Students in their final year of study interact closely with patients, doctors, hospital pharmacists and nurses during weekly hospital visits. This practical focus has become the speciality unique to the training of pharmacists at Nelson Mandela University, which leads the field in producing graduates able to meet the needs and expectations of their profession and their community.

Hospital ProgrammeThe students are also taught how to apply a preventative quality control system that identifies possible hazards that affect safety, efficacy and quality of pharmaceutical services in a hospital setting.
 

The outome of this type of exposure?

A professional health care giver with a unique combination of skills and holistic insight into the practice of pharmacy.

Recognition of Clinical Competance

The Nelson Mandela University Hospital Programme has grown substantially since Prof Ian Wiseman introduced hospital visits to the pharmacology course in 1978. Final year pharmacology students now spend three mornings a week in the hospital. Each student group is assigned to a medical unit, enabling the students to participate in the ward-rounds on a daily basis. The pharmacy students also provide drug information to their respective units, document pharmacist interventions and gain invaluable experience in the evaluation of drug therapy. Pharmacology as a subject, and pharmacy as a profession, "come alive" as the students move from the lecture room to the patient bedside.

MSD Clinical Pharmacy Evening

Staff and final year students from the Department of Pharmacy, Nelson Mandela University gather annually for the MSD Clinical Pharmacy evening. MSD Pharmaceuticals have generously sponsored both the function and the coveted MSD Clinical Pharmacy "Student of the Year" Award since it's inception in 1993.

In addition to the award presentation, the function enables the Department of Pharmacy to acknowledge the vital role of the medical, nursing and pharmacy staff at Livingstone, Dora Nginza and Port Elizabeth Provincial Hospitals, where the programme is currently based.