NEWLY-appointed Faculty of Pharmacy Dean Priscilla Torres, whose term started last June 16, is eyeing a five-year curriculum exclusively for Pharmacy students who plan to work abroad.
“In the US, the employers do not allow Filipino students to take the equivalency exams unless they are graduates of a five-year program, so the faculty is planning to implement it next year,” Torres said.
The curriculum for the five year program is still being planned. However, the new dean said the program will focus on clinical pharmacy and patient care.
Aside from the five-year program, Torres wants 80 per cent of the faculty to earn their masters or doctorate degrees. She also intends to have research-oriented professors. She also seeks to improve the passing rate in the Pharmacy, and Medical Technology board exams in three years.
Torres plans to send faculty members to local and international seminars to improve the faculty’s academic profile. She also plans to give the faculty members research units.
The new dean also wants the Pilot Manufacturing Laboratory at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex (TARC) to be fully operational and equipped with modern facilities by 2008. The laboratory will generate income through drug dissolution services and production of liquid soaps and herbal medicines.
Donations will also be sought to finance additional laboratory machinery purchases.
Torres, the former Pharmacy assistant dean, graduated summa cum laude with a Doctor of Philosophy Major in Pharmacy degree in UST. She replaced Dr. Rosalinda Solevilla who retired last March.
