Blooms The Chemist has made the transition from study to practice easy for aspiring pharmacists across Australia by introducing its 2023 Future of Pharmacy Intern Program.

The three-year program is designed to provide interns with a holistic foundational approach that will guide them on how to operate in a retail community pharmacy with a focus on clinical, ethical, and business practices.

“The current personnel shortage in the pharmacy industry and the growing need for quality, skilled healthcare workers in Australia means it’s important that we grow and develop talented pharmacists within our brand,” Blooms The Chemist CEO, Emmanuel Vavoulas said.

The program allows interns to learn from Blooms The Chemist support office leaders with an emphasis on building personal brand and operating with purpose, as well as learning from individual pharmacy owners.

The program provides each intern with a cumulative financial incentive of $30,000 over three years paid by Blooms The Chemist support office. The program is available to a maximum of 40 interns who must be continually employed full time in a Blooms The Chemist pharmacy for the duration of the three years.

The program sees each intern that is registered as a pharmacist at the end of their first year receive $5,000. Furthermore, if they remain employed full time with Blooms The Chemist at the end of their second year and third year, each receives an additional $10,000 and $15,000 respectively.

This initiative applies to all current and future interns for subsequent years. The first cohort of 28 interns has begun the program with a view to complete their first year by 31 December 2023, second by the end of 2024 and third by the end of 2025.

“Investing in the education and development of a new generation of Pharmacists builds positive brand associations that will benefit our network in the long term, including identifying future pharmacy owners for the Blooms The Chemist network,” Vavoulas added.

Platinum sponsors of the program include Aretex, Haleon, MPS, Sandoz, Sanofi, Seqirus and Symbion.