HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences (SOPH) was established in July 2007 following the demand and consultation of different stakeholders both within and outside Tanzania.

VISION
The vision of the School and the entire University has been “To be a centre of excellence for developing humankind holistically to learn to serve”.

MISSION
The mission of the School has been to assume responsibility for providing and maintaining high quality education and training in pharmacy.

PROGRAMMES OFFERED

• Bachelor Degree in Pharmacy
• Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Certificate in Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Basic Certificate in Pharmaceutical Sciences

DEGREE PROGRAMME
The School offers the degree of Bachelor of Pharmacy (B. Pharm)
Duration of the Bachelor of Pharmacy Degree Programme
The training consists of a four-year course leading to a classified Bachelor of Pharmacy degree, followed by one year of internship at any approved Hospital Pharmacy and/or Pharmaceutical Industry/Regulatory authority following which candidates must do a professional examination before being declared as Pharmacists.

NON-DEGREE PROGRAMMES
The training consists of a one-year to three-year course leading to classified Medicine Dispenser, Pharmaceutical Assistant and Pharmaceutical Technician respectively; following which each group must do a professional examination before being declared as either a Medicine Dispenser, Pharmaceutical Assistant or Pharmaceutical Technician.
Due to the acute shortage of pharmaceutical staff in the country the program offered at SOPH has had the following strategic elements:
The program is broad-based, aiming at producing Pharmacists, Pharmaceutical Technicians, Pharmaceutical Assistants and Medicine Dispensers who can be employed in any area of practice ranging from community, hospital, industry, academic or regulatory setting.
As guided by the University’s mission the program aims to give more young people the opportunity of higher education by extending accessibility aspects (Medicine Dispenser to a Graduate i.e. a Pharmacist—i.e. kind of ladder system; and
The program addresses the need to inculcate an attitude of independence and entrepreneurship so that the student is not overly dependent on employment after graduation.

OBJECTIVES
Main Objective
To produce pharmacists, Pharmaceutical Technicians, Pharmaceutical Assistants and Medicine Dispensers who have acquired excellent academic background in the art and science of pharmacy and who are capable of interpreting and applying knowledge in order to meet the pharmaceutical requirements and standards in the country.

PROGRAM SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

• To impart appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes relevant to pharmacy practice in relation to preventive and curative health care services in the community;
• To steer creativity and innovativeness in response to challenges inherent in pharmacy practice and health care delivery;
• To promote a good sense of citizenship, accountability and responsibility to Pharmacy graduates;
• To stimulate life-long learning behaviour for pharmaceutical personnel and advancement of pharmacy profession in general.
• To impart the knowledge and skills in pharmaceutical management, logistics and supply chain logistics.
• To produce pharmacists, Pharmaceutical Technicians, Pharmaceutical Assistants and Medicine Dispensers who have the ability to work methodically, carefully and accurately in:

- Pharmaceutical Industry
- Hospital & community Pharmacy
- Pharmaceutical quality control & quality assurance
- Pharmacy Regulatory affairs
- Drug Information services
- Research & Development
- Academia and Consultancy

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SCHOOL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES PROGRAMMES
Since Pharmacy is a science-based profession, science subjects will be decisive in the selection of candidates. A high GPA boosted by non-science subjects will have no influence in the selection of a candidate unless the candidate has passed the relevant science subjects as well.

BPharm Degree Program (4 years)
Direct Entry Qualification
Three principal passes in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology with minimum of 6 points: A minimum of D grade in Chemistry, Biology and Physics.

Equivalent Qualification
Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences with an average of “B’’ or a minimum GPA of 3.0. In addition, an applicant must have a minimum of “D” grade in the following subjects: Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and English at O-Level.

Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences (DPS) (3 years)
A minimum pass of C grade in Chemistry and Biology and D grade in Physics plus any other subject at ‘O’ Level Secondary education. A pass in Mathematics and/or English will be an added advantage.

Certificate in Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPS) (2 years)
A minimum pass of D grade in Chemistry, Biology, Physics and any other subject at ‘O’ Level Secondary education. A pass in Mathematics and/or English will be an added advantage

Basic Certificate in Pharmaceutical Sciences (BCPS)/Medicine Dispensers Certificate Course (1 year)
A minimum pass of D grade in Chemistry and Biology plus any other two (2) subjects at ‘O’ Level Secondary education. A pass in Mathematics and/or English will be an added advantage.

Foreign Applicants
Entry requirements for foreign applicants will be those, which are equivalent to the entry requirements of Tanzanians. Where need arises, aptitude tests will be used to peg foreign applicants to Tanzania’s standards

NATURE OF PRACTICAL TRAINING OR FIELD WORK ATTACHED TO PROGRAMME
Practical training is vital for providing skills and competence to students undertaking Pharmacy studies. As a method of teaching, practical training will be effected through classroom sessions and thereafter the field work attachment at a respective pharmaceutical-delivering setting. The field work should be carried out for 6 weeks. Students are placed at different health facilities, organizations or institutions after the end of theoretical teaching in every semester 2 of the exit point. The health facilities or institutions in which the field work is undertaken are either public or privately owned in the country. Students are formally introduced to these organizations or institutions and work for 6 weeks/ months under direct supervision of the qualified workers on site. While doing field work, students do complete a form on weekly accomplished activities; and at the end of field work, students are required to write and submit a field work report. In addition, the host organizations complete a confidential report about the conduct and performance of each student they supervised. The students’ weekly and final field work reports and the confidential reports are submitted to the course instructor for marking and the scores are included in the end of semester 2 results.