Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Orientation Programme

For enquiries, please contact PCN Hotline: 08066055429

Our vision is to create an enabling and adequately regulated environment for the provision of quality Pharmaceutical Services for sustainable health care delivery. Our Mission is to effectively regulate and control the training and practice of Pharmaceutical Service providers through the instrumentality of capacity building.

Pharmacists Council of Nigeria

Site Last Updated:Tuesday, June 07, 2011.

The orientation programme is carried out in partial fulfillment of the requirements for registration as a Pharmacist in Nigeria as provided in sections 1 (i)(a) 11 and 12 of Pharmacists Council Act No. 91 of 1992.

i. To train the foreign pharmacy graduates in the law and ethics governing the practice of

pharmacy in Nigeria

ii. To acquaint the graduates with the realities of the state of pharmacy practice in the country

iii. To fill the gaps in the graduate’s existing knowledge on tropical diseases and medicine (with local examples)

The Programme

The programme is preceded by an accreditation interview, which usually comes up between August and September of every year.

Candidates are expected to apply to the Registrar for participation in the interview.

The following documents are expected to be forwarded along with the application:

a. A bank draft covering the appropriate fee payable to Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN),

b. Two passport size photographs (with names and signature of applicant on the back);

c. WAEC or GCE O’ Level Result;

d. Degree Certificate

e. Transcripts (translated into English if applicable);

f. Evidence of completion of internship in the country of training (if any);

g. Registration certificate in the country of study (if any);

h. Any other certificate relating to Pharmacy

Please note that only candidates who are successful at the interview would be allowed to proceed on the Orientation Programme

Orientation Programme Curriculum

Duration and Venue

The duration of the orientation programme will be five weeks comprising of four weeks of lecture, practical, hospital visitation and one week for examinations. The venues for year 2011 and 2012 Programme is as stated below:

Year 2011 August/September - Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State.

Year 2012 August/September - University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State.

The Courses

The courses to be taught during the orientation will comprise:

a. Applied Pharmacology and Toxicology;

b. Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology;

c. Medicinal/Pharmaceutical Chemistry;

d. Pharmacognosy;

e. Pharmaceutical Microbiology;

f. Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice;

g. Pharmacy Jurisprudence

Examinations

Examinations will be organized in all subject areas. The duration of each examination will be two (2) hours. The examinations will consist of short essays and multiple-choice questions. However, extemporaneous preparation of products will be assessed on continuous basis throughout the duration of the programme.

The pass mark in all courses will be 50% except in Dispensing and Pharmacy Jurisprudence where it will be 60%.

Course Outline

1. Pharmacology and Toxicology (10 Hours of Lectures)

a. Genetic and Nutritional Factors in Drug Action

The influence of malnutrition and food-derived intoxicants; Some features of protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) and drug action. Miscellaneous dietary factors; Genetic factors affecting drug action. The importance of pharmacogenetics in the tropics. Drugs whose reponse or metabolism is affected by hereditary factors. Interactions involving genetic factors e.g. glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, its variants in Nigeria, its effect on drug metabolism, and its effect in malaria.

b. Chemotherapy

i. Antimicrobial Drugs: Drugs used in leprosy and tuberculosis

ii. Antiprotozoal Drugs: Drugs used in the treatment of malaria, amoebiasis, trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis.

iii. Anthelmintics: Physiology of helminthes: Ascaris, ancyclostoimiasis including onchocerciasis,

dracunculiasis (guinea worm), schistosomiasis and tapeworms.

c. Toxicology

i. Emergencies;

ii. Pesticides: insecticides, herbicides and rodenticides;

iii. Animal Poisons: Snakebites, scorpion stings, bee stings and their management

iv. Local food poisoning

This should be limited to cases peculiar to Nigerian environment

2. Pharmaceutical Microbiology (6 Hours of Lecture and 2 Hours of Practical)

Local microbial isolates. Antibiotic misuse in the society and the consequences of emergence of resistant strains. New trends in antimicrobial chemotherapy with emphasis on STDs including HIV/AIDS.

3. Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice (6 Hours of Lectures, 4 Hours of Clinical Visitation

and 2 Hours of Practical)

Pathophysiology of selected tropical diseases e.g. malaria, typhoid fever, tetanus, meningitis, sickle cell anaemia, drug misuse

Clinical Visitation (1) Visits and clerkship of patients in the major hospitals in the city Dispensing Practical (1) Professional dispensing practices

4. Pharmacy Jurisprudence (14 Hours of Lectures)

Pharmacy Laws and Jurisprudence

a. History of Pharmacy in Nigeria

b. Pharmacists Council of Nigeria Act No. 91 of 1992 and Regulations made there-under Pharmacists Code of Ethics

c. National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC)

d. Drugs and Related Products Registration, etc Act No. 19 of 1993 (as amended)

e. Poisons and Pharmacy Act Cap 535 LFN, 1990

f. Food and Drugs Act Cap 150 LFN, 1990

g. National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act Cap 235 LFN, 1990 (as amended)

h. Dangerous Drugs Act Cap 91 LFN, 1990

i. National Drug Formulary and Essential Drug List Act Cap 252 LFN, 1990

j. Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 25 of 1999

k. PSN Constitution

5. Pharmaceutics & Pharmaceutical Technology (8 Hours of Lectures, 6 Hours of Practical)

a. Local Pharmaceutical recipients

b. Stability Studies: Peculiar pharmaceutical shelf life and instability problems in the tropics

c. Dispensing Practical (2): Preparation of simple solutions, mixtures and emulsions. Demonstration of

granulation and tabletting of common drugs in Nigeria

6. Medicinal/ Pharmaceutical Chemistry (8 Hours Lectures and Demonstrations)

a. WHO and basic tests for pharmaceutical substances and dosage forms

b. Problems of drug quality control in Nigeria

c. Chemistry of drugs in Chemotherapy of tropical diseases

7. Pharmacognosy

a. General Plants of Nigerian Origin

i. General introduction (classification, significance in relation to community health, etc)

ii. Local examples of poisonous plants

b. Herbal Medicine

i. General introduction (definitions, advantages and disadvantages of herbal medicine, attitude of patients to drugs, social status of patients)

ii. Scientific evidence in support of some remedies or practices in traditional medicine

iii. Some common local medicinal plants and their uses

iv. Research trends in Nigerian Medicinal Plants

c. Practicals

d. Field Trip Visit to one of the Following

i. Medicinal Plants Garden

ii. Traditional Herbal Clinics

iii. Herbarium

Summary of Hours (Including Examinations) Allotted to Courses

(1) Pharmacology - 10

(2) Pharmaceutical Microbiology - 06

(3) Pharmacognosy - 10

(4) Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice - 10

(5) Pharmacy Jurisprudence - 14

(6) Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology - 14

(7) Pharmaceutical Chemistry - 0

Candidates should note that:

(i) Those who pass the examination will proceed for the twelve months continuous internship programme

after which they are registered. However, those who have evidence of registration in their country of training will be registered;

(ii) Any candidate who fails more than three (3) subjects shall repeat the programme;

(iii) Any candidate who fails three subjects or less shall resit the examinations in the subjects failed.

(iv) Any candidate who fails one subject in the resit examination shall undertake another resit during the programme in the following year.

(v) Where a student performs woefully at the first sitting or a candidate fails after a repeat, such candidates shall undertake a remedial course in any of the faculties of Pharmacy in Nigeria before the repeating the programme.