a minimum of 20 weeks of full time work, I am eligible to attend the assessment (provided I’ve completed other requirements).
If I score a Level 3 during the assessment, I will be getting my new APC (Annual Practising Certificate) somewhere in the middle of December and that is when I can say I’m working as a pharmacist in New Zealand.

Many here have asked if I just graduated because they think internship=fresh graduate. I’d like to think it’s because I look befitting of a fresh graduate.

I’m listed for morning session of the assessment on 4th of November. I keep thinking I’ve got 2 months to go so it’s scaring me a little when I look at the calendar and I’ve only got 5 more weeks to go before I go to Wellington! I can’t believe it!
(In faith, I am going! Please pray for me! Eeeek!)

Do I miss home?
Sure I do!
So I’m glad (in a way) that I am kept busy with work, assignments, workshop, exams…and everything else.

When I got myself registered as an intern, they sent an intern programme manual to me. The folder tells you everything you need to do during your internship (sort of) – the deadlines of every submission, the number of assignments and their methodology, the number of appraisals, the things they want to see recorded under the evidence and learning portfolios and an intern badge.

To-date I have completed 3 assignments, 2 appraisals, first aid course, law workshop+exam and submitted part of my evidence portfolio. Basically I had (still have) deadlines every month.

I have one more assignment and appraisal due on 10th of October and everything I have on my evidence and learning portfolios have to be submitted by 17th of October.

Work here as a pharmacist/in a pharmacy dispensary is really different from back home. It is more familiar with what I’ve studied in university but because I didn’t get to practice it back home, it takes some time for me to learn up about the system here.

Dispensing rights (with this it means liaison with other healthcare providers), computer systems (we’re using Toniq at work), subsidies, methadone dispensing, needles exchange, different list of pharmacist only medicines, different brand names, PHO charges/coding, CD dispensing (Group A+B needs to be on a separate form), extemporaneous compounding…

When it comes to scripts, you have check the script and decide if it’s safe/appropriate to be dispensed (this is where recording Prescription Interventions come in – for my evidence portfolio) – and if it’s not, you ring the doctor/nurse practitioner/dentist/midwife.
Isn’t it like PharmacyPractice in university? Sure is!
But bear in mind it’s been 5 years since I’ve had a PP class and there is no time to muck around with the BNF…especially if your pharmacy works through an average about 400 scripts a day.

Lots to learn and absorb!

Well, perhaps I’m writing this down to clarify what I’m doing here. Perhaps it’s an excuse so that you would not be angry at me (seeing I’m swarmed with work!) that I did not write to you.

But this is what is going on.

Now you know.
[click to know more about what happened prior to being here]

Working out of Malaysia was not a foreign idea, actually. If not because we were not recognised as UK graduates (don’t ask), I would have wanted to stay back there to work. I can’t afford the fees and the uncertainty of getting through the one year of pre-pre-registration, so I didn’t even think of trying (no means to).

Anyway, there were two things in my life before 19th October 2006 that held me back and in that one day, I was “set free”.

I was planning to work in Australia as a tech first and gain experience from there before tackling the APEC exam – and I had Kay to talk to about it. She was the one who suggested that option to me when I said I wasn’t confident that I would be able to pass the exam (and it cost money, okay!)

Then LiMay told me she was planning to go to NZ and told me about how the process (no exam! ) – I think this was in December(?)

In January 2007, we found out that if our applications were submitted after March 1st 2007, we’d need to sit for the APEC examination!

Frantically arranged for all the required forms to be sent out before that cut-off period.

My forms arrived in time (obviously) and I had to complete the Step 2 requirement (something like preparing a professional portfolio to be sent in) before 31st August 2007. As much as I didn’t want to do things at the last minute, I always end up doing so.

I waited for quite some time and in the end, I got a letter saying I have to go through 4 modules (and pass them) before they could ascertain the equivalency of my degree.

January 2008 was when I found out I passed those modules and I can go ahead with registration as an intern – provided that I find a site that would take me in. I made it through the 26-weeks internship rather than the 40-weeks, which I am grateful for, too!

I resigned from my job at Lilly before securing an internship in NZ – I tell everyone I am doing it in faith that I will get a job by May. I thought to myself, “How hard can that be?”

It is nothing short of a miracle when I finally got an offer from my current employer now. It’s unbelievable and I never tire (not yet!) telling those who are interested about my miracle story – giving all credit to God.

I was offered the internship on 10th of May and I had to be in NZ (working!) before 31st of May (they have two intakes – May or December) – and because it was a Saturday (I remember it was Janice’s wedding) I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that email.
When I first saw, “job offer from xxxxxx Pharmacy” I thought, “Great! Email means bad news” and sighed. I cried when I found it was indeed a job offer!

From then on, it was quite the drama!
My passport was still expired, I’ve not done my medical check-up (though I WAS planning to get it done when Monday comes), medical check-up problem, etc. You can read the whole drama if you browse through my May archive – although not everything was recorded word-by-word.

I held on (and still holding on to it!) to my faith that God did not bring me this far to have me fail or for nothing.

Miracle?
Indeed.