Programme Structure For Pharmacy Schools In Nigeria
Pharmacy is a profession that spans across several fields. To become a pharmacist, one has to go through an approved pharmacy school. This could be in Nigeria or in other parts of the world. However, the process is similar with slight variations at each location.
There are various stages in acquiring knowledge in the pharmacy profession. We have the undergraduate and postgraduate level. This is what we hardly talk about back in the days. Let us see what each is like in the pharmacy profession.
An undergraduate student is a student studying for a bachelor degree. However, in some countries, the undergraduate degree could also refer to any post-secondary school degree such as diploma (also known as an associate degree in the United States of America, U.S.A) from colleges and polytechnics.
Read Also: How To Study Pharmacy In Foreign Institutions From Nigeria
Undergraduate degree in Nigeria is a four or five year’s degree programme of which pharmacy falls into this category. The programme curriculum is more general in nature covering a wide range of courses from six departments. The students here are many in the class and it is easier to change school and course than the other is.
There are about 17 schools of pharmacy in Nigeria currently. They all offer the B. Pharm. degree except one that offers Pharm. D. for 6 years. The Pharm. D. degree is an undergraduate doctoral degree. They are all unclassified degree. An unclassified degree means that any holder of the degree is equal in terms of rating especially during job hunt irrespective of the grade he/she graduated with. However, let this definition not deceive you, as schools all around the world require a strong grade to accept students into their postgraduate programmes for further study. This is the main reason schools of pharmacy calculate Cumulative Grade point Average (C.G.P.A) for students
The undergraduate courses consist of six departments of pharmaceutics and industrial pharmacy (P.C.T), clinical pharmacy and pharmacy administration (P.C.A), pharmacognosy and traditional medicine (P.C.G), pharmacology and therapeutics (P.C.L), pharmaceutical or medicinal chemistry (P.C.H) and pharmaceutical microbiology (P.M.B). Students participate in course approve by the school as there are no elective courses.
After graduation, the pharmacists’ council of Nigeria (P.C.N) register and induct the student as a pharmacist and further training under the internship programme for a year. For those who wish to serve the country for a year, they can apply for the National Youth Service Corps (N.Y.S.C) programme.
To study a pharmacy course, the student must enter either through direct entry or the use of Joint Admission And Matriculation Board (J.A.M.B) examination in combination with 5 credit passes in mathematics, the use of English, physics, biology and chemistry in O' Level.
The programme prepares the pharmacist for skills and knowledge that will enable him/her diagnose minor ailments, prescribe for minor ailments, counsel patients and provide advice to other healthcare providers. Part of their training gives them the prerequisite to manufacture and produce drugs.
The training of pharmacist does not end at the undergraduate level. There are other programmes for the pharmacist who wants to specialise in an aspect of the profession. They are all postgraduate programmes in which some refer to PhD as the graduate programme.
The next level is a postgraduate degree. This programme is open to pharmacist and science students who wish to specialize in an aspect of pharmacy professions such as a botanist studying a master in pharmacognosy and traditional medicine. However, the entry requirement for the postgraduate degree requires a sound academic undergraduate bachelor’s degree. The requirement varies from one school to another but is very similar. This is the reason I said earlier that the declassification of pharmacy degree is only during job hunting.
For those with low grades from their undergraduate degree, the only hope is for a remedial course, prerequisite or postgraduate diploma courses to boost the grade. This duration could between some few months. After which the student can apply for a master’s degree. There are different postgraduate diploma degree (Pg.D) courses. Some students apply for Pg.d because it takes less time.
There are different master degrees. They are masters of Science, master of philosophy and doctor of philosophy.
The Master of Science requires a degree in bachelors for consideration. Master of philosophy requires a degree in Master of Science while the doctor of philosophy requires a degree in masters of philosophy for consideration. However, it is not out of place for a student with a masters of scince to go for PhD.
The duration for Master of Science, span a period of 18 months with a thesis. This is not the case with the master of philosophy, which span a period of 12 months including a thesis. Doctor of philosophy that is always considered the highest academic qualification in any course takes about 24 months. It bases on original research.
The courses for master’s programme is more streamlined than the general undergraduate curriculum. It is a way to focus the student on a more concentrated aspect of one department. To get the perspective better, junior secondary school students learn both science, social science and arts subjects. This changed in senior secondary school when they specify an aspect to base on such as science, social science, or arts. For those who choose pharmacy, it is another speciality in the science curriculum. Same way, some master programmes is mainly on one department course delving deeper into the course.
Read Also: The Main Differences Between B. Pharm. And Pharm. D. Degree In Pharmacy
Doctor of philosophy focuses more on a very narrow part of a department. For example, the Ph.D. student that did pharmaceutics and industrial pharmacy can focus on mixing alone in the postgraduate programme. Future post on this blog will list out the schools that offer postgraduate course in Nigeria.
The titles attached to these degrees do specify the course done. For example, masters degree goes by Master in Pharmacy (M. Pharm.) while doctor of philosophy is Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacy (Ph.D in Pharm).
Note: Undergraduate degree is based on a regular programme hence known as undergraduate regular. On the other hand, postgraduate programme can either be regular or part time.
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There are various stages in acquiring knowledge in the pharmacy profession. We have the undergraduate and postgraduate level. This is what we hardly talk about back in the days. Let us see what each is like in the pharmacy profession.
An undergraduate student is a student studying for a bachelor degree. However, in some countries, the undergraduate degree could also refer to any post-secondary school degree such as diploma (also known as an associate degree in the United States of America, U.S.A) from colleges and polytechnics.
Read Also: How To Study Pharmacy In Foreign Institutions From Nigeria
Undergraduate Degree In Pharmacy
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| Pharmacy degree |
There are about 17 schools of pharmacy in Nigeria currently. They all offer the B. Pharm. degree except one that offers Pharm. D. for 6 years. The Pharm. D. degree is an undergraduate doctoral degree. They are all unclassified degree. An unclassified degree means that any holder of the degree is equal in terms of rating especially during job hunt irrespective of the grade he/she graduated with. However, let this definition not deceive you, as schools all around the world require a strong grade to accept students into their postgraduate programmes for further study. This is the main reason schools of pharmacy calculate Cumulative Grade point Average (C.G.P.A) for students
The undergraduate courses consist of six departments of pharmaceutics and industrial pharmacy (P.C.T), clinical pharmacy and pharmacy administration (P.C.A), pharmacognosy and traditional medicine (P.C.G), pharmacology and therapeutics (P.C.L), pharmaceutical or medicinal chemistry (P.C.H) and pharmaceutical microbiology (P.M.B). Students participate in course approve by the school as there are no elective courses.
After graduation, the pharmacists’ council of Nigeria (P.C.N) register and induct the student as a pharmacist and further training under the internship programme for a year. For those who wish to serve the country for a year, they can apply for the National Youth Service Corps (N.Y.S.C) programme.
To study a pharmacy course, the student must enter either through direct entry or the use of Joint Admission And Matriculation Board (J.A.M.B) examination in combination with 5 credit passes in mathematics, the use of English, physics, biology and chemistry in O' Level.
The programme prepares the pharmacist for skills and knowledge that will enable him/her diagnose minor ailments, prescribe for minor ailments, counsel patients and provide advice to other healthcare providers. Part of their training gives them the prerequisite to manufacture and produce drugs.
The training of pharmacist does not end at the undergraduate level. There are other programmes for the pharmacist who wants to specialise in an aspect of the profession. They are all postgraduate programmes in which some refer to PhD as the graduate programme.
Postgraduate Degree In Pharmacy
The postgraduate programmes are composed of different levels. Consider the following.The next level is a postgraduate degree. This programme is open to pharmacist and science students who wish to specialize in an aspect of pharmacy professions such as a botanist studying a master in pharmacognosy and traditional medicine. However, the entry requirement for the postgraduate degree requires a sound academic undergraduate bachelor’s degree. The requirement varies from one school to another but is very similar. This is the reason I said earlier that the declassification of pharmacy degree is only during job hunting.
For those with low grades from their undergraduate degree, the only hope is for a remedial course, prerequisite or postgraduate diploma courses to boost the grade. This duration could between some few months. After which the student can apply for a master’s degree. There are different postgraduate diploma degree (Pg.D) courses. Some students apply for Pg.d because it takes less time.
There are different master degrees. They are masters of Science, master of philosophy and doctor of philosophy.
The Master of Science requires a degree in bachelors for consideration. Master of philosophy requires a degree in Master of Science while the doctor of philosophy requires a degree in masters of philosophy for consideration. However, it is not out of place for a student with a masters of scince to go for PhD.
The duration for Master of Science, span a period of 18 months with a thesis. This is not the case with the master of philosophy, which span a period of 12 months including a thesis. Doctor of philosophy that is always considered the highest academic qualification in any course takes about 24 months. It bases on original research.
The courses for master’s programme is more streamlined than the general undergraduate curriculum. It is a way to focus the student on a more concentrated aspect of one department. To get the perspective better, junior secondary school students learn both science, social science and arts subjects. This changed in senior secondary school when they specify an aspect to base on such as science, social science, or arts. For those who choose pharmacy, it is another speciality in the science curriculum. Same way, some master programmes is mainly on one department course delving deeper into the course.
Read Also: The Main Differences Between B. Pharm. And Pharm. D. Degree In Pharmacy
Doctor of philosophy focuses more on a very narrow part of a department. For example, the Ph.D. student that did pharmaceutics and industrial pharmacy can focus on mixing alone in the postgraduate programme. Future post on this blog will list out the schools that offer postgraduate course in Nigeria.
The titles attached to these degrees do specify the course done. For example, masters degree goes by Master in Pharmacy (M. Pharm.) while doctor of philosophy is Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacy (Ph.D in Pharm).
University Of Benin Conversion Programme
This a programme designed for Pharm. B. holders to convert their degree to D. Pharm. The requirement for admission is that the student must be a pharmacist registered with PCN. It Last for a minimum of two academic semesters.Note: Undergraduate degree is based on a regular programme hence known as undergraduate regular. On the other hand, postgraduate programme can either be regular or part time.
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Please does university of calabar offer pharmacy at undergraduate level
ReplyDeleteYes but not yet accredited
DeleteCan they still offer admission to people intending to study pharmacy or pharmacology?
DeleteAm a 2.1 Graduate of chemistry and I want to further in pharmacy
Yes
DeleteWhat is the CGPA for Pharmacy
ReplyDeleteDifferent schools have different CGPA
Delete