South Carolina § 40-43-84 - Internship and externship certificates; program requirements; intern and extern restrictions; requirements for supervisory site and pharmacist.

§ 40-43-84. Internship and externship certificates; program requirements; intern and extern restrictions; requirements for supervisory site and pharmacist.

(A) All applicants for licensure by examination shall obtain one thousand five hundred hours of practical experience in the practice of pharmacy. The board shall establish certificate requirements for interns/externs and standards for internship, or any other experiential program necessary to qualify an applicant for licensure. The board shall issue an intern certificate to a qualified applicant. No intern/extern may receive credit for practical experience unless he has been issued a certificate by the board. Such certificate must be granted only to individuals who have been accepted by or graduated from an approved college of pharmacy, but no sooner than three months before beginning pharmacy school. No credit shall be given for internships worked more than three months before beginning pharmacy school or if the student does not matriculate. A foreign pharmacy graduate may secure a certificate of registration as a pharmacy intern upon presenting to the board proof of graduation from a pharmacy school located in a foreign country and a statement of his intent to complete the requirements of the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE).

(B) An intern/extern may not represent himself as a pharmacist. The board shall issue to an intern/extern a certificate for purposes of identification and verification of his role as an intern/extern. The internship certificate must be displayed in the pharmacy or site in which the experience is being gained. No individual who has not been issued a certificate by the board as an intern/extern shall take, use, or exhibit the title of intern/extern, or any other term of similar like or import.

(C) An intern/extern may engage in the practice of pharmacy if such activities are under the direct supervision of a licensed pharmacist. The pharmacist shall physically review the prescription drug order and the dispensed product before the product is delivered to the patient or the patient's agent. The pharmacist is responsible for the work of the intern/extern. A pharmacist may not supervise more than one intern at any one time

Pharmacy interns/externs shall not be left in sole charge of a prescription department or other approved site at any time. Violation of this may result in cancellation of any and all internship/externship hours toward licensure that may have been accrued by the intern/extern, and may, in the discretion of the board, cause the board after sufficient notice to the pharmacy intern/extern, to revoke or suspend the internship certificate as provided above. The supervising pharmacist or designated pharmacist may also be subject to disciplinary action by the board.

An applicant for licensure, who is guilty of compounding or dispensing a prescription of a practitioner or selling legend drugs or medicines while not under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist may be refused licensure.

(D) All interns shall notify the board of any change of employment or residence address within ten days.

(E) Credit for claims of practical experience required under the pharmacy laws will not be recognized by the board unless such claims are corroborated by records on file in the board office, showing the beginning and ending of the practical experience claimed as supplied by the applicant during the training period and by the pharmacist who supervised the practical experience during the training period.

(F) The pharmacy, site, or program in which practical experience is being obtained shall have a current, valid pharmacy permit, as required by this chapter, and the designated pharmacist shall hold a current, valid license to practice pharmacy.

HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 366, SECTION 1; 1999 Act No. 76, SECTION 4; 2024 Act No. 221 (H.3988), SECTION 4, eff July 2, 2024.

Effect of Amendment

2024 Act No. 221, SECTION 4, in the first paragraph of (C), deleted the second sentence, which provided that a pharmacist must be in continuous personal eye and voice contact with, and actually giving instructions to, the intern/extern during all professional activities throughout the entire period of the internship/externship.