Pharmacy Degree Structure

CURRICULUM

The Bachelor of Pharmacy curriculum is currently under revision and a new curriculum will be introduced in about 2013. In this event, entrance requirements and course descriptions may change.

The Bachelor of Pharmacy degree at Rhodes University is a 4 year programme. The Curriculum for this degree is laid down by the South African Pharmacy Council and all students must pass all courses of this prescribed curriculum to be awarded the degree in Pharmacy. Whilst the general curriculum is prescribed, each of the universities that offer pharmacy, have different emphases, thus making transfers between different Schools or Faculties of Pharmacy in South Africa difficult. At Rhodes University, candidates for the Bachelor of Pharmacy degree must complete a first year, taught by the cognate departments of the University. Students start the professional training toward their pharmacy degree at the commencement of their second year. In the final year students are permitted to select two electives or may undertake a research project in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Pharmacy degree.

The specific subjects for each year of the Bachelor of Pharmacy degree are listed below:

**Elective courses may include topics such as Drug Regulation, Counselling, isiXhosa for Pharmacy students, Nutrition, and Ageing.

The following is a brief description of the courses in the professional years of the BPharm Degree:

Anatomy and Physiology: A study of the functional anatomy and physiology of humans.

Pharmaceutical Biochemistry: A study of the important molecules found in living organisms.

Pharmaceutics: A three-year course covering basic pharmaceutical principles and their application to the formulation, production and assessment of medicinal products, microbiology and sterility.

Pharmaceutical Chemistry: A three-year course covering the study of the purity and chemical properties of various materials and formulations used in the practice of pharmacy.

Pharmacy Administration and Practice: A three-year programme, which examines Pharmaceutical Care and the role of the pharmacist; various aspects of management including performance management, organizational management, managing pharmaceutical supply; understanding and influencing behaviour; Primary Health Care; legal and psychosocial principles and their application in providing safe and effective medicine use by pharmacists and patients.

Pharmacology: A two-year study of the interaction between medicaments and cells of the human body; disease states and medicinal therapy used to relieve these; the toxic effects of household agents, medicines and street drugs.