The five-year, single cycle degree programme in Pharmacy aims principally to provide the scientific foundations required to exercise the profession of pharmacist, or to work in the healthcare field as apharmaceuticals and healthcare product experts (cosmetics, dietary and nutritional products, herbal remedies, medical-surgical products, sanitary items, etc.). The aim of the programme is also to train skilled professionals who are able to:
a) work as healthcare education officers, and to participate in institutional campaigns managed in cooperation with the local authorities in different health fields;
b) dispense drugs, competently providing information, instructions, warnings and advice to patients, monitoring both before and after their use;
c) play a crucial role in the connection between patient, doctor and the public health service.
Finally, graduates in Pharmacy will possess the knowledge and learning skills required to continue studies with in Pharmaceuticals specialisation schools, PhD and 2nd level Master's Degree programmes.
The learning outcomes of the degree programme comply with the provisions of national legislation and with EC directive 85/432/EEC and amendments. Pharmacists are authorised to exercise the following professional activities: procurement, preservation and dispensation of pharmaceuticals, galenical preparations, quality control, pharmacovigilance, healthcare promotion, health education, information concerning drugs and medical devices, monitoring and analysis of the consumption/costs of drugs and medical devices (hospital pharmacist), audits on narcotic drug management (hospital pharmacist), pharmacoepidemiology (hospital and community pharmacist). Among other activities, the community pharmacist collaborates in the monitoring of pharmaceutical expenditure, vigilance on distribution, direct distribution programming and the correct administrative management of pharmacies.
The learning outcomes of this degree programme have also taken into due consideration the new professional functions laid downat national and EU level and have been drawn up in consultation with social partners. Community pharmacist: integrated home care, basic medical tests and services, healthcare assistance, the appropriate use of medicines, continuity of drug dispensation in the case of repeat treatments, information and education in the correct use of drugs. Territorial pharmacist: drug information for healthcare workers and the population, development of pharmacovigilance,monitoring and management of experimental drugs.
To achieve the above learning outcomes, incompliance with Italian Ministerial Decree no. 270/2004, the Pharmacy curriculum is designed to provide students with progressive learning, starting from the basic subjects and following with specific subjects and an appropriate period of internship. In this way students follow a gradual and constant learning curve of multidisciplinary knowledge useful for the pharmacy profession.
The learning areas in the first two years cover:
1) basic physics, mathematics and chemistry;
2) basic biology;
In the next three year period, students continue with specialist training, in course units divided into the following Learning areas:
3) physiology and physiopathology;
4) pharmacology and toxicology;
4) chemistry-pharmaceutics;
5) technology, legislation and vocational subjects;
Completing the learning activities, students obtain at least 12 CFU in elective subjects, chosen from the selection suggested in the degree programme or others offered at the University in order to complete their practical and professional training.
Finally, the 2nd cycle degree programme offers students the possibility to apply the multi-disciplinary knowledge acquired in the programme through an internship (full time, lasting at least 6 months in a public pharmacy (community pharmacy) or a hospital (hospital pharmacy), with which special agreements have been signed, under the supervision of apharmacist-coordinator. At the end of the programme, students will produce and discuss an experimental, practical or compilatory dissertation for the final examination.
