Doctor Of Pharmacy (Pharm D) Conversion Programme Requirement In Nigeria

Pharm D Conversion Programme

As the world moves from bachelor of pharmacy (B Pharm) to doctor of pharmacy (Pharm D), more schools are expected to switch from B Pharm to Pharm D Programme. This is also expected of pharmacists with B Pharm to get an upgrade to Pharm D.

Read Also: Universities in Nigeria with Pharm D

There are only five universities in Nigeria with Pharm D programme. However, it is only the university of Benin (UNIBEN) in collaboration with the pharmacists council of Nigeria (PCN) and some pharmacists in the United States of America (USA) that have a conversion programme. The admission process is not very straight forward for now. This is because the programme is for some group of pharmacists of interest. They are lecturers, hospitals or community pharmacies acting as preceptors. This will enable them to apply a patient centred approach in the education of pharmacy students.

For now, the programme is for an academic session. This is because they want the pharmacists from the USA not spend more time here. With enough Pharm D lecturers, the pharmacist from the USA may need to give way for the Pharm D holders in Nigeria. Then the programme will be stable and may be for two academic sessions.

Application For Pharm D Conversion

Applicants must be registered and practicing with a b pharm degree at least for a year from a recognised university acceptable by the senate of UNIBEN. Others are five credit passes in O'level at no more than two sittings which include mathematics, English language, physics, chemistry and biology.

The applicant must be recommended by the faculty of pharmacy in a university as a preceptor for pharmacy students clerkship programme in hospital or community pharmacy. The list can be sent to UNIBEN via their email at pharmd@uniben.edu.

Read Also: Difference between Pharm D and B Pharm

Applicants that have successfully met the above criteria can proceed to the UNIBEN website and process the application by filling the forms, uploading relevant documents and making payment for the application fee. The fee may vary but was ₦12500 the last time.

Pharm D Academic Calendar

Here is a breakdown of Pharm D academic programme squeeze under one session.

January-July: clearance, lecture, continuous assessment and examination (for now, most of the programme is held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic).

August-September: repeat examination, clerkship orientation programme, assigning to hospital for clerkship

September-November: clerkship, clerkship report and project

November-December: submitting of final report (clerkship and project) and release of result.

Note that this programme have not been approved by the national University commission (NUC).