Founded in 1964, the Department of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka is the first and foremost institution providing pharmacy education in Bangladesh. Approximately 90 percent of the Bangladeshi pharmacists working home and abroad are graduates of the University of Dhaka. With the ever-increasing demand and timeliness of this noble profession, the department has been raised to a full-fledged faculty in 1995 owing to the tireless efforts of its faculty members, researchers and scholars. Recognized as the most innovative institution for pharmacy education in the nation, the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Dhaka has been serving as a model for other progressive pharmacy departments, particularly in private sectors throughout the country. The faculty has now an annual average of approximately 280 full-time students in the four year Bachelor of Pharmacy program conducted under the faculty supervision. The relatively newly established faculty initiated three independent departments in 2003 under the heading of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Technology, which offer Master of Pharmacy and postgraduate degrees (M.Phil. and Ph.D.) to approximately 80 students per annum. These degrees and programs have proven to provide the insights and right direction for future pharmacists.
Pharmacy is a dynamic and fast growing profession all over the world including Bangladesh. Because of its enormous contribution to our health-care system, “Pharmacy” has always been a high (if not the highest) priority choice to the students coming for university education. As a consequence, the Faculty of Pharmacy has intellectually rich, adroit and properly trained members to disseminate pharmacy education amongst the next generations. We have now 48 full-time faculty, 6 part-time teachers and more than 30 administrative and supporting staffs. In addition, the faculty utilizes many affiliated hospitals, health care clinics and pharmaceutical industries in the country for its in-term clinical and experiential programs. Our faculty members have achieved higher degrees and trainings from many developed countries including the United Kingdom, United States, Germany and Japan.
With the advent of new information and cutting-edge technologies, the curriculum of the Faculty of Pharmacy is timely and continually modernized to cope up with the radical advances in pharmacy profession. According to the GMP/WHO guidelines, the faculty provides broad range of courses rendering the students as qualified personnel. Combining the rigour of MBA, our students are equipped to meet the growing challenges for pharmacists knowledgeable in business administration and the legal profession. As a result, pharmacists are now becoming more involved in drug therapy decision-making. Our philosophy of pharmaceutical care reaches beyond didactic courses into hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, managed care facilities and pharmaceutical industry practice sites throughout the country. Extensive resources are available to our students, researchers and faculty members.
The University of Dhaka is the largest public university in the country and is the top "Research" class university in the nation. Its Pharmacy Faculty has been an integral part of the country's health care programs for over 40 years. Since its inception, this faculty has been a place of innovation, creativity, and excellence in pharmacy education. The faculty members have always been actively involved in multifaceted research in a number of disciplines including medicinal and natural product chemistry, molecular biology and biotechnology, pharmacogenomics, formulation and bioavailability studies. The Faculty of Pharmacy has extensive as well as exclusive collaboration with renowned institutions such as University of Tokyo, University of London School of Pharmacy, University of Oxford, National Cancer Institute, University of Mississippi, Monash University and Seoul National University. The faculty has an official publication entitled "The Dhaka University Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences" which is a biannual pharmaceutical journal published on regular basis.
