OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the programme are primarily to help students understand the specific subject areas within the discipline. These include Pharmaceutics (the formulation, quality control, standardization and design of dosage forms, etc), compounding (the preparation of medicines), Pharmaceutical Microbiology & Biotechnology (the prevention and elimination of micro-organisms that are deleterious to humans, animals and pharmaceutical products), Dispensing (the supply of medicines to patients), Pharmacy Practice (the distribution, sale of safe and efficient drugs, control of drug products and counseling of patients and prescribers on the rational use of drugs). The outlined subjects are designed to increase literary ability, intellectual and professional competencies needed for satisfactory job positions in the following areas:

  1. Drug Research, Development and Production in Industry
  2. Research and Development in Research Institutes
  3. Teaching and Research in Tertiary Educational Institutions
  4. Food and Drug Regulatory Agencies
  5. Hospitals

PHILOSOPHY

The concept of pharmaceutics as applied in the specialty of Pharmacy encompasses a broad spectrum of inter-related subject areas. It is generally regarded as the core discipline in Pharmacy, covering the well-defined and articulated stages to which a drug is subjected in the process of its development into dosage forms, and delivery to consumers. The process of drug development may commence from its extraction from a natural source or its synthesis in the laboratory, its isolation and purification, and progresses to the testing for beneficial pharmacodynamic effects as well as the presence or absence of any form of serious toxicological properties. The detailed elucidation of the various aspects of drug design and development is the principle upon which this postgraduate programme is formulated. Each aspect is, therefore, to be explored in great enough detail to enable the student to be equipped for both literary and practical research at an advanced scale in any chosen pharmaceutical topic.