The Bachelor of Pharmacy* programme was developed based on the curriculum of other well-established international pharmacy programmes, as well as the international trends, and the local requirements and demands for pharmacist training. It is designed to produce graduates with a solid understanding of pharmacy and the ability to provide effective, humane and ethical pharmaceutical care.
* The programme has been granted accreditation by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Hong Kong. Students who have completed a full-time pharmacy degree and one additional year of internship are qualified as registered pharmacists in Hong Kong.
Our goal is to offer a world class professional degree programme which integrates both the local requirements of the pharmacy profession in Hong Kong and its future demands. Distinctive elements of the programme include the following:
Clinical pharmacy
Clinical pharmacy is the principal practice of pharmacists in developed countries. Our students are able to enjoy early clinical exposure at Queen Mary Hospital, the university’s teaching hospital with the largest team of clinical pharmacists in Hong Kong. In this setting, they will observe the inter-professional collaboration of pharmacists and clinicians in the wards and outpatient clinics. While training in a clinical setting, students are able to actively participate in drug treatments and learn to provide expert service for the safe, effective and rational use of drugs.
Community-based training
The biggest community pharmacy chain stores in Hong Kong are committed to training quality pharmacists and as part of this commitment they offer our students placement opportunities to help prepare them to provide expert service in the community.
Exposure to Chinese, complementary and alternative medicine
It is important for future pharmacists who practice in Hong Kong to have an understanding of Chinese Medicine as well as Complementary and Alternative Medicines. These include herbal medicines, nutraceuticals, health care products, cosmetics, and so on, which are often used in conjunction with Western medicines. The School of Chinese Medicine at HKUMed provides the instruction of Chinese Medicine within the programme.
Patient counseling and communication skills
Enhancing our students’ ability to provide primary health care services, including patient education, is a key outcome of the programme. In order to achieve this we offer our students a variety of opportunities to develop their patient counseling and communication skills.
Training in industrial pharmacy
There is an increasing demand for professional pharmacy service in local industry. Our students have the opportunity to learn more about this subspecialty through lessons on a wide spectrum of subjects, delivered by experts with extensive work experience in the industry.
New learning approaches
Diversified “fit-for-purpose” teaching pedagogies have been adopted to demonstrate specific features of the curriculum. The problem-based learning approach has been adopted to encourage interdisciplinary inquiry, foster life-long learning skills, and provide students with opportunities for capstone experience and experiential learning (e.g. final year project and clinical attachment)
Curriculum Structure
Themes |
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Year 3 |
Year 4 |
Life and Medical Sciences |
Anatomy |
Physiology & Pathophysiology II |
Medical Genetics* |
|
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science |
Pharmacy Practice I |
Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacy I |
Dosage Form Design |
Industrial Drug Development |
Clinical Pharmacy |
Pharmacy Practice I |
Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacy I |
Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacy III |
Pharmacy Practice III |
Community-based Pharmacy |
Pharmacy Practice I |
Pharmacy Practice II |
Pharmacy Practice III |
|
Industrial Pharmacy |
Physicochemical Principles of Pharmacy |
Dosage Form Design |
Industrial Drug Development |
|
CAM & Alternative Medicine |
Principles of Pharmacognosy, Herbal Medicines & Nutraceuticals |
Chinese Medicine for Pharmacy Students* |
Contact for further queries or information
Email: bpharm@hku.hk
Phone: (852) 2819 9460 / (852) 2819 9463
Website: www.pharma.hku.hk
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