Courses Under Faculty Of Pharmacy School In Nigeria

Pharmacy Courses

To become a pharmacist, you must study pharmacy offering different courses. These courses cover the major things you need to know. It range from drug production, health and marketing.

Pharmacy is a profession that deals on drugs and medicines. It entails drug discovery, development, design, and formulation including dispensing to both humans and animals for improving health.
To be a certified pharmacist, it is mandatory to pass through the four walls of an approved pharmacy institution.
The reason why most people prefer pharmacy to other medical courses is that you rarely come across any form of blood. Secondly, the pharmacist is the first point of call when there is a need for the presence of a qualified medical personnel.

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Course Description For Pharmacy

To be a certified pharmacist, the basic requirement is to graduate from a certified pharmacy institution. The curriculum must meet with a set standard that should be able to stand the test of time and with international standard.

The first part is made of the curriculum which is divided into theory and laboratory experiment in a space of about six years while the later part focuses on clinical practice. Let us go through the curriculum gradually from year one.

Courses In Year One In School Of Pharmacy

Year one consist of science courses with some few compulsory university courses. The science courses are secondary school topics with a little bit of higher learning. They include:
Mathematics:  Calculus, sets, algebra, statistics etc.
Botany: Classification, form and function, genetics and hereditary with some laboratory experiments like plant identification.
Chemistry: Physical, inorganic and organic chemistry with laboratory experiment on volumetric analysis including qualitative assay.
Physics: Optics and modern physics, electricity and magnetism, heat wave, motion and sound, mechanics and properties of matter with laboratory experiment like light, electricity. 
Animal and Environmental Biology: Classification, animal biology with some laboratory experiments on animal structures.
General Studies (G.S.T): They include the use of English, Philosophy, conflict resolution, Nigerian people and culture and not forgetting basic French. Most of the names are the explanation of what is inside those GST courses.
To proceed, one has to pass the science courses according to the pass mark set by those departments while GST according to school criteria’s.

Courses In Year Two to Final Year In School Of Pharmacy

Introduction To Pharmacy

Pharmacy is a faculty on its own with six departments each having their own course titles and codes. Each department has a Head of Department (HOD) with certain laws guiding them. The faculty is run and managed by the Dean of the faculty who is answerable to the Vice Chancellor (VC). However, one-course adviser serves one level of students.

The pass mark for almost pharmacy courses is 50/100. This includes medical courses like medical biochemistry, physiology, and anatomy. This is not the case with school and science courses that their pass mark is 45/100. It is important to note that some pharmacy courses use 60 as pass mark though few in number.

At year two, most pharmacy courses will be introduced to the students with some few more school courses like 'computer course' and ‘entrepreneur'. However, because of the nature of pharmacy and to understand how some drugs work, students are exposed to the basics of Anatomy, Physiology, and Medical Biochemistry. They are studied in both two semesters of a level (level two).
Anatomy: This is a branch of biology that deals with the structure of organisms. It is divided into gross (macroscopic) and histology (microscopic). Macroscopic deals with the use of unaided eye to view and study an organ or tissue. While microscopic deals with the use of optical instruments like the microscope to study cells and tissue. This is achieved in the laboratory where dead animals and cadavers (dead humans) are dissected with surgical knives. They study the location, appearance of parts and materials and how they relate to other parts of the body. Some of the courses include gross anatomy of lower and upper limbs and the thorax. It also involves the introduction to the study of cells and tissues using Atlas and microscope. Laboratory experiment includes viewing slides of tissues and cells under a microscope and reading atlas (a coloured book with the pictures of different types of cells and tissues).
Medical Biochemistry: Is involved with chemical processes as it relates to living things. By studying metabolism (anabolism and catabolism) of living things, one can understand how organs, tissues including a whole organism interact. It also looks at life in molecular form, which involves the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) as they can be modified to improve life.
In medicine, medical biochemist investigates the causes and cures of diseases. In nutrition, they study how to maintain health including effects of nutritional deficiencies. In agriculture, they investigate soil and fertilizers and try to discover ways to help improve crop cultivation, storage and pest control. Some of the courses include metabolism and chemistry of biomolecules including DNA replication. Laboratory practical’s includes forms of chemicals and their reactions in organs.
Physiology: Is the study of the normal function of the body. It focuses on how organisms, organs, tissues and cells functions within themselves and their environment. Pathology and physiological state are two opposite words as in physiological, functions are normal while the other is the opposite of normal. Courses to do include Physiology of essential organs like liver, heart, and kidney. Laboratory work includes measuring vital signs like the heart rate of a dead rat.

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Courses Under The Faculty of Pharmacy

In my previous post about how to be a Pharmacist, I have already explained that the faculty of pharmacy normally has six departments. Each has a role to play in the making of a newly qualified pharmacist. Please, let's take a cup of coffee as we explore what pharmacist do in school for about five to six years.

Pharmacognosy And Traditional Medicine

Simply put, is the study of medicines of natural origin. Natural origin includes plants, animals, and microorganisms. It is not a new thing to know that plants have been used to treat ailments for years but few people know that even microbes are also sources of medicines. The focus of this department is to differentiate between poisonous herbs and medicinal ones. It also encompasses the preparation stage, harvesting, extraction methods, as well as doses of extracts, involves in treating using herbs. 
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There are many medicines out there today that are gotten from nature. One of the most common ones is caffeine. Others include atropine, ephedrine, taxol etc. These are chemicals that are found in plants, which will be studied in details including how to cultivate the plants from which it was collected. It will also involve how to identify the process, collect, and extract active constituents. 

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Biosynthesis is a course here that discuss how these chemicals enter the plant. Chemicals found in plants are called metabolites, which may contain one or more of such in medicinal plants. These metabolites in medicinal plants are termed active metabolites. More work is being done here to discover more active potent drugs in the future. Some of the courses include extraction method, biosynthesis and phytochemical of natural products. Laboratory experiment includes microscopic examination of leaf part, separation, and extraction using chromatography.

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Pharmaceutical And Medicinal Chemistry

This department is based solely on chemicals that have effects in drug productions and design. It focuses mostly on synthetic products that can be modified including characteristics of those chemicals. They mostly discuss on how to manipulate an already existing drug to enhance its work or reduce its side effects. Also, works on lead drugs while modifying it. How some of these chemicals can be isolated, purified, enhanced and produced in mass quantity are discussed. Products here are quantity (volume of a compound) and quality (Purity of a compound). Shelf life for a drug is adjusted according to the chemical degradation. Courses offered include medicinal plants and inorganic chemistry. Laboratory experiments are quantitative analysis like titration and qualitative assay like the melting point.

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Pharmacology And Therapeutics

This branch of pharmacy is mainly concerned with how chemicals interact with our body. It involves the mechanism of action, toxicity, etc. It is divided into Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Kinetics involves how compounds (drugs) is absorbed, distributed, metabolized and excreted from the body while dynamics is how the body handles all that. With this kind of knowledge, understanding how patients react with drugs and vice versa becomes possible and easy. Side and adverse effects of drugs are studied in details as to how humans tolerate chemicals within both the environment and those we take in. Courses include endocrine pharmacology, nervous system pharmacology, and analgesic. Laboratory experiment includes various effects of drugs on laboratory animals like a white albino rat.

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Pharmaceutical Microbiology

This branch involves the study of microorganisms as they affect either pharmaceuticals or humans. This involves trying to minimize the number of microbes in a drug by adhering to a set standard during production, distribution, storage, and sales. The shelf life is adjusted according to a number of microbes a chemical compound can take over a period. The study of the effectiveness of antibiotic drugs is assayed here while antibiotics are designed here. Modern microbiologist also involves genetic engineering/manipulation. Courses include sterilization methods, antimicrobial agents, fermentation technology, and quality control. Laboratory experiments include effects of drugs on bacteria’s in a culture plate, production of sterile products like eye drops.

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Pharmaceutics And Industrial Pharmacy

Pharmaceutics involves formulating drugs into a standard formulation and dose to achieve high safety and efficacy.  It involves formulating a pure drug into a dosage form that will achieve maximum therapeutic effects with less toxic effects. Since medicines normally contain other excipients during the design that will enhance drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion. This department focuses on how best to produce any type of drug to achieve the desired outcome. The ability of the drug to survive a long time can be enhanced here. Courses involve here are an introduction to dosage form and formulation, the technology of solid, liquid and semisolid dosage form and sorption (adsorption and absorption of drugs). Laboratory experiment includes drug formulations, measurement of dosage, product expiry date, dosage absorption, and metabolism.

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Clinical Pharmacy And Administration

This department focuses on patient care and how they can enjoy better health. It tends to encourage prevention before drugs. They are experts in the therapeutic use of medications, giving advice to patients and other healthcare professionals. In some countries, they prescribe, administer, manage, counsel, and dispense in certain conditions. Patient’s interaction is key in their curriculum. They do not forget that they are also in business, hence, the study of business management. Courses include pharmaceutical care, clinical pharmacy, management and entrepreneur, disease pathology and pharmacy jurisprudence. No laboratory practice but involves a six months Industrial Training (I.T) in a reputable institution of choice.
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Although, the first phase ends with an examination after which there will be an internship program for a year. The program is done in an approved licensed establishment with a pharmacist to help coach the student. At the end of the one-year training, a certificate or licence is issued to the individual after which he can start to practice as such capacity.
Note: There may be some difference in course titles and description for different schools.