THE UST Faculty of Pharmacy has sealed its first tie-up with a foreign university, signing a deal with a Malaysian university last July 29 to promote regular exchanges of students and faculty members, research, and the development of academic materials and develop research collaborations.
Pharmacy Dean Priscilla Torres, Assistant Dean Ma. Elena Manansala, and Faculty Regent Fr. Ronald Cortel, O.P. signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the University Sains Malaysia’s (USM) School of Pharmaceutical Sciences represented by Dean Azhar Syed Sulaiman. Sixteen other university representatives from Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico, and the United States also signed deals with USM last month.
Last summer, professors Aleth Dacanay and Marie Cicelie Cruz and Pharmacy student council president Joyce Suero went to USM for a week-long training on Clinical Pharmacy. Another professor is being eyed to go to Malaysia this year to get a post-graduate degree in Clinical Pharmacy, a field not yet offered in UST. This will hopefully start such a program in UST.
Torres said she has requested University of Santo Tomas Hospital (USTH) officials to finally open its doors to Clinical Pharmacy, a field which is “becoming a modern trend in Pharmacy today.”
“I am in constant talks with USTH Medical Director Dr. Mateo Bagsic to practice Clinical Pharmacy in the hospital. Currently, there are only three institutions in the country that offer it: St. Lukes’ Hospital, Makati Medical Center, and Philippine General Hospital,” she said.
Ties with USM, particularly with Sulaiman, started in 2006, after Torres attended a conference in Bangkok where the Malaysian expert was a speaker.
“We were impressed that we invited him to become a visiting professor in the UST Graduate School, even before he was promoted as dean of USM School of Pharmaceutical Sciences,” said Torres.
Sulaiman is set to visit UST once more as a guest professor in the Graduate School.
After forging ties with USM, Torres is now eyeing another institution in Thailand to be its academic partner next school year.
“We are now negotiating with Chulalongkorn University in Thailand for a possible affiliation as well. Hopefully this year, we could also set ties with a university in Southern Australia and Hong Kong,” Torres said.
