The findings of the research dissertations undertaken by 17 pharmacists in the final year of the postgraduate course leading to the Doctorate in Pharmacy degree will be presented on Monday 6 March 2017, during the first day of the Annual Pharmacy Symposium organised by the University of Malta’s Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. The Annual Pharmacy Symposium is being held at the University of Malta Valletta Campus. This group is the first cohort of students completing their Doctorate studies in July 2017, for the course which was launched in October 2014.

The Doctorate of Pharmacy course is a three-year programme offered in collaboration with the College of Pharmacy of the University of Illinois at Chicago. The course consists of three aspects: the taught part which focuses on aspects of use, safety and evaluation of medicines, pharmacoeconomics and health systems; the practical aspects in clinical and pharmaceutical regulatory aspects; and the applied research.  The programme is an international programme and currently 34 students from 9 different countries are following the course.

The dissertations cover a wide range of aspects from an evaluation of pharmaceutical services aimed to maximize patient benefit from use of medications to assessment of innovative aspects in drug therapy. Examples of areas tackled include use of glucagon by diabetic patients, safety in the use of non-prescription medicines, use of digoxin and warfarin, efficacy and safety of biosimilar drugs, regulation of stem cell therapy.

Details about the Annual Pharmacy Symposium Programme are available at www.um.edu.mt/ms/pharmacy/activities/symposium

Photo Caption:  The 2017 Doctorate in Pharmacy final year students who will be presenting their research dissertation during the Symposium together with staff from the Department of Pharmacy, of the University of Malta and Professor Alan Lau, Director, International Clinical Pharmacy Education, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago