All About Pharmaceutical Technology Programme In Nigeria

Pharmaceutical technology programme

Pharmaceutical Technology is a course offered by some monotechnics or polytechnics in Nigeria. It is related to pharmacy. They are not regulated by Pharmacists Council Of Nigeria (P.C.N), and they are not a pharmacist. The academic regulation of pharmaceutical technology is done by National Board for Technical Education Board (N.B.T.E) although PCN has attempted to bring them under its umbrella, which failed.


It is important that secondary school students know about the different sectors related to pharmacy. This will enable them to make an informed decision on what they want to study and where to do it. That is why I step out to clarify who a pharmaceutical technologist is to Nigerians.
Read Also: Pharmacy Technician Sandwich Program For Re-certification By Pharmacists Council Of Nigeria

Academic requirements For OND Programme

Just as was stated earlier, some polytechnics run this course under Ordinary National Diploma (O.N.D) and Higher National Diploma (H.N.D). The admission requirements for the different schools offering it seems to be very similar. It requires an O’ level result comprising of four or five credit passes in English language, Mathematics, Physics, chemistry, biology/agricultural science in not more than one or two sitting. Joint Admission and Matriculation Examination (J.A.M.B) subjects include the Use of English, Mathematics, Physics, and Biology.
Successful candidates will start from OND, which last for a period of two years, after which they are awarded a D. Pharm. The programme last for four academic semesters of classrooms, laboratory experiments and workshop activities. Another semester is devoted for Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (S.I.W.E.S) in an industry. The industry can be a pharmaceutical or other industry where their services are needed such as chemical industry, etc.

Academic Requirements For HND Programme

Pharmaceutical Technology HND programme can be continued from Pharmaceutical Technology OND programme within that school or from another school. This is because some of the schools with the OND programme do not have the HND of it. The requirements to continue pharmaceutical technology in HND after completing the OND programme is similar to the requirements of those who wants to study the course with an OND degree from another course relating to pharmaceutical technology. The requirement for those with OND related to Pharmacy but not Pharmaceutical Technology such as Pharmacy technician include minimum of lower credit passes in addition to one-year work experience. A credit pass may be accepted on the ground that the applicant has more than two years working experience.
The programme of HND is similar to that of the OND. Just that it is a continuation of the lectures from OND. It lasts for a period of two years making it a total of four years course from OND to HND. HND students do not go for SIWES tarining. Graduate do not go for the compulsory internship like the pharmacist or face the newly introduces compulsory internship graduate examination. 
After graduation, they move on to National youth service corps programme for a period of one year serving their fatherland.

The Course Outlines

It is related to the pharmacy but the curriculum is more concentrated in an aspect of pharmacy. The main difference is that it concentrates solely on the technology of designing drugs. Simply put, they go deep into pharmaceutics and industrial pharmacy. They learn more on the tools in creating medicines in the manufacture of drugs.
A glimpse of some of their course are;

• Health environment
• Chemistry of pharmaceuticals
• Consumer science

These and many more courses in pharmaceutical technology will provide relevant knowledge on pharmaceutics and industrial pharmacy, pharmacology and its technological components. Just like pharmacy spend some time studying some medical courses, they also touch some pharmacy courses such as Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmacognosy etc.

Job Description

They can work in various industries from pharmaceuticals to chemical to botanicals. However, in situations whereby they are employed in a pharmaceutical industry, they must work under the supervision of a pharmacist. They carry out laboratory experiments and provide results to the pharmacist. One aspect, which I believe they are very good at, is the aspect of operating machinery such as electronic equipment’s that test samples of chemicals and drugs.
Read Also: How To Become A Pharmacy Technician In Nigeria
They give results of experiments, keep records, fill out forms, and keep laboratory equipment clean and in good working conditions. When they work in pharmacy school laboratories such as pharmaceutical microbiology, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmaceutics, and industrial pharmacy, they prepare the laboratory before every practical class and clean up the place after each. Prepare culture of bacteria for testing; make calculations from simple experiments like weight uniformity etc. when they are found in the hospital setting, they can interpret prescriptions and assist in preparing extemporaneous products. However, this hospital jobs may be better handled by the Pharmacy technician.
However, it must be noted that pharmaceutical technology is a postgraduate specialty in universities for pharmacist. The introduction of this programme has led to several call from Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria on the Federal Ministry of Education to scrap the programme citing the statutory powers of PCN to regulate the training of persons who wish to practice pharmacy in Nigeria. This is because the programme is not presently under the powers of PCN and can lead to infiltration of the drug market by those not properly trained in line with set standards..
They are not licenced by PCN and they are not licensed to operate a community pharmacy shop or other functions of a Pharmacist in Nigeria. You can search this blog using the search box for the duties and jobs of a pharmacy.
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