Bachelor of Pharmacy

Purpose:

The purpose of the qualification is to train and equip future Pharmacists scientifically with the necessary knowledge, specific skills and relevant competencies so that in rendering a professional pharmaceutical service as members of a health team, according to the demands of the times, the needs of the community and international standards, they can make an indispensable contribution to the promotion of the health of the population of the Republic of South Africa. The qualification ensures that learners are given the opportunity for continued personal, intellectual and professional development and that our country is supplied with a sufficient number of competent pharmacists.

Rationale:

The rationale behind this qualification is first and foremost, to provide a vehicle whereby a contribution can be made to increase the capacity within South Africa for the education and training of Pharmacists in order to alleviate the acute shortage of Pharmacist and maintain an efficient and cost effective pharmaceutical service. The National Master Scarce Skills List for South Africa, issued by the Ministry of Labour, reflects the skills that are most needed in South Africa, and on which efforts to acquire and develop skills must be focused. Pharmacy is listed as one of the scarce skills, motivated by the fact that pharmacists ensure safe and quality use of medicines and optimise health outcomes by contributing to selecting, prescribing and dispensing (which includes supervision of appropriate support personnel and technology), monitoring and evaluating medicine therapy and researching, testing and developing pharmaceuticals and medical products.

Over the years, the role of the Pharmacist has evolved to meet the needs of the rapidly changing healthcare environment. The dispensing of prescribed medicines and the provision of advice and self-medication remain vitally important elements of the service provided by pharmacists. An equally important role, however is to advise other healthcare professionals on the rational and safe use of medicines and to accept the responsibility for providing patients with appropriate information to enable patients to use medicines safely and effectively for optimal therapeutic outcomes of the treatments. This applies to both the wellbeing of the individual and the overall improvement of community health.

Pharmacists are required to contribute to appropriate prescribing of medicines and to advise patients and clients on how to use medicines effectively, as well as educate the community on disease-prevention measures and health promotion in general. The diversity and complexity of medicines requires Pharmacists to pay particular attention to patient counselling and advice. The implementation of pharmaceutical care principles requires the Pharmacist to use a range of processes to facilitate the responsible provision of medicines, information and advice and to monitor the progress of the patient in order to achieve an optimal therapeutic response, thus improving the patient's quality of life. In many practice settings, Pharmacists take responsibility for management of medicine usage by the patient, including medicines used for chronic diseases.

In addition, the profession has been transformed from one that mainly supplies products to one that, in co-operation with other healthcare providers, also provides other healthcare services. It is therefore critically important to healthcare in this country to produce pharmacists who are able to satisfy the need for pharmaceutical care. This Bachelor of Pharmacy for entry-level pharmacists has been designed to equip the Graduate with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude to meet the requirements, including the ethical and legal demands of the profession. The qualification aims to provide learners with the skills necessary for self-directed, independent, lifelong learning and thus to encourage a commitment to lifelong continuing professional development in all pharmacists to enable them to deal with the complexity and ever-changing challenges of the healthcare environment.