“When I grow up I want to be a pharmacist”. If this is the secret dream of many young people from Taranto, here is some good news for them: the Faculty of Pharmacy in Taranto. The announcement was made during the days dedicated to the 2024 student fair. We talked about it with the President of the Order of Pharmacists of Taranto, Dr. Francesco Settembrini: “It’s an absolute novelty. From the next Academic Year 2024 2025 the Faculty of Pharmacy will open in Taranto. As is known, the only branch in Puglia is Bari, so opening a new pharmacy faculty in Taranto means satisfying a request not only from the area but also from the profession itself because new pharmacy graduates are in great demand considering their professional role”
Graduates with a master’s degree in Pharmacy can undertake the profession of pharmacist after obtaining the relevant professional qualification and registration in the register and can carry out professional activities in the various areas of competence and responsibility relating to medicines and health products (cosmetics, supplements, herbal and nutraceutical products, medical-surgical aids, parapharmaceuticals, products for veterinary use) in the healthcare, industrial and research sectors. Graduates with a master’s degree in Pharmacy can take the State Exam for registration in section “A” of the Professional Register of Chemists.
But let’s see better how important a degree course in Pharmacy is, and let’s see in detail what type of professional figure corresponds – in the world of work – to pharmacist. First of all, the graduate pharmacist is a point of reference and responsibility in the assessment and certification of the quality and safety of medicines, cosmetic products, food products, herbal products, medical devices and medical-surgical devices.
He is certainly a point of reference and also of responsibility in advising on the effective and safe use of medicines and health products and also in assisting with correct self-medication. It also has skills and responsibilities in the preparation of medicines and health products in industry and in the procurement, preparation, control and storage of medicines and health products in pharmacies open to the public and in hospitals.
He can also be a point of reference and responsibility in the pharmacovigilance sector, in particular in the knowledge of information channels on adverse effects relating to drugs, health products and medical-surgical devices.
It is certainly also a testimonial in pharmaceutical information and documentation and in the contribution to institutional public health campaigns, in research and in the study of drugs and health products.
Let’s also look at the main ones in detail professional outlets that may currently exist for Pharmacy graduates: first of all in public pharmacies with the role of director or collaborator or in private ones with different roles: owner, director or collaborator. They can also work in parapharmacies. They can find employment in the healthcare facilities of the National Health Service, both hospital (hospital pharmacies, nursing homes) and local (AUSL) with service, production or supervision tasks on drugs and health products or with managerial roles, after the necessary acquisition of the specialization diploma in Hospital Pharmacy.
Other jobs may be found in government and private bodies responsible for providing control and accreditation services with respect to the production and distribution of medicines and health products.
But also in small or medium-sized enterprises or in multinational pharmaceutical and health product industries: roles of managers of research, development, production, quality control, registration and scientific information activities are required. Finally, they can find employment in wholesale distribution structures of medicines or as researchers or graduate technicians in public or private research bodies in the specific sector of medicines and health products. Graduates who have acquired credits a sufficient number in appropriate groups of scientific-disciplinary sectors will be able to participate in the admission tests for teaching training courses.
