Establishment

The School of Pharmacy of Ahfad University for Women (AUW) was carefully planned for over a period of more than two years. A number of meetings were held to determin whether a new school of pharmacy was needed in addition to exiting schools.   These meetings were held at the Ahfad campus and were attended by a number of outstanding professionals from various pharmaceutical fields, the academic field, industry, retailing and the realm of drug importation. After lengthy discussions, the consensus was a strong yes, particularly in a university specialising in female education.

Objectives

Since the profession of pharmacy is rapidly changing and the role of the pharmacist is extending much further than his dispensary and becoming more patient – centered rather than only drug centered, pharmacy education must adapt to meet these changes. Consequently, the aim of the five-year Bachelor of Pharmacy (B. Pharm.) course offered at the School of Pharmacy, AUW, is to produce graduates with a wide knowledge and understanding of the sciences, technologies and practices that substantiate pharmacy as a profession. This knowledge, together with the clinical skills gained by the graduates in the eight clinical pharmacy courses taught at this School, will enable them to acquire the competencies suitable for their registration as pharmacists capable of building a career in any of the many branches of pharmacy. Any pre-registration practical training carried out by the student as part of her learning process is considered as an essential educational link between the undergraduate course and the graduate’s work as a registered pharmacist.

The Curriculum

The academic courses occupy five years of full-time study. This school follows the semester system (two semesters per year) and, as the laws of the Ahfad University require, each semester is treated separately in terms of the courses results. The second semester of the last year is devoted to a research project to be carried out by each student. Each science course consists of two parts: theoretical and practical. The duration of the lecture is 50 minutes and each lecture is given the load of one credit hour. A laboratory practical, whether two or three hours, is considered one credit hour. Each course has  a course title, course designation, and a load in terms of credit hours. Students are expected to attain a level in science and English language to enable them to the start their medical studies. In addition to the general sciences related to medicine, the study includes some basic elements (like biochemistry and microbiology) as well as medical statistics, medical sociology, genetics, etc.

As is clear from the course descriptions presented below, all the traditional disciplines of a pharmacy curriculum are offered. However, the policy of this school is to place special emphasis on Clinical Pharmacy, a field, it is hoped, this school will pioneer. For this reason a short discourse about this discipline is presented below.

Clinical Pharmacy

The practice of clinical pharmacy aims at helping to maximize drug efficacy, minimize drug toxicity and promote cost-effectiveness. In order to achieve this, pharmacists should require working as fully – integrated members of the health care team. Both as team members and members of their own professional body, pharmacists are accountable to patients for the services they provide.

Pharmaceutical care is defined as the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient’s quality of life. Both direct and indirect patient care activities are involved. Direct patient care activities include responding to symptoms, medication review and patient counseling and advice. Indirect patient care activities include the influencing of prescribing through participation in drug and therapeutics committees, ward rounds, other clinical meetings and studies on medication errors. Clinical pharmacists are recognized and used as sources of advice on health and medicines.

Objectives

On the completion of the prescribed courses, the graduate must have demonstrated:
1. Sound knowledge of physiology, pathology, pharmacology and therapeutics which will provide him/her with the ability to identify clinical problems related to drug therapy of disease states and to suggest possible solution.
2. An appreciation of the role of the pharmacist in the health care team and the practice of the clinical pharmacy,
3. The ability to develop the interpersonal skills of communication, team working and to undertake structured problem-solving,
4. The ability to design, improve and operate within standard operating procedures,
5. The ability to undertake a research project and to report on it.