As of July 1, 2011, individuals (including pharmacy technician program graduates) may not refer to themselves as pharmacy technicians unless they are registered on the appropriate register with ACP.
They can indicate that they have graduated from a pharmacy technician training program, or that they hold a certificate or diploma. This provides recognition of academic achievement, but does not denote professional or regulated status.
It is the same for pharmacists. Only individuals registered on ACP’s clinical or courtesy register can refer to themselves as a pharmacist. New graduates cannot call themselves pharmacists until they are registered on the appropriate register. The majority of them will be registered on ACP’s provisional register, during which time they can call themselves pharmacy interns or pharmacist interns.
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The title protection comes directly from legislation. The principles of restricted activities, defined scopes of practice, and restricted titles are the cornerstones to public protection within the Health Professions Act. Restricted titles are important to providing as much clarity to the public as possible about the health professionals caring for them.
Section 28(5) of the Health Professions Act, which applies to all regulated health professions, restricts the use of title, stating:
(5) No person other than
(a) a regulated member shall use a title, abbreviation or initials set out in Section 2 of a schedule to this Act alone or in combination with other words in a manner that states or implies that the person is a regulated member of the college to which Section 2 of the schedule refers…
Section 2 of Schedule 19 of the HPA addresses titles that may be used by regulated members of ACP, and the regulation further restricts these titles to specific membership categories. Section 15.1 of the new regulation that comes into effect July 1 restricts the title of pharmacy technician.
