Criteria for registration

The conditions enabling eligibility for registration as a pharmacist in Mauritius fall in four categories: –

1. Mauritian citizenship
2. Disciplinary and health records
3. Academic qualifications
4. Professional qualifications

Mauritian Citizenship

Section 18(1)(a)(i) prescribes that the applicant must be a citizen or a resident of Mauritius. The term ”resident” meaning a person who holds a residence permit under section 9 of the Immigration Act No. 13 of 1970.  Foreign and visiting pharmacists registered under sections 24 and 25 of the Act respectively are exempted from that obligation

Disciplinary and Health record

The applicant must satisfy the Council that

1. He has not been convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty in any country;
2. He has not been disqualified or deregistered as a pharmacist on account of professional misconduct, malpractice, negligence, fraud, dishonesty or breach of a code of practice in any country; and
3. He does not suffer from any mental impairment which is likely to hamper the discharge of his duties as pharmacist;

Academic Qualifications

Secondary School Exit Qualifications

The law prescribes that the applicant must hold a certificate stating that he has passed at one sitting any 3 subjects at Advanced (‘A’) level (or its equivalent), with a minimum of 21 points, based on the following scale (or such equivalent scale as may be approved by the Council on the recommendation of the Ministry responsible for the subject of education)

A Level Grade	A Level Points
A+	10
A	9
B	8
C	7
D	6
E	4

Common alternative qualifications obtained in Mauritius and considered to be equivalent to the HSC, or GCE Advanced are the French Baccalaureat, or the International Baccalaureate.

University degree

The applicant should hold “ a degree, diploma or an equivalent qualification in the field of pharmacy, after having attended and successfully completed a full-time course of a minimum duration of 4 years, excluding pre-registration training, at a university or other institution;”

[The attention of  persons wishing to embark on studies in pharmacy is drawn to the fact that 3-year BPharm courses (or equivalent) will no longer be accepted from students who get enrolled after the law is proclaimed in full, i.e after the 1^st November 2017.]

Professional qualifications

Professional qualification stems from the combination of criteria for pre-registering pharmacists

1. the successful completion of a full year approved pre-registration training
2. the passing of a “such an examination as the Council may determine for the purpose of determining whether he possesses adequate professional pharmaceutical knowledge;”

It is understood that the examination is a pre-registration exit examination that is taken on completion of the one-year training.

Approved training means training in a place approved by the Council and performed under the supervision of a preceptor also recognize by the Council

Criteria for pre-registration pharmacists

They are essentially the same for the first three elements namely:

1. Mauritian citizenship
2. Disciplinary and health records
3. Academic qualifications

The pre-registration trainee, once he is registered as such, is required to give an undertaking to the effect that he will undergo at least one year of approved pre-registration training in an approved pharmacy. The trainee will also be required to take and pass the pre-registration exit examinations organized by the Council before he may apply for registration as a pharmacist