The Course of Study in Brief
The main objective of the Single-cycle Degree Course in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology (CTF) is to provide graduates with a technical-scientific background suitable for working in the pharmaceutical industry, where they can perform a variety of functions, from research and development to quality control and production of medicines. The CTF graduate can also work in pharmaceutical companies as a technical director (qualified person), head of the pharmacovigilance service, head of scientific documentation for wholesalers and warehouse or wholesale warehouse manager for medicinal products.
Upon obtaining the Single-cycle Degree and the corresponding professional licence, the CTF graduate may work as a pharmacist and is also authorised to prepare the pharmaceutical form of medicines in industry and to test medicines in public or private laboratories.
In addition to the essential preparation for entering the profession of pharmacist, the course of study provides advanced scientific preparation in the industrial field and specifically in the research, development, formulation, production and control of drugs and medicinal preparations according to the standards codified in the pharmacopoeias; it also provides chemical-toxicological knowledge and skills for the safe handling of drugs in hospital and production facilities. The body of knowledge acquired in the chemical, biological, pharmacological and pharmaceutical fields allows one to tackle the entire sequence of the complex multidisciplinary process that, starting with the design and optimisation of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of new chemical entities, leads to the development of new drugs, formulation, production, control, registration and dispensing of new medicines within the national health system.
The Single-cycle degree course in CTF is organised in 5 years that allow the acquisition of 300 ECTS credits required for the degree. The many laboratory experiences carried out throughout the training and the 675-hour curricular experimental thesis enable students to acquire technical and methodological skills that can be used in the world of work and research. The course also includes a full-time practical job placement for a total duration of six months (900 hours) in a community or hospital pharmacy. It is also possible to conduct examinations, part of the internship and the experimental thesis abroad at universities/research centres and pharmacies affiliated with UNIPR, respectively.
The Single-cycle degree course in CTF provides the skills and learning abilities needed to tackle, after graduation, second-level professional master programmes, Specialisation Schools (Hospital Pharmacy, Pharmacology and Toxicology), PhD programmes and the mastery of the basic cognitive tools for the continuous updating of one's knowledge, as required by the regulations in force for the health professions.
The Single-cycle degree course in CTF also provides preparation for taking the state examination for registration in section A of the professional chemists' register.
CTF graduates with a sufficient number of ECTS credits in appropriate groups of scientific-disciplinary fields can, as provided for by current legislation, participate in the admission tests for secondary education courses (technical and vocational colleges).