Pharmacists of the Future

Cardiovascular disease (including heart attacks and stroke) is the world's biggest killer.
The good news? WE CAN reduce the risk through:
-Protecting people from to***co smoke
-Healthy diets
-Physical activity
-Avoiding harmful use of alcohol
Let's !

Cardiovascular disease (including heart attacks and strokes) is the world's biggest killer, claiming over 17.5 million lives every year. The WHO and CDC Global new Global Hearts initiative can save millions of lives. It's about prevention and control.
Together we can !

Malnutrition affects all regions worldwide. We need to fix the food systems that propel nutrition extremes.

Every six seconds someone in the world dies as a result of an injury.
Among the causes of injury are acts of violence against others or oneself, road traffic crashes, burns, drowning, falls, and poisonings

September 21st is World Alzheimer's Day. Did you know dementia is the collective name for progressive degenerative brain syndromes which affect memory, thinking, behavior and emotion?

Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia are the most common types of dementia, responsible for up to 90% of cases of dementia.

Today is International Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Day (FAS) . What is FAS? ^eN4

Antibiotic resistance. How it spreads.

Clinical pharmacy

The School of Pharmacy offers you the finest clinical pharmacy training which is incorporated into your curriculum. This training is aimed at helping you understand the various diseases and how to recognize them as well as how to treat them. It will improve your problem solving through structured medical cases. The course is presented by lecturers with much practical experience and is co-ordinated by Dr. Renier Coetzee who obtained his Pharm D degree and also was the founder of the exchange programme between UWC School of Pharmacy and the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy.

The University of Western Cape’s school of pharmacy is in constant liaison with pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson and Johnson, Aspen and Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) as well as corporate pharmacies such as Clicks. As a result, these companies come to our campus and offer open days which allow our students to meet and mingle with company reps, these interactions could help inform a student of possible bursary or job opportunities. In our third year of pharmacy, students are taken to a pharmaceutical manufacturing site which allows students to see first-hand the different roles pharmacists play in manufacturing. The pharmaceutics department also organises a trip where students are allowed to shadow companies like Johnson and Johnson for a week. This can be really useful for students who are interested in pursuing a career in industry.

Did you know??

The UWC School of Pharmacy is the only school that has introduced the SLiP program from first year level.

The Service Learning in Pharmacy program is a division of the pharmacy practice module that is aimed at providing you with hands on training and community experience. It links academic study with practical work experience in the communities and allows you to interact with many different health care professionals such as doctors, nurses, etc.
This experience is introduced from 1st year and you will visit schools, clinics and hospitals. UWC School of Pharmacy is the only pharmacy school to offer this experience from 1st year as we believe it deeply enriches our students to become the best possible pharmacists.

WHY STUDY PHARMACY?

Pharmacy is a fantastic profession that is in great demand and in very short supply in South Africa. It is a very challenging but also a very satisfying profession and also allows for a lot of variety as there are many different directions you can take from hospital pharmacy, retail, developing new drugs to even working for medical aids.

With pharmacy you have the opportunity to help so many people and greatly improve their lives. You will become the custodians of medicine and not merely a shopkeeper.
If you are committed to helping others, enjoy a challenge and are looking for a career that you will never be bored with then pharmacy is the profession for you.

The University of the Western Cape's School of Pharmacy is the only provider of pharmacy education in the Western Cape.

The mission of our faculty is to produce pharmacy graduates and pharmaceutical scientists that are able to respond to the health care as well as pharmaceutical needs of society.
The school also works closely with local health care providers to give students all the skills needed to become a successful pharmacist and contribute to the health care needs of the community.

The vision of our school is to be a premier provider of pharmacy education in our country and to leave a global footprint in the pharmaceutical sciences field.

The School of Pharmacy at the University of the Western Cape consists of 4 key disciplines:

Pharmaceutical Chemistry:
The so called "chemistry" of medicine. This discipline focuses on finding and optimizing new compounds for use as future medications. It also includes understanding how drugs work at a molecular level as well as the chemistry of natural products.

Pharmaceutics:
It is the science of the development, formulation, manufacture and packaging of medications as well as other healthcare products.

Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacy:
Pharmacology is the science which is concerned with the actions of medicines in the body as well as the fate of the medicines in the body. Clinical Pharmacy is concerned with the application of Pharmacology to be able to achieve favourable therapeutic outcomes and is specifically aimed at patient care.

Pharmacy Practice:
It focuses on developing professional qualities of future pharmacists to equip them with the knowledge to be able to practice safely and effectively as pharmacists.