DOCTOR OF PHARMACY (PHARMD)
The Pharm B. programme offered by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences is undergoing a phase-out process and is scheduled to conclude after the 2024/2025 academic session. Starting from the 2021/2022 academic session, the faculty has officially introduced the PharmD programme, which has been initiated with the students admitted for the 2021/2022 academic session.
Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) Program
- Objectives of the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) Programme
- To offer academic programmes and opportunities that will develop exemplary patient-centered pharmacy professionals
- To instill in the student pharmacists a sense of appreciation of the profession of pharmacy and to involve them in an intellectually stimulating and satisfying learning experience.
- To provide students with a broad and balanced foundation in pharmacology, pathophysiology, and therapeutics.
- To provide students with the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to enter into clinical pharmacy practice and function as professionals in a changing health care system and be responsible for generating and disseminating new knowledge about drugs and pharmaceutical care in the interprofessional team.
- To train and educate students to assume responsibility, authority and accountability for pharmaceutical care.
- To provide students with clinical pharmaceutical knowledge and skills to collect assess, identify, plan, and resolve both human and veterinary medication-related problems.
- To instill in the students the dynamic value of the Pharmacy profession which makes life-long learning a necessity.
- To provide students with adequate knowledge and appropriate skill base from which they can proceed for further studies in specialized areas of pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences
- To make students accept the needs of the society and individual patients as a priority.
- To ensure adequate exposure of students through industrial training programmes in hospitals, industries, and community practices etc., to prepare them for early useful entry into any of these areas.
- Philosophy of Programme
The philosophy of the PharmD programme is to develop exemplary patient-centered pharmacists that are well educated, dignified, responsible, and disciplined through the impartation of general and specialized clinical pharmacy knowledge and skills in the foundational sciences, pathophysiology, therapeutics, and emerging concepts/technologies.
- Scope of Programme
The programme shall cover the main disciplines of Pharmaceutical Sciences namely: Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Pathophysiology, Pharmacotherapy, Pharmacy Management/Administration, Dispensing, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Technology, Toxicology, Pharmacognosy, Traditional Medicine, Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Biotechnology and Pharmacy Jurisprudence.
- Entry Requirements
Candidates are admitted either to a six-year programme through the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) or to a five-year programme by Direct Entry. Candidates seeking admission to the six-year programme through the UTME should possess a minimum entry requirement of five Ordinary level credits in English Language, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, and Physics obtained in no more than two sittings. The candidates may be subjected to a screening examination. Candidates seeking admission to the five-year programme by Direct Entry should possess a good first degree (i.e. second class lower and above) in related disciplines or must possess Advanced Level pass in Chemistry, Physics, Biology or Botany or Zoology with credits in English and Mathematics at the Ordinary Level. The passes at the Advanced Level must be obtained in no more than two sittings. The candidates may be subjected to a screening examination
Job Prospects
PharmD graduates have career opportunities in all areas of pharmacy practice such as hospital/clinical pharmacy practice such as critical care, emergency room, infectious diseases, nutritional support, hematology/oncology, pediatric, psychiatry, internal medicine, diabetes education, solid organ transplantation, etc. Other areas of pharmacy practice are community/retail pharmacy, compounding, ambulatory care, geriatric care, veterinary, managed care, poison control, public health, academia, importation/wholesale pharmacy, drug information, pharmaceutical industry, analyst laboratories, government, and regulatory agencies among others. The future of PharmD is that graduates would also seek pharmacy specialization in one or more of the following areas of their interest including critical care, emergency care, infectious diseases, nutritional support, oncology, cardiology, pediatric, psychiatry, pharmacotherapy, and diabetes education.
Departments and Codes in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management (PCL)
Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry (PMC)
Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology (PMB)
Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology (PTE)
Department of Pharmacognosy and Traditional Medicine (PCG)
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology (PCO)
- Stress Areas and Course Code*
Faculty based course, Pharmaceutical Calculations and Biochemistry 0
Physiology, Anatomy and Pathology 1
Pharmacognosy and Traditional Medicine 2
Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry 3
Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology 4
Pharmacology and Toxicology 5
Clinical, Community Pharmacy and Public Health 6
Pharmacy Management, Pharmacy Ethics/Jurisprudence, SIWES and PPE 7
Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology 8
Research project 9
* The stress areas refer to the second digit in the course codes.
The course code is made up of three digits. The first digit refers to the year of study. The second digit refers to the stress area. The last digit refers to the course number in the Department. Odd and even numbers for the last digit are for first and second semester courses respectively.
THE CURRICULUM
Professional Year 1 (100-LEVEL)
| First Semester | Second Semester | ||||
| COURSE | COURSE TITLE | Unit | COURSE | COURSE TITLE | Unit |
| GSS 101 | Use of English I | 1 | GSS 102 | Use of English II | 1 |
| GSS 105 | Humanities | 2 | GSS 106 | Social Sciences | 2 |
| GSS 107 | Nigerian Peoples and Culture | 2 | GSS 108 | Basic Igbo Studies II | 1 |
| GSS 109 | Basic Igbo Studies I | 1 | GSS 103 | Philosophy and Logic | 2 |
| MAT 101 | General Mathematics I | 3 | MAT 102 | General Mathematics II | 3 |
| PHY 101 | General Physics I | 3 | PHY 102 | General Physics II | 3 |
| PHY 103 | General Physics III | 3 | PHY 108 | General Physics Lab II | 1 |
| PHY 107 | General Physics Lab I | 1 | BIO 102 | General Biology II | 2 |
| BIO 101 | General Biology I | 2 | BIO 104 | Practical General Biology II | 1 |
| BIO 103 | Practical General Biology I | 1 | ZOO 102 | Introduction to Zoology | 2 |
| ICH 101 | Basic Organic Chemistry | 2 | ICH 102 | Basic Physical Chemistry | 2 |
| ICH 111 | Basic Inorganic Chemistry | 2 | ICH 112 | Basic Practical Chemistry | 1 |
| CSC 101 | Introduction to Computer Programming I | 2 | CSC 102 | Introduction to Computer Programming II | 2 |
| Total | 25 | Total | 23 | ||
Professional Year 2 (200-LEVEL)
| First Semester | Second Semester | ||||
| COURSE | COURSE TITLE | Unit | COURSE | COURSE TITLE | Unit |
| *PHM 201 | Pharmaceutical Quality System I | 2 | PHM 204 | Use of Library, Study Skills and ICT | 1 |
| PCL 209 | Introduction to the Pharmacy Profession | 1 | PHM 206 | Introduction to Statistics | 2 |
| PTE 203 | Pharmaceutical Calculations | 2 | ENT 200 | Entrepreneurship Education and New Venture Creation | 0 |
| PMB 205 | Introduction to Biochemistry | 2 | PMB 202 | Introductory Molecular Biology | 2 |
| PMB 207 | Practical Biochemistry | 1 | PMB 208 | Practical Introductory Molecular Biology | 1 |
| PMB 281 | Introductory Pharmaceutical
Microbiology |
2 | PCO 212 | Human Genetic Anatomy/Histology | 2 |
| PMB 283 | Practical Pharmaceutical Microbiology | 1 | PCO 214 | Neurophysiology and Special Senses | 2 |
| PCG 221 | Introductory Pharmacognosy and Unorganized Crude Drugs | 2 | PCO 216 | General Practical Human Physiology (Lab) | 1 |
| PCO 211 | Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II | 2 | PMC 232 | Physical Pharmaceutical Chemistry | 2 |
| PCO 213 | Introduction to Physiology I | 2 | PMC 234 | Practical Physical and Inorganic Pharmaceutical Chemistry | 1 |
| PCO 215 | General Principles of Physiology | 2 | PCG 222 | Special Classes of Natural Products | 2 |
| PCO 217 | Practical Human Anatomy and Histology (Lab) | 1 | PCG 224 | Practical Pharmacognosy | 1 |
| PMC 231 | Structural and Inorganic Pharmaceutical Chemistry | 2 | PTE 242 | Introduction to Pharmaceutics | 3 |
| CDS 301 | Introduction to Career Development, Values and Goals | 0 | PTE 244 | Practical Pharmaceutics (Dispensing) | 1 |
| CDS 302 | Introduction to Career Pursuit and Digital Entrepreneurship | 0 | |||
| Total | 22 | Total | 22 | ||
Professional Year 3 (300-LEVEL)
| First Semester | Second Semester | ||||
| COURSE | COURSE TITLE | Unit | COURSE | COURSE TITLE | Unit |
| *PHM 301 | Pharmaceutical Quality System II
|
3 | *PHM 302 | Pharmaceutical Quality System III
|
3 |
| *PCG 321 | Natural Products and Nigerian Medicinal Plants | 2 | PHM 304 | Integrated Pharmacotherapy of Nephrology (Renal), Pulmonology, and Ophthalmology
|
3
|
| PCG 323 | Practicals on Evaluation of Organized Crude Drugs | 1 | PMC 332 | Pharmaceutical Specifications and Standardization | 2 |
| PMC 331 | Organic Pharmaceutical Chemistry | 3 | PMC 336 | Drug Syntheses | 2 |
| PTE 341 | Physical Pharmaceutics and Rheology | 3 | PTE 342 | Unit Operations in Pharmacy | 2 |
| PTE 343 | Practical Physical Pharmaceutics and Rheology | 1 | PTE 344 | Practical Unit Operations in Pharmacy | 1 |
| PCO 351 | General Principles of Pharmacology | 2 | PTE 346 | Cosmetic Science and Technology | 1 |
| PCO 353 | General Pharmacology | 2 | PCL 362 | Pharmacokinetics | 2 |
| PCL 361 | Drug Information, Literature Evaluation, and Patient Communication Skills | 1 | PMC 334 | Practical Pharmaceutical Qualitative Analysis | 1 |
| PCL 363 | Introduction to Clinical Pharmacy: Direct Patient Care I (Patient Counseling/Skills vs Abilities Lab, including common drugs from pharmacology courses) | 2 | PCO 354 | Practical Pharmacology I | 1 |
| PCL 371 | Pharmacy Administration: Entrepreneurial and Leadership Skills | 2 | PMB 382 | Bioinformatics, Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics | 3 |
| PMB 383 | Practical Antimicrobial Agents Evaluation | 1 | PMB 384 | Practical Sterile Products Technology | 1 |
| PHM 373 | Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience [IPPE] (1 unit) | 1 | CDS 402 | Career Action Plan, Career Management and Business Financing | 0 |
| CDS 401 | Ideation for Business Set Up, and Career Readiness | 0 | |||
| Total | 24 | Total | 22 | ||
Professional Year 4 (400-LEVEL)
| First Semester | Second Semester | ||||
| COURSE | COURSE TITLE | Unit | COURSE | COURSE TITLE | Unit |
| *PHM 401 | Integrated Pharmacotherapy of Bacterial Diseases | 2 | *PHM 402 | Pharmaceutical Quality System IV | 2 |
| *PHM 403 | Integrated Pharmacotherapy of Cardiology
|
2 | *PHM 404 | Integrated Pharmacotherapy of Protozoan Diseases | 2 |
| PHM 405 | Integrated Pharmacotherapy of GI, GE/Hepatology, Nutrition | 2 | *PHM 406 | Integrated Pharmacotherapy of Endocrine system | 2 |
| PCG 421 | Phytochemistry of Secondary Plant Metabolites | 2 | *PHM 408 | Biostatistics and Research
Methodology |
2 |
| PTE 441 | Advanced Dispensing | 2 | PMC 432 | Medicinal Chemistry | 2 |
| PTE 443 | Advanced Practical Dispensing | 1 | PTE 442 | Tablet and Capsule Technology | 2 |
| PMC 431 | Instrumental Methods in Pharmaceutical Analysis | 2 | PTE 444 | Dosage Form Evaluation and Drug Stability | 2 |
| PMC 433 | Practical Pharmaceutical Analysis | 1 | PTE 446 | Practical Tablet and Capsule Technology | 1 |
| PMC 435 | Practical Drug Synthesis | 1 | PCL 462 | Integrated Pharmacotherapy of Neurologic and Psychiatric disorders | 2 |
| PMB 481 | Introduction to Pharmaceutical Biotechnology | 2 | PCL 464 | Public Health Pharmacy and Pharmacoepidemiology | 2 |
| PMB 483 | Practical Introductory Pharmaceutical Biotechnology | 1 | PCL 466 | Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE)/Clinical Pharmacy Clerkship II | 1 |
| PCL 413 | Pathology for Pharmacy Students | 2 | PCL 472 | Pharmacy Ethics and Jurisprudence | 2 |
| PCL 465 | Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE)/Clinical Pharmacy Clerkship I | 1 | PCG 422 | Practical Phytoevaluation/Phytoanalysis | 1 |
| PHM 407 | Integrated Pharmacotherapy of Immunologic and Rheumatic Disorders and Vaccinology | 2 | PMB 484 | Practical Immunology and Vaccinology | 1 |
| PHM 471 | SIWES I | 1 | |||
| Longitudinal Courses:
Skills Lab; 2. Pharmacy Administration; 3. Drug Information |
|||||
| Total | 24 | Total | 24 | ||
Professional Year 5 (500-LEVEL)
| First Semester | Second Semester | ||||
| COURSE | COURSE TITLE | Unit | COURSE | COURSE TITLE | Unit |
| *PHM 501 | Pharmaceutical Quality System V | 3 | *PHM 502 | Integrated Pharmacotherapy of Hematology and Oncology | 2 |
| *PHM 503 | Integrated Pharmacotherapy of Fungal and Viral Diseases | 2 | PMC 532 | Drug Design and Development | 2 |
| *PHM 505 | Integrated Pharmacotherapy of Endocrinology
|
2 | PTE 542 | Industrial set-up and Formulation
Processes |
2 |
| PCG 521 | Alternative Medicines and Biosynthetic Pathways | 2 | PCO 552 | Veterinary Pharmacy and Agrochemicals | 1 |
| PTE 541 | Novel Drug Delivery Systems | 2 | PCO 554 | Clinical and Environmental Toxicology | 1 |
| PCO 551 | Screening Methods in Pharmacology | 2 | PMB 582 | Fermentation Biotechnology | 2 |
| PCL 561 | Pharmacoeconomics | 1 | PCL 562 |
Pharmacotherapy of Rheumatologic Diseases: polyarthritis rheumatic, gout, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis |
2 |
| PCL 563 | Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE)/Clinical Pharmacy Clerkship III | 4 | PCL 564 | Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE)/Clinical Pharmacy Clerkship IV | 4 |
| PHM 571 | SIWES II | 1 | PHM 592 | Project | 6 |
| Longitudinal Courses:
Skills Lab; 2. Pharmacy Administration; 3. Drug Information (Principles of Pharmacotherapy |
|||||
| Total | 19 | Total | 22 | ||
Professional Year 6 (600-LEVEL)
| First Semester | Second Semester | ||||
| COURSE | COURSE TITLE | Unit | COURSE | COURSE TITLE | Unit |
| *PHM 601 | Pharmaceutical Quality System VI | 1 | *PHM 602 | Radio Pharmaceuticals | 2 |
| PCL 661 | Drug Information, Literature Evaluation and Patient Communication Skills II | 2 | PCL 662 | Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Clinical Safety Evaluations | 2 |
| PCL 665 | Clinical Pharmacy Clerkship III | 6 | PCL 668 | Clinical Pharmacy Clerkship IV | 6 |
| PHM 671 | Acute Care (APPE) | 2 | PMB 682 | Clinical Vaccinology and Immunoinformatics | 2 |
| PHM 673 | Infectious Diseases (APPE) | 2 | PHM 672 | Ambulatory Care (APPE) | 2 |
| PHM 675 | Oncology (APPE) | 2 | PHM 674 | Psychiatry (APPE) | 2 |
| PHM 677 | Emergency Care (APPE) | 2 | PHM 676 | Pediatric Care (APPE) | 2 |
| PHM 679 | Intensive Care Unit (APPE) | 2 | PHM 678 | Academia/Teaching (APPE) | 2 |
| APPE: Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience
IPPE: Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience |
|||||
| Total | 19 | Total | 20 | ||
*Team-based and across Departments Courses
*Note – Exam questions for the team-taught courses will be based on the percentage of the course contents from each lecturer that make up each of the team-taught courses.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Academic Year, Semester, and Credit Load
A two-semester year (first and second semester) shall be used by the Faculty. Not less than 12 weeks shall be devoted to actual teaching in each semester. A total of 249 credits should be acquired by the student to obtain the PharmD degree. A minimum credit load of fifteen (15) units and a maximum credit load of twenty-four (24) units shall normally be held in each semester by the student. Repeat students shall re-register the courses failed and other courses as approved by the academic adviser up to a minimum of fifteen (15) credit units.
Pharmacy Practice Experience and SIWES
Pharmacy Practice Experience is a supervised work-experience exercise to be undertaken over a minimum period of one month at the end of 200 and 500 levels. The student will undertake the Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) at the end of 200 level. The Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) will be undertaken at the end of 500 level.
SIWES is a supervised work-experience exercise to be undertaken over a 3-month period at the end of 300 and 400 levels.
Both the PPE and SIWES will be done during the long vacations. Students will be attached to Pharmaceutical establishments including drug manufacturing industries, hospital pharmacies, community pharmacies, etc. The objective is to expose students to pharmacy practice in an actual work – related environment. Each student keeps a record of his/her training and experience during the programme in a logbook and is visited for supervisory purposes by an academic staff from the Faculty. In addition, an experienced pharmacist located in the pharmaceutical establishment (Practitioner Preceptor) to which the student is attached provides day-to-day supervision. A duly completed and signed logbook would be submitted at the beginning of a new session to the students’ academic Advisers through the Faculty’s PPE/SIWES Coordinator for grading.
Internship Programme
Upon graduation, pharmacists are required to participate in a one-year uninterrupted internship training programme in a recognized internship center, as provided by the Pharmacists’ Council of Nigeria (PCN). Some of the objectives of the pre-registration internship experience are:
(i) To provide the pharmacy graduate experience gathered from practical application of the knowledge and skill acquired during the undergraduate programme.
(ii) To develop the ability of the graduate to communicate clearly with members of the public and with members of allied health professions.
(iii) To initiate a career in pharmacy practice with a willingness to make professional decisions within current competence and to provide opportunity to recognize the need for self-motivated continual professional development
(iv) To give the graduate an appreciation of the need for continual study throughout the professional career.
Preregistration Examination Programme (PEP)
A mandatory pre-registration examination programme organized by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria has commenced in 2017. Graduands are required to pass the PEP to be fully licensed to practice in Nigeria.