DEAN’S WELCOME MESSAGE
I am pleased to welcome you to the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. The undergraduate pharmacy program commenced in 1970 in the then Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, which was part of Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of the University of Benin. In December 1975 it became a School in the College of Medical Sciences. The Senate of the University upgraded the School into a Faculty in October 1981 but it was reverted to the status of a School in October 1988. In October 1991, Faculty status was once again restored as a result of the Collegiate System whereby related disciplines in the University were grouped into Colleges on the advice of the National Universities Commission (NUC). The Faculty thus became part of the College of Health Sciences, as the new College was then called. In December 1993, the Collegiate System of the University was scrapped and consequently, the Faculty of Pharmacy emerged as an independent Faculty.
Currently, the Faculty comprises the following Departments which only award Master’s and Doctorate degrees at postgraduate level but contribute towards the entry to practice undergraduate degree:
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy & Pharmacy Practice
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
- Department of Pharmaceutics & Pharmaceutical Technology
- Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology
- Department of Pharmacognosy
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
The Faculty started with a five-year program leading to the award of Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) degree and pioneered the six-year Doctor of Pharmacy degree and three-year Doctor of Pharmacy (Conversion) Program for pharmacists in 2000/2001. As part of the collaboration among the University of Benin, Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, and Nigerian Association of Pharmacists & Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA), the Faculty of Pharmacy was the only centre for the Special Doctor of Pharmacy Degree Program towards capacity building for pharmacy lecturers and preceptors; produced 171 and 244 PharmD graduates in 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 academic sessions respectively. The Faculty is also a Center for the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD), Foreign Pharmacy Graduates Orientation Program (FPGOP), and Pre-registration Examination for Pharmacists (PEP).
In addition to high quality pharmaceutical education and training, the Faculty has capabilities in pharmaceutical care & outcomes research, microbial, pharmacological & toxicological screening of medicinal plants and products, production and quality assurance of pharmaceuticals, raw materials, food, water and metabolomics among others. Currently, the Faculty hosts the following journals: Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, Tropical Journal of Natural Product Research, Journal of Science & Practice of Pharmacy, and Tropical Journal of Phytochemistry & Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Professor Azuka C Oparah
BPharm, MPharm, MBA, MPH, FPCPharm, PhD, FPSN, FIMC, FNAPharm
Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Nigeria
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