The University of Otago, Division of Health Sciences, and the School of Pharmacy

The Division of Health Sciences is one of the four teaching Divisions in the University, the others being Commerce, Humanities and Science (including Physical Education, Human Nutrition and Consumer & Applied Sciences). More information on the constitution of the various Divisions can be found on the University website www.otago.ac.nz.

The Division of Sciences has Departments of Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Human Nutrition, Consumer & Applied Sciences.

The Division of Health Sciences consists of the School/Faculty of Dentistry, School of Pharmacy, School of Physiotherapy, Otago School of Medical Sciences, Dunedin School of Medicine and the Christchurch and Wellington Schools of Medicine & Health Sciences. The Deans of these seven Schools report to the Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Health Sciences). The staff of the Otago School of Medical Sciences, the Dunedin School of Medicine and the Christchurch and Wellington Schools of Medicine make up the Faculty of Medicine. The School of Pharmacy is located adjacent to the 550 bed Dunedin Hospital. In addition to the collaborative opportunities with clinical staff, the Otago School of Medical Sciences comprises Departments of Biochemistry, Microbiology, Anatomy & Structural Biology, Pharmacology & Toxicology and Physiology. There are strong research programmes in each of these biomedical science departments which provide additional opportunities for collaborative research with the pharmaceutical sciences.

The University of Otago was the first institution in New Zealand to provide University-based Pharmacy education, initially, from 1963, through the Department of Pharmacy, and then, from 1991, the School of Pharmacy.

 

Pharmacy Education at the University of Otago

The School of Pharmacy offers a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree programme, which leads to the registrable qualification for Pharmacy Practice. The four-year programme has an annual intake of 120 students comprising New Zealand entrants, Government sponsored Pacific Island entrants and a small number of privately sponsored overseas candidates. Bachelor of Pharmacy graduates must complete a one-year structured pre-registration practical training programme under the auspices of the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand prior to registration as pharmacists. Graduates find employment in community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, medical publishing and, to a limited degree, in pharmaceutical industry.

Students seeking to enter the Pharmacy degree programme are selected mainly on the basis of their performance in the common Health Sciences first year course but also from other categories of applicants, such as graduates of New Zealand and overseas universities. In the common Health Sciences first year, students study Biochemistry, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Epidemiology and English communication. Further information on the undergraduate programme can be found at our website http://pharmacy.otago.ac.nz.

In the first three semesters of the professional years (years two, three and four) of the Bachelor of Pharmacy programme, the students attend lectures, tutorials, small group workshops and practical laboratory sessions in the underpinning disciplines, including; Pharmacy Practice, Physical Pharmacy, Biopharmaceutical Chemistry, Physiology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Pathology, Pharmacokinetics and drug delivery. In the final three semesters the students study the Quality Use of Medicines through integrated systems-based learning. Material is delivered by lectures, tutorials, small group workshops and some laboratory sessions, combined with self-directed learning, through which students develop problem-solving and life-long learning skills.

Pharmacy Practice, comprising Sociology, Health Beliefs, New Zealand Health Care Systems, Law, Ethics, some Management, Drug Information Systems, Dispensing, Pharmaceutical Care, is taught throughout the three professional years of the programme. Limited periods are spent off campus in community pharmacies, hospitals and in general practitioners surgeries. Details of the current curriculum can be found in the University of Otago Calendar 2003. The curriculum has a balance of Science, practice and clinical components.

The School of Pharmacy also provides postgraduate professional programmes: Postgraduate Certificates in Pharmacy (endorsed in Medicines Management, Herbal Medicines, Sports Pharmacy), Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy, and a Master of Clinical Pharmacy. These programmes are undertaken part-time by practising pharmacists who are located at various towns and cities throughout New Zealand. Instruction is via audio-conferencing, increasingly through the Internet, and through face-to-face contact at course workshops. The School has active postgraduate research programmes offering both Master of Pharmacy and PhD degrees. In addition, groups of postgraduate German students spend 6 months in the School of Pharmacy undertaking full-time research towards a Postgraduate Certificate in Pharmacy.

 

The School of Pharmacy

Academic staffing in the School of Pharmacy comprises three Professorships, eight Senior Lecturers, ten Lecturers, four Senior Teaching Fellows and one Teaching Fellow on the Dunedin campus. There are five administrative and eight technical staff. Further teaching is provided by part-time Clinical Lecturers located at sites about the country. In addition the School purchases access to hospital facilities in all major centres. Several of the staff are contracted to HealthCare Otago where they provide Clinical Pharmacy services and some of the practice staff work in community pharmacies. In addition there are Research Fellows and Assistant Research Fellows who are full-time research staff. Academic co-ordination and responsibility is achieved through the Dean of the School who is directly responsible to the Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Division of Health Sciences.

The School has an active research programme with internal postgraduate students studying for MPharm and PhD degrees. There is also a research dissertation in the Master of Clinical Pharmacy programme. Currently there are 17 effective full-time residential Masters and PhD students in addition to several of the lecturing staff who are studying for further postgraduate degrees. The University has designated Formulation and Drug Delivery a Research Theme. This theme involves collaborative research between researchers in the School of Pharmacy and other Departments of the University (e.g. Chemistry, Physiology, Microbiology, Dentistry) and Crown Research Institutes.

There is ongoing research in: social pharmacy, history of pharmacy, delivery of pharmaceutical services, clinical pharmacy, drug metabolism, pharmacogenomics, immunology, and natural products. Research funding is available through competitive grant applications to the Marsden Fund (basic research), NERF and Public Good Science Fund (applied research), Health Research Council, the New Zealand Pharmacy Education and Research Foundation, and various other bodies such as Lottery Health and foundations. In addition, some in the School haveattracted substantial grants from industry.

 

Accommodation

The School currently occupies about 2260 square meters on the fourth to eighth floors of the Adams Building on the medical campus. This building is shared with the Departments of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Preventive and Social Medicine and the National Poisons Centre. The Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring (CARM) is in an adjacent building and is responsible for adverse drug reactions reporting. The Adams Building is adjacent to the HealthCare Otago teaching hospital, the Medical School, the Dental School and the School of Physiotherapy. It is within easy walking distance of all Science Departments of the University.

The School has the following research facilities:

Research Laboratories (PC2 standard), general laboratory equipment, particle sizing facilities (PCS laser Diffraction), pharmaceutical technology equipment, microscopy (polarizing, hot stage), cell culture facilities, good computing facilities, an extensive number of HPLCs and researchers have access to shared equipment including electron microscopy (TEM, SEM), confocal microscopy, DSC, wide angle X-ray diffraction, LCMS, NMR and excellent animal house facilities.

In addition the School has good computing facilities, excellent library resources, and proximity to collaborators in General Practice Medicine, Preventive and Social Medicine and the National Poisons Centre. There is support from full-time statisticians. The School has good relationships with the profession for survey research.