Early Hands-on Study

1st and 2nd Year students will have hands-on experiences of the work of pharmacists and drug-related jobs, helping them to formulate their vision of their future

After enrolment, students go through pre-practicum study, after which they visit companies, hospitals, and pharmacies and talk to the people working in those settings. At the report presentations on the last day of lectures, the students divide into groups to present their reports and deepen their understanding through active discussions. By visiting and experiencing the various workplaces where they themselves will one day work as pharmacists after graduation, the students become more conscious of themselves as students of the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, which raises their motivation for their six years of university study. In the healthcare settings, they recognize the importance of a spirit of consideration and of communication and become aware of the importance of the role of the pharmacist in healthcare.

Practical, small-group education

Cultivating the attitude and sense of ethics befitting healthcare professionals

As a first step toward developing the communication skills that are essential for a pharmacist, 1st Year students take the Communication Seminar subject, in which they undertake practical study in small groups. In 2nd Year, they take the Pharmaceutical Advanced Seminar subject with the aim of developing the sense of ethics that is essential for pharmacists as healthcare professionals. In this subject, they visit welfare facilities, have handicap experiences, and observe an anatomy practicum. Through these experiences and through small group discussions, they are encouraged to develop more introspective thinking and make independent realizations, which are difficult to achieve in regular lectures.

Advanced Subjects

Elevate their abilities as pharmacists and acquire advanced expert knowledge and skills

In 4th and 6th year, before and after the professional practicums in hospitals and pharmacies, students take advanced subjects that are diverse and practical. Students select which advanced subjects to take according to the path they hope to take after graduation and acquire advanced knowledge that they can put to good use as professionals. The following four model subject selections are provided for students to refer to when choosing their subjects.

• Pharmacist working in a medical team in a hospital
• Pharmacist working in clinical research and trials in a hospital
• Pharmacist responsible for regional healthcare at a local pharmacy
• Pharmacist working in the clinical pharmacy domain in a company or government agency, etc.

Practicum Programs

Through practicums at a hospital and pharmacy for about five months, students will learn about the duties and responsibilities of pharmacists

From the second semester of 4th Year, students take the Pre-Training for Clinical Clerkship Study subject in the mock pharmacy set up on campus. Under the guidance of professional faculty and lecturers who are licensed physicians, students learn properly how to behave as Clinical Clerkship in Hospital Pharmacy and Clinical Clerkship in Community Pharmacy. Students who have passed the Pharmacy Common Achievement Test (PhCAT), which is held in second semester of 4th Year undertake the Hospital and Pharmacy Professional Practicum, in which they spend a total of five months—2.5 months each at a hospital and a pharmacy. Working on the front lines of healthcare, they learn in more specific detail the skills and roles demanded of pharmacists and learn properly through practice the skills and attitudes befitting a pharmacist.

Comprehensive Pharmacy Exercise and Graduation Research

The culmination of six years of learning. Understanding the dual aspects of study and research in a practical way.

In 6th Year, students will compile the outcomes of their Graduation Research, which they have been working on for three years since 3rd Year, into a thesis and present those outcomes. Also, to give students a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of their learnings over the past six years, a Comprehensive Pharmaceutical Sciences Exercise subject is offered. Lectures and exercises are given by all full-time lecturers in the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, giving students the opportunity to review in a comprehensive way the content of what they have studied since they first enrolled. Students graduate having definitely acquired the knowledge and skills that are required in actual healthcare settings.