Rhodes University - Faculty of Pharmacy

RULES FOR DEGREES AND DIPLOMAS (2003)

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Rhodes University Faculty of Pharmacy is dedicated to achieving excellence in an environment of interdisciplinary co-operation, and mutual respect, consistent with the mission of the University and with the mission of the profession of Pharmacy.

MISSION

The mission of the Faculty is to promote pharmaceutical care through education, research, scholarship, creative endeavour and service.

Thus its priorities are to:

* Prepare its students for entry into the practice of pharmacy as informed, caring, ethical and enlightened citizens and professionals;

* Prepare pharmaceutical scholars and researchers through professional, graduate and post-doctoral programmes of distinction;

* Conduct postgraduate education to advance the knowledge, expertise and competence of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists;

* Discover, analyse and apply knowledge about pharmaceutical products and services, and their use in society through basic and applied research and to advance, communicate and preserve that knowledge;

* Promote, facilitate and conduct educational programmes to extend the knowledge of drugs and the rational and cost-effective use of medicines.

The course for the BPharm degree is four years' duration. The degree meets the academic requirements laid down by the South African Pharmacy Council and entitles holders to apply for registration as a pharmacist after serving an internship and subsequently completing one year of community service in the public sector.

The University is prepared to consider the granting of credits to students who have obtained credits in such courses or equivalent courses at another university or institution recognised by the Senate for the purpose, subject to the provisions of Rule G.46 of the General Rules.

The number of places in second-year Pharmacy is limited. Preference will be given to students who have completed their first year at Rhodes University.

Performance in a course is assessed in terms of:
(a) the results of prescribed examinations; and/or
(b) assessment of such essays, exercises, tests, reports and practical work as may be prescribed for a course.

The registration in the Faculty of Pharmacy of any student who is convicted for the illegal use or possession of any drug or medicinal substance in a court of law (in any country) may be terminated by the Vice-Chancellor after consultation with the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy.

RULES FOR DEGREES

See the General Rules applicable to all Faculties. The following Rules apply to the Faculty of Pharmacy only.

Subject to any exceptions approved by the Senate, the last date for registration and change of course in the Faculty of Pharmacy shall be the end of the second week of the first term.

The following degrees may be awarded in the Faculty of Pharmacy:


Name                  To be denoted by the letters

Bachelor of Pharmacy          BPharm
Postgraduate Diploma in
Clinical Pharmacy             DipClinPharm(PG)
Master of Science             MSc(Pharm)
Master of Pharmacy            MPharm
Master of Clinical Pharmacy   MClinPharm
Doctor of Pharmacy            Pharm D
Doctor of Philosophy          PhD
Doctor of Science             DSc

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF PHARMACY

P.l
Candidates shall not be admitted to the degree unless they have attended approved courses for at least four years subsequent to their first registration as a matriculated student.

P.2
Candidates shall not be admitted to the courses for the degree of Bachelor of Pharmacy unless they have:
2.1 passed the Matriculation Examination of the Joint Matriculation Board, or obtained a certificate of exemption therefrom: and
2.2 normally obtained at least a D symbol in Mathematics on the Higher Grade at the Matriculation examination, or
2.2.1 a pass in Mathematics deemed to be the equivalent of the above, in another examination, and
2.2.2 a D symbol in Physical Science or Biology on the Higher Grade at the Matriculation examination, or
2.2.3 a B symbol in Physical Science or Biology on the Standard Grade, or
2.2.4 a pass in Physical Science or Biology deemed to be the equivalent of one of the above, in another examination.

NB Due to limited facilities the School reserves the right to limit the intake to the top 80 eligible students. Preference will be given to those students who have completed their first year in the Faculties of Pharmacy or Science at Rhodes University.

P.3
Candidates shall not be admitted to the degree of BPharm unless they have:
3.1 obtained credit in all courses of the following curriculum: (with the consent of the Board of the Faculty, courses may be taken in years other than those specified);
3.2 candidates who have obtained at least a C symbol in Computer Science on the Higher Grade at the Matriculation examination, or a pass in Computer Science deemed to be the equivalent of the above in another examination, may be permitted to take Computer Science 102(P) or Electronics 1E2 instead of Computer Science 101(L);
3.3 obtained credit in electives chosen, with the approval of the Dean of the Faculty, from the electives listed under Rule P.9 or other courses approved by the Senate for this purpose;
3.4 passed the examination in family planning.

BACHELOR OF PHARMACY CURRICULUM
Code

number
Course Title
Prerequisite (P) or

Corequisite (C)
First semester
Second semester
Total

credit

points
L
T
P
L
T
P
FIRST YEAR
Biology 101 See Departmental entries in Faculty of Science prospectus 4 1 1 3
Biology 102 5 1 3
Chemistry 101 4 1 1 3
Chemistry 102 4 1 1 3
Computer Science 101(L) 4 1 1 3
Mathematics 101 5 1 3
Physics 1E1 4 1 1 3
Statistics 1F 4 2 3
BACHELOR OF PHARMACY CURRICULUM (CONTINUED)
Code

number
Course Title
Prerequisite (P) or

Corequisite (C)
First semester
Second semester
Total

credit

points
L
T
P
L
T
P
SECOND YEAR
PC 210 Anatomy & Physiology Biology 101(P),
Biology 102(P), PC211(C)
4 .5 4 .5 4.5
PC 211 Pharmaceutical Biochem Biology 101(P),
Biology 102(P),
Chemistry 101(P),
Chemistry 102(P), PC220(C)
2 .5 2 .5 2.5
PC 220 Pharmaceutical Chem 2 Chemistry 101(P),
Chemistry 102(P), PC211(C)
4 1 1 4 1 1 6
PC 230 Pharmaceutics 2 Chemistry 101(P),
Chemistry 102(P), PC220(C)
4 .5 4 .5 4.5
PC 240 PharmAdmin&Practice2 2 .5 2 .5 2.5
THIRD YEAR
PC 321 Pharmaceutical Chem 3 PC220(P) 4 1 4 1 5
PC 331 Pharmaceutics 3 PC220(P) PC230(P) 5 .5 1 3 .5 1 5.5
PC 341 PharmAdmin&Practice3 PC240(P) 4 .5 3 .5 4
PC 350 Pharmacology 3 PC321(C) PC210(P) PC211(P) 6 .5 6 .5 6.5
FOURTH YEAR
PC 422 Pharmaceutical Chem 4 PC321(P) 2 2 2
PC 432 Pharmaceutics 4 PC331(P) PC350(P) 3 1 3 1 4
PC 442 PharmAdmin&Practice 4 PC341(P) PC451(C) 4 .5 1 4 .5 1 5.5
PC 451 Pharmacology 4 PC350(P) PC442(C) 6 1 5 1 6.5
Elective 2 2 2

P.4
4.1 Candidates may not take any courses from the second year of the BPharm or of the Faculty of Science curricula until they have obtained credit in at least Chemistry 101, Chemistry 102 (or CHE 1), Biology 101, Biology 102 (or BIO 1) and any two other semester courses listed in the first year curriculum.

4.2 Students repeating second-year courses with a total value exceeding six credit points will be denied entry into later courses. With the permission of the Dean, candidates carrying six or fewer credit points from their second year may be admitted to the appropriate third-year courses.

4.3 Students transferring from other universities may not normally take courses from the second year of the BPharm curriculum unless they have obtained credits in courses deemed to be equivalent to those listed in the first-year BPharm curriculum.

4.4 Normally, candidates will not be permitted to register for any course more than twice.

P.5
5.1 Before admission to a course, a candidate must have obtained credit in all the prerequisites for that course except as provided for in 5.2 below.

5.2 On the recommendation of the Dean, Senate may permit a candidate to repeat one prerequisite course concurrently with the courses for which it is designated a prerequisite provided that
5.2.1 credit has been obtained in all other prerequisite courses, and that
5.2.2 such permission will not be granted in respect of courses which themselves lead to more advanced courses in the same subject area.

5.3 Credit in a course will be conditional on obtaining a pass in its prerequisite courses.

P.6
Pharmacy Administration and Practice 4 may be taken only in the year in which a candidate is in a position to complete all the requirements for the degree.

P.7
Candidates in other than the first academic year may, at the Dean's discretion, be granted a supplementary examination in one of the courses for which they are registered, provided that:
7.1 they are taking the full complement of courses for that year;
7.2 they have failed no other courses in that year;
7.3 they have no examination outstanding for that year of study.

P.8
8.1 Courses in the Faculty of Pharmacy are measured in terms of credit points, one lecture (or tutorial) period or one laboratory period per week over a full academic year being counted as one credit point.

8.2 Candidates must have the permission of the Dean to undertake a work-load exceeding 21 credit points in the second, third and fourth years.

8.3 Candidates may not undertake a work-load exceeding 24.5 credit points.

8.4 For the purpose of General Rule G.46.2, credit in courses to a total of 43 credit points must be obtained at the University towards the degree.

P.9
The degree certificate of a candidate who passes with an average of not less than 3,0 merit marks per credit point in all courses of the second year and subsequent years shall be endorsed "with distinction". Merit marks are awarded in respect of each course on the basis of the credit points of the course multiplied by the numerical value of the class as follows:

   Class                 Numerical value

     I                         4
    II (Div.1)                 3
    II (Div.2)                 2
   III                         1

P.10
The following may be taken as electives with permission of the Dean:

PC 428 Pharmaceutical Research Techniques
PC 436 Bioavailability and Bioequivalence
PC 437 Dermatopharmacy
PC 445 Pharmaceutical Care
PC 446 Drug Information
PC 447 Counselling
PC 455 Toxicology
PC 459 Dermatology
PC 460 Nutrition
PC 461 Ageing
PC 462 Paediatric Pharmacy
PC 470 Special Elective
PC 490 Special Project

P.11
The Calendar for the year in which students enter the second-year programme will govern their curriculum for the BPharm degree.

DEGREES OF MASTER OF SCIENCE AND MASTER OF PHARMACY

See General Rules and entry under Master's Degrees, Faculty of Pharmacy, in the Academic Departments section of the Calendar.

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY AND DOCTOR OF SCIENCE

See General Rules.

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