Panel appeal in Ontario
Hello
I've just passed the evaluating exam in Ontario and am now undecided wether to apply for the IPG program at U of T. The OCP website says the course is mandatory to register in Ontario. I emailed them to confirm this as I had heard conflicting info from other sources. They said it is mandatory but exemptible under certain circumstances and may be appealed to "panel", the circumstances being that the candidate has passed all evaluating and qualifying exams.
Has anyone licensed in Ontario, or trying to get licensed in Ontario, had any experience of appealing to panel?
I would prefer not to do the IPG program primarily for financial reasons as the two 8 week courses come in at a cool $13,000 (approx.).
I personally feel that the cost of immigration and various admin and exam fees is already a financial strain.
David
P.S. fantastic web site, exactly what I've been looking for. Really appreciate all your hard work
Hello Paul
Thanks for your reply. I did think it was ridiculous that they can make a course mandatory and then charge that much for it. People must feel they have no choice but to pay it if they want to get registered in Ontario. A nice little earner for everyone involved.
I did read that the OCP are considering changing the "mandatory" status of the course but perhaps it is already unofficially optional and the panel appeal is a formality. I imagine there is a fee involved for that as well.
I don't mean to sound cynical but I'm finding the whole process incredibly lengthy and costly. When you add the hassles of immigration it sometimes feels that it is deliberately being made very difficult which is doubly frustrating when you know there is a shortage of pharmacists in Canada.
Anyway, thanks again. That has helped make my mind up.
David
Hi Paul ,
I passed my Qualifing exams and I finished my studentship .Now I am I am in a delicate situation.I don"t have a preceptor to do my internship.Can you help me ? I want to volunteer if is the case since it is an effort for the training.I would really appreciate if we can talk over the phone.My internship period is 4 months.
Thank you in advance fpr feed-back.
Hi David:
You ask a very interesting question. In fact, the Ontario College of Pharmacists (OCP) has been saying for years that the CPS course at the University of Toronto is mandatory. It was very confusing for me as well, since our company trains IPG's to pass the OSCE examinations.
So I wrote to OCP and the response was published in the OCP newsletter several years ago. Unfortunately, the response I got was as vague as you can possibly imagine. As far as I know, the CPS course is NOT mandatory for practice in Ontario. The CPS course is a huge money maker for the Faculty of Pharmacy!
Ontario makes it extremely difficult for internationally trained pharmacists to get licensed in the province.
If OCP gives you a difficult time and says that CPS is mandatory, I would suggest getting licensed in another province and move back to Ontario once you get licensed.
I am sure you could easily challenge OCP on this ridiculous requirement. As far as most provinces are concerned, you have to fulfill the basic requirements of licensing:
1. Passing all the PEBC examinations
2. Writing a jurisprudence exam
3. Fulfilling the mandatory practice hours before becoming licensed.
Save yourself $13,000. I hope this answer helps somewhat.
Paul