Intern Training (PSNZ Education and Training)
Two organisations, two jobs
The Pharmacy Council of New Zealand (PCNZ) is the statutory regulator under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003: it authorises the internship, sets the competence standards, and issues the practising certificate you must hold. PSNZ is the professional body that delivers the Intern Training Programme (ITP) on the Council's behalf - induction, study days, online learning, and workplace-based assessment tools. Marks are lost by muddling the two.
What the year must contain
- 52 weeks full-time equivalent in an approved practice setting, under a preceptor approved by the Council; part-time internships run pro-rata over a longer calendar period.
- Registration as an intern, and an intern annual practising certificate, before the first day - the employer cannot backdate it.
- Structured ITP components completed alongside day-to-day dispensing: workshops, e-learning modules and a reflective record linking experiences to the competence standards.
- Regular documented feedback from the preceptor, not a single end-of-year signature.
- A final recommendation from the preceptor, followed by the Council's own registration assessments.
Worked example
An intern works 0.8 FTE. The internship is not finished after 52 calendar weeks - 0.8 × 52 gives about 41.6 weeks of full-time equivalent, so roughly 65 calendar weeks are needed. Four weeks of unpaid leave inside that period also does not count and pushes the end date out. The preceptor must record hours, not just start and finish dates.
Traps
Assuming any community pharmacy is automatically an approved setting; treating study days as optional; relying on a verbal assurance that enrolment is 'in the system'; leaving the reflective record to the final month, when it can no longer evidence progression.