Pharmacy

• The science of medication
• Theoretical and practical training
• Simulated professional interactionsin a pharmacy
• Various masters : research and specialisation
• Prerequisites and career opportunities

The science of medication

Pharmacy is one of the fundamental branches of the healing arts. It strives to know everything about drugs, from the point of view of their preparation through to their biological action. Pharmaceutical studies must therefore provide a wide and diverse training. It must cover the following points in particular :

-    the extraction of natural products of the creation of drugs, as well as the methods of      determining the structure of new molecules -    drug conformity to all quality regulations  -    the format of drugs intended for patients (tablets, creams, injections...) in terms of the best      method of administration. This format must guarantee that drugs last well and their      absorption into the body produces the best effect -    the activity of drugs on the organism and more particularly on a diseased organism -    the toxicity of drugs and their side effects. The pharmacist has to comply with a complex      body of legislation in temrs of dispensation, control of limited doses and plays a role as a      health advisor. Pharmacists are responsible at all levels of the manufacture and control of the final product as well as the delivery of drugs whether o not these are conditional upon a medical prescription.

Theoretical and practical training¹

In general terms, teaching on pharmacy is organised both :

-    vertically : based on the drug and methodological approaches to pharmaceuticals (pharmaceutical chemistry,
     pharmacognosy, pharmaceutical technology...)
-    horizontally : based on the patient and the disease; four modules corresponding to the main systems are taught on the
     basis of the pathology (biochemistry, physiology...), clinical and medicinal concepts.

The following modules are planned :

-    heart-lung module
-    infectiology / immunology / oncology module
-    nervous system / locomotive system : endocrinology module
-    gastroenterology / nephro-urinary / gynaecology module

Teaching is conducted through theoretical courses, practical work and small group seminars (PBL, RCP)².
There has been a reduction in the number of theory courses in favour of these seminars.

Finally, within the context of the Masters, a considerable period (more than 40 credits) is devoted to placements.

^{(1) _{See also here for the bachelor}
(2)_{PBL : problem based learning, RCP : resolution of complex problems. More information can be found here.}}

Simulated professional interactions in a pharmacy 

During the last year of the master programme in pharmaceutical sciences, students sit a rather special exam: over the course of a dozen 7-minute exams with actual chemists, their ability to provide advice will be evaluated. This allows to test the skills that were developed during their internship in a similar context to real-world situations.

In practice, students face professional chemists who role-play patients, and simulate frequent professional situations. They go to each exam booth in turn, with a 7-minute time limit; this is a similar duration as an average visit to the pharmacy. This allows students to call upon the knowledge acquired during their studies, while also applying the communication and decision-making skills that are vital to the profession.

Much attention is devoted to teaching methods and tools. The simulated patient cases are written by the department of pharmacy’s pedagogical team, then read and tested by professional chemists before being sent to the examiners 10 days before the exam. These cases include the patient's characteristics, the lines to be read during role-play, the evaluation criteria including the expected responses, and so on; depending on the situation, the student may have some tools available (fictious prescriptions, medicine, medical equipment, flyers, etc.). During each interaction, students are evaluated by a second chemist observing the situation (peer evaluation). Finally, a collective feedback session allows students to know how they were expected to respond to each case, and to rid themselves of common misconceptions.

Despite a rather involved organisation (40 volunteers, scheduling restrictions, teaching materials…) and undeniable stress for the students, this method of evaluation is especially beneficial to them: it is quick, objective, it tests many different skills, and is close to a real-world context.

This type of evaluation, called ECOS (« Évaluation clinique objective et structurée ») has been used in the ULg’s institute of Pharmacy for five years, and fits in the context of problem-based learning, an innovating teaching method that has been developed by the ULg’s Faculty of Medicine for the past several years.

• Various masters : research and specialisation
• Prerequisites and career opportunities

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