Pharmacy Department

Ekwendeni College of Health Sciences Pharmacy Department was established in 27th November, 2017, and has been accredited by Pharmacy Medicines Regulatory Authority (PMRA) to train pharmacy assistant students.

The main aim of the programme is to produce Pharmacy Assistants who will provide high quality pharmaceutical services including pharmaceutical logistics and supply chain management, pharmacovigilance, and effective management of health commodities at community health centre level.

In 2008 VillageReach conducted a survey in different levels of the health delivery system on medical logistics in Malawi, it was identified that there is a need to strengthen the medical logistics in the following areas: consumption data, procurement, distribution and inventory management.The HIV-Unit in Malawi had a lot of reports on the expiration and wastages of the HIV/AIDS drugs as a result of inadequate health professionals who are trained in the drug management and supply.

Based on these findings, MoH and Global Fund commissioned an extension of the training of pharmacy assistants at Ekwendeni College of Health Sciences and invited College of Medicine Department of Pharmacy to assist with the introduction of the program. These Pharmacy Assistants are deployed at health centres to reduce pharmacy staff shortages and improve good pharmacy practice.

The pharmacy Department has a formal collaboration with a number of well-known pharmacy assistants training colleges and other NGOs like VillageReach.

The education and training of pharmacy assistants for award of the Certificate in Pharmacy of the University of Livingstonia is conducted over a 2-year period. During the course a variety of instructional methodologies are used. Instructional strategies at the School combine didactic methods (lectures), practical work (laboratory and pre-clinical practice), clinical practice and independent study.

Summary of the enrollment and graduation activities;

• In November 2017: first cohort of 53 Pharmacy assistants students.
• In November, 2018: second cohort of 42 Pharmacy assistants students.
• In October 12th, 2019: the first cohort graduated with the Vice Chancellor of University of Livngstonia.
• In February, 2020: third cohort of 43 Pharmacy assistants students.

Staff for Pharmacy Department

The pharmacy Department has three full time lecturers and 3 adjunct lecturers, and recently it has conducted interviews to recruit two more lecturers for the training of pharmacy assistants.

Admission Requirements

In order to be admitted to the programme, candidates must satisfy the following requirements:

Candidates should possess a Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) or its equivalent with passes in English and Science subjects, namely, Mathematics, Biology, or Physical Science or General Science.
English and two of the science subjects must be a credits.

Duration of Studies

Each academic year shall comprise of two semesters each of 16 weeks and 2weeks of examinations. The programme shall be completed in not less than 24 months (2years) of full time academic study.

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