Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) has unveiled its new 5-year strategic plan, centered on four pillars: empowering pharmacy within the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme; advancing the pharmacy workforce; embedding cultural safety; and building an ethical, resilient, sustainable organisation. APC’s roadmap to Vision 2030 holds several promising advantages for pharmacists around the world in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and other countries preparing for the OPRA (Overseas Pharmacists Readiness Assessment) exam.
Renowned global healthcare career coach and a Ph.D from University of Sydney, Dr. Akram Ahmad, has been vocal about the 5-year pharmacy degree standardised programme in the media. There is a reason for optimism that things are moving in a direction that may ease some past mismatches in education, training, and assessment for budding pharmacists. Let's get to know in detail.
How Dr. Akram Ahmad’s Advocacy Complements & Reinforces These Changes
Dr. Akram Ahmad, Founder of Academically Global, has been a pioneer in pharmacy education reform, especially with regard to aligning Indian (and more broadly international) pharmacy programmes with global standards. Several of his positions are very relevant to how the APC’s strategy may eventually ease the pathway for international pharmacists.
Here are some of Dr. Ahmad’s noteworthy insights, with credible sources:
- Advocate for a single, integrated 5-year pharmacy degree in India
Dr. Ahmad has voiced in multiple forums (including PharmaBiz, Financial Express etc.) that the current 4-year B.Pharm programme in India is increasingly inadequate for international licensure. He supports replacing or augmenting it with a 5-year integrated degree (or a 4-year coursework + 1-year internship) with greater clinical exposure, inclusion of OSCEs (Objective Structured Clinical Examinations), etc.
- Specialised tracks and deeper clinical integration
According to an article in Financial Express (“PCI proposed five-year pharmacy programme, experts call it ‘potential turning point’”), Dr. Ahmad suggests that the fifth year could house specialised tracks such as clinical pharmacy, industrial pharmacy, etc. after establishing a strong foundation in the earlier years. This ensures graduates not only meet baseline knowledge but are more ready for diverse career paths and practice settings.
- Global recognition and reducing barriers for overseas licensure
Dr. Ahmad has emphasised that without a 5-year degree, Indian pharmacy graduates are often at a disadvantage in countries that require 5 years of education or its equivalent for licensing. He has said the longer degree’s benefits include more hands-on clinical skills, better patient care training, and readiness for exams such as the OPRA (Australia), PSI Exam (Ireland), PEBC (Canada), OSPAP course (UK), FPGEE and NAPLEX (USA) etc.
- Advocacy is ongoing and public
He has been sharing these views via LinkedIn, opinion articles, interviews with media saying, “A single, integrated 5-year BPharm with clinical depth, global outcomes, and OSCE-based assessment is the need of the hour.”
Key Themes in APC’s 2025-2030 Strategy & Benefits for International Pharmacists
1. Empowering pharmacy under the National Registration & Accreditation Scheme
- APC will continue refining accreditation and regulation to ensure the pharmacy profession remains “safe, capable, and responsive” to community needs.
- For international pharmacists, stronger, clearer standards and accreditation regimes help in two ways: first, they help clarify what APC expects when assessing credentials, helping candidates better prepare; second, they increase trust that foreign-education applicants are being judged by robust, transparent criteria.
2. Advancing the pharmacy workforce
- The strategy explicitly commits to “supporting advanced practice models” and strengthening workforce capability.
- For those preparing for OPRA, this means more recognition of clinical and patient-care competencies, not just academic knowledge. It may lead to greater opportunities or clearer pathways for demonstrating equivalency in practice and skills.
3. Driving a culturally safe pharmacy workforce for First Nations People
- Emphasis is on embedding Indigenous leadership and cultural safety into pharmacy education.
- International pharmacists often need to demonstrate cultural competence as part of their registration. The strategy may lead to more structured training or evaluation in cultural safety, which can help international candidates prepare for those aspects of OPRA or related assessment.
4. Organisational resilience, ethics, sustainability
- APC intends to invest in its people, systems, and processes to deliver with integrity and agility.
- For international pharmacists, this could mean better support services (information, guidance), more efficient assessment processes, possibly reduced delays, clearer communication, and possibly even evolving formats of assessment that are more attuned to modern global educational standards.
How APC’s Strategy + Dr. Ahmad’s Vision Helps International Pharmacists
Putting the above together, there are several points of synergy that can translate into concrete advantages for international pharmacists preparing for OPRA:
| Area | Challenge for International Pharmacists | How APC Strategy + Dr. Ahmad’s Ideas Help Address It |
| Academic vs Clinical Training Mismatch | Many international courses, especially shorter ones, may lack sufficient clinical exposure or skills-based evaluation (e.g. OSCEs) demanded by APC. | Dr. Ahmad’s advocacy for a 5-year programme with OSCEs and clinically integrated curriculum aligns well with APC’s plan to strengthen workforce capability and ensure that registrants have well-rounded skills. This may reduce the gap or need for remediation. |
| Assessment Transparency & Standards | Understanding what level of knowledge, practice and cultural safety APC expects can be opaque if standards differ across countries. | The APC’s focus on accreditation excellence and “driving cultural safety” provides clearer expectations; international candidates may see more standardised guidance. Dr. Ahmad’s comparisons of international norms help raise awareness and may pressure education providers to conform. |
| Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | OPRA and APC assessments often require evidence of equivalence, recent practice, etc., which can be harder for graduates from programmes not aligned with international standards. | As India (for example) moves towards a 5-year degree; as APC improves its assessment frameworks, international qualifications may be better aligned, reducing extra steps or bridging/training requirements. |
| Career Mobility & Global Outcomes | Graduates want to migrate, practise, work in multiple jurisdictions; older standards (4-year courses, minimal clinical practice) can limit mobility. | Dr. Ahmad’s arguments around global recognition reinforce why international pharmacists should aim for credentials and training benchmarks aligned with global standards. APC’s strengthening of workforce capability supports that by lifting the bar in Australia to globally competitive levels. |
| Preparation for OPRA Itself | OPRA requires demonstration of both academic and clinical competence, sometimes cultural and Indigenous safety. Without strong training or exposure, candidates often face rejections, delays or additional training. | With APC emphasising cultural safety and advanced practice, candidates who prepare now under frameworks that incorporate those elements (clinical exposure, OSCEs, etc.) will likely find themselves better positioned. Also, knowing that accreditations are tightening, international applicants may benefit from aligning their prep with Dr. Ahmad’s advocated curriculum improvements. |
What Overseas Pharmacists Should Do
Given this environment, here are suggestions for international pharmacists preparing for OPRA (or wanting to align with APC/AHPRA requirements), inspired by both the APC’s strategy and Dr. Ahmad’s insights:
1. Enroll into Programmes with Strong Clinical Components & OSCEs
If your current training does not provide hands-on clinical assessments, labs, patient simulations, etc., try to supplement with electives, internships, external courses, or workshops. OSCE-style mock assessments help.
2. Understand APC’s Standards & Cultural Safety Expectations
APC’s strategy points to embedding cultural safety (especially First Nations cultural safety). Prepare by learning about Australia’s healthcare context, Indigenous health issues, communication and ethical practice. Certifications or short courses may help.
3. Stay Updated on Curriculum Reforms in Home Country
If your country (e.g. India via PCI) moves to a 5-year degree, understand the changes. If possible, enroll in or push for programmes that follow the more rigorous standard.
4. Document Practice Experience & Internships Well
Given that APC may expect stronger practice evidence, gather detailed records of clinical / patient-facing work, internships, professional supervised practice. Reflect also on recent practice—not too long a gap.
5. Use Preparation Resources Aligned with Global Standards
Mentors, coaching platforms (e.g. Academically Global, where Dr. Ahmad is involved) may increasingly align their content to the future expectations set by APC and by these reforms. Using them can give you a head start.
6. Advocate & Engage
If possible, give feedback through professional bodies or associations in home country or through diaspora networks—to encourage the alignment of curriculum with international standards. Dr. Ahmad’s work shows that such advocacy can lead to real policy shifts.
Caveats & What to Keep Watching
- Even though APC’s strategy is promising, implementation takes time. Not all changes (for example, recognition of programmes abroad) will change overnight.
- Jurisdiction-to-jurisdiction variations persist; changes in India or other countries don’t automatically translate into Australian recognition unless the accreditation bodies accept them.
- Cost, access, logistical constraints (travel, licensure fees, etc.) remain real concerns.
To Conclude with…
The APC’s 2025-2030 strategy points toward a more rigorous, clinically engaged, culturally safe and globally conscious pharmacy profession in Australia. For international pharmacists, especially those taking the OPRA exam, this shifts the goalposts, but in a way that validates Dr. Akram Ahmad’s long-standing advocacy for a 5-year pharmacy degree, can reduce mismatches, provide clearer pathways, and improve the chances of success.
When you align your training to these emerging standards, be it through clinical exposure, strong documented practice, cultural safety knowledge, and perhaps leveraging new or reformed degree programmes, you can be better prepared not just to pass OPRA, but to thrive as a pharmacist in Australia or anywhere global standards matter.