Curriculum Policy

Based on the philosophy that pharmaceutical science is a comprehensive science that contributes to the health of mankind through medicine, the School of Pharmacy provides students with basic knowledge related to the development, production and management of medicines, covering the environment and health, and informs them of the duties of a pharmacist. We aim to create creativity-rich, ethically-strong graduates by providing them with advanced pharmaceutical thinking grounded in the life sciences. To achieve this, the specialized curriculum of the School of Pharmacy endeavors to provide a balance of necessary subjects and required/elective subjects in addition to knowledge of the three main areas of pharmaceutical science education: 1) the field occupied by researchers and drug-related technicians focusing on the development of pharmaceuticals, 2) the field occupied by pharmacists, and 3) the field of environment and health. We take into consideration the academic position of pharmaceutical science in addition to recent progress and trends in the fields of medicine and pharmacy, while also placing importance on the basics. Furthermore, we provide specialized education through the clear purposes of the 6-year School of Pharmacy program for training pharmacists, and the 4-year School of Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences program for training researchers.

Policy and Features

The purpose for the establishment of both the School of Pharmacy and School of Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences programs is to train leading clinical and research pharmacists, as well as internationally competitive drug development and biopharmaceutical science researchers.

Purpose and Characteristics of the School of Pharmacy Department

While encouraging humanity, flexibility in social situations, and ethics in medicine, we teach students applied science mainly from the standpoint of medical and hygiene-related social pharmacy in order to create highly-qualified pharmacists who are leaders in drug therapy in advanced medical care, and clinical researchers involved in prevention and treatment of diseases.

To achieve this, we utilize the following:
  1. A curriculum implemented through cooperation among medical and health sciences faculty, who make use of the special characteristics of the unified combination of medicine, health sciences, and pharmacy instructors that comprise the Faculty of Life Sciences
  2. A system in which all faculty can follow the growth of individual students from their first year by using e-portfolios
  3. A practical training program that incorporates an outpatient clinic practical training program conducted jointly with medical students
  4. An environmental pharmaceutical education based on international standards called the Program for Human Development for Ecopharma-Responsible Pharmacists
  5. Includes early term assignment to laboratories (from the first term of the third year)

Purpose and Characteristics of School of Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

While encouraging the students' abilities to think creatively, possess a spirit of inquiry, and develop the capacity for discovering new medicine, students are also taught basic science focusing on physical, chemical, and biological pharmacy in order to create proactive researchers in the fields of pharmaceutical and life sciences, as well as researchers, technicians, and pharmaceutical sales representatives who take active roles in the development, production, and management of pharmaceuticals, etc.

To achieve this, we utilize the following, with the participation of the instructors from the Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics as well as the Institute of Resource Development and Analysis:
  • A curriculum with a significantly increased number of elective subjects, thus respecting students' autonomy
  • Depending on the course taken, allowing students to receive one of two degrees: Bachelor of Pharmacy or Bachelor of Life Sciences
  • An environmental pharmaceutical education based on international standards called the Program for Human Development for Ecopharma-Responsible Pharmacists
  • Early term assignment to laboratories (from the first term of the third year).
  • Pharmacy classes include deep study of the substances make up medicine (Chemistry and Physical Chemistry etc.), whether a pharmaceutical is active or not, and absorption/life of medicines within the body, etc.

Specific Examples

  • Educational research on new types of synthesis of pharmaceuticals as chemical substances or synthesis of only a single active variety of an optical isomer
  • Educational physicochemical research on the relationship between physical properties and special characteristics within the chemical structure of pharmaceuticals
  • Educational research on methods to evaluate pharmacological activity of pharmaceuticals
  • Educational research on the mechanisms of how the pharmacological activity of pharmaceuticals is expressed
  • Educational research on the mechanisms of pharmaceutical absorption
  • Educational research on the life of pharmaceutical within the body: where it is distributed within the body, where and how it is metabolized, and from where it is excreted

In Biopharmaceutical Sciences, we deeply examine how pharmaceuticals affect life forms (individuals, cells, genes, etc.), how they are born and age, pathology, etc.

Specific Examples

  • Educational research on how pharmaceuticals affect the structure and functions of living organisms
  • Educational research on cell biology
  • Educational research on information transmission mechanisms
  • Educational research on development and reproduction necessary for understanding the toxicity of pharmaceuticals
  • Educational research on molecular biology necessary for understanding genomic drug development and pathology
  • Educational research on pathogenetics such as the search for genes related to the onset of disease
  • Educational research on pathophysiology, etc.