Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Department of Pharmacy
Pharmaceutical science is an academic discipline that concerns the study of chemicals related to human life and their interaction with the human body with the goal of discovering new drugs and promoting their appropriate usage. With organic chemistry, physical chemistry and biochemistry at its core, pharmaceutical science consists of a wide variety of research areas, including interdisciplinary fields. In April 2006, upon revisions to the School Education Law and Pharmacists Law of Japan, the University’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences abolished the former Department of Pharmacy (four-year program) and reorganized its structure into the concurrent operation of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (four-year program with 72 spaces available per academic year) and the Department of Pharmacy (six-year program with eight spaces available). After this restructuring, the Faculty continues to cover a wide range of areas pertaining to pharmaceutical science through lectures, practical training and graduation research.
The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences continues the educational goals and principles of the former Department of Pharmacy, as the new department focuses on training personnel who will go on to successful careers in the fields of drug development and basic life sciences. This department aims to train students to become researchers possessing an advanced level of knowledge and ability.
The Department of Pharmacy seeks to train students to become certified pharmacists with high levels of practical knowledge and skills in clinical pharmacy by providing students with practical training, including a six-month clinical practice at hospitals and pharmacies, in addition to regular lectures. (The graduates of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences are not qualified to take the national examination for pharmacists.)
The timing of assigning students into either one of these departments is not the spring of the third academic year, when students proceed from the Junior Division of the College of Arts and Sciences to the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Instead, students are assigned to these departments from the autumn through the winter of the same year. Selections at this time are made based on a comprehensive review of the following criteria: a) the student’s Department of choice; b) academic records (those of the College of Arts and Sciences and Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences); c) reasons for applying and d) interviews. The distinctive curriculums offered by each department commence from the fourth academic year when students begin their graduation research in their affiliated laboratories.
The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences continues the educational goals and principles of the former Department of Pharmacy, as the new department focuses on training personnel who will go on to successful careers in the fields of drug development and basic life sciences. This department aims to train students to become researchers possessing an advanced level of knowledge and ability.
The Department of Pharmacy seeks to train students to become certified pharmacists with high levels of practical knowledge and skills in clinical pharmacy by providing students with practical training, including a six-month clinical practice at hospitals and pharmacies, in addition to regular lectures. (The graduates of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences are not qualified to take the national examination for pharmacists.)
The timing of assigning students into either one of these departments is not the spring of the third academic year, when students proceed from the Junior Division of the College of Arts and Sciences to the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Instead, students are assigned to these departments from the autumn through the winter of the same year. Selections at this time are made based on a comprehensive review of the following criteria: a) the student’s Department of choice; b) academic records (those of the College of Arts and Sciences and Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences); c) reasons for applying and d) interviews. The distinctive curriculums offered by each department commence from the fourth academic year when students begin their graduation research in their affiliated laboratories.
