Leanna Pugliese, PharmD
Class of 2006
When she graduated from the UA College of Pharmacy in 2006, Leanna Pugliese hoped to play an integral part in delivering superior health care, loved traveling abroad to experience other cultures and really enjoyed bike rides in the desert. The College of Pharmacy provided her with outlets for all of her enthusiasms when she was in school, and paved the way for new and exciting experiences after graduation.
As a PharmD student, Pugliese was an active member of the International Pharmaceutical Students Federation. She helped place pharmacy students from Spain, France and Turkey in four-to-eight week exchanges at the UA, and she enjoyed learning exchanges in Egypt and Thailand.
“There are progressive things happening in health care all over the world,” Pugliese says. “We all want better health care; we all have the same goal. We need strong international relationships.”
After graduation, Pugliese completed a pharmacy practice residency with Tacoma General and Mary Bridge Pediatric Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. Then she decided to take her pharmacy credentials to another country.
“I decided to practice in New Zealand because I had completed a residency and realized I was not quite ready to pursue a specialty residency and settle into a ‘serious’ job, but that I still wanted to travel and explore international pharmacy practices,” the Tucson native says. “New Zealand currently has a critical shortage of pharmacists, and it was fairly easy to transfer my credentials.”
After applying through the Recognised Equivalent Qualifications Route, she had to take the Competency Assessment of Overseas Pharmacists exam to become licensed in Australia and New Zealand.
“It is only offered four times a year, so timing can be tricky,” she says. “It is also only offered in London, Australia and New Zealand, and at a considerable fee.”
After passing the exam, Pugliese found a place to learn New Zealand’s pharmacy laws and ethics for 420 hours and completed the “Laws and Ethics” interview. Then she was issued the Annual Practicing Certificate that allowed her to begin working as a clinical pharmacist at Nelson Hospital in Nelson, New Zealand.
“I look after the adult medical unit, the ICCU—combined critical care unit and intensive care unit—and the pediatric unit,” Pugliese says. “The hospital is quite small, around 120 beds.”
Pugliese says there are many differences between pharmacy practice in New Zealand and the U.S.
“Only in the past five years have pharmacists really taken on a ‘clinical’ role,” she says. “Prior to that it was limited to dispensary work. Consultant doctors and the house surgeons (New Zealand’s equivalent to medical residents) are just starting to accept the value and recommendations of the pharmacist to the team and decision making for medication therapy.”
Pugliese, the only American pharmacist at the Nelson Hospital, moved to New Zealand with her partner in January. Nelson is located on the northern part of New Zealand’s South Island.
“The most exciting thing about this new phase in my life is knowing that my training is not only exceptional, but has fewer boundaries than I would've previously thought,” Pugliese says. “It is a great honor to be a part of raising the level of pharmacy excellence higher, and setting new standards of practice in a completely different country. Pharmacy aside, it is also exciting to be living in one of the most beautiful countries in the world and being able to explore it every weekend and during the four weeks off every person here gets annually!”
Pugliese never visited New Zealand before moving there, but heard wonderful stories about it from others. She credits Michael Katz, clinical associate professor, Pharmacy Practice and Science, for motivating her to explore the world.
“It’s so important for Americans to get out of the U.S. and see the rest of the world,” Pugliese says, “and for people from other countries to know us from more than just movies and news.”