Pharmacy academics shortage needs to be tackled
Action needs to be taken to tackle the shortage of pharmacy-trained academics, Hemant
Patel, President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said at a Society science dinner held in London earlier this week.
Mr Patel said: “The challenge for Britain is to maintain its science
skill set against overseas competition and to attract undergraduate students
to science degrees.
“The RPSGB and King’s College, London have published research
that shows that in most schools of pharmacy the proportion of pharmacists
as academics has been declining. There are just over 700 funded academics
employed in schools of pharmacy and 94 teacher practitioners. Around
a third of the funded posts are pharmacists.
“This is a vital issue that needs to be
urgently addressed before the situation
worsens.”
Mr Patel was speaking to MPs, including Phil Willis, chairman of the
Parliamentary Innovation, Universities and Skills Committee, industrial
and academic pharmaceutical scientists and members of the Academy of
Pharmaceutical Science.
Ijeoma Uchegbu, professor of pharmaceutical nanoscience at the department
of pharmaceutics, University of London, added: “Tomorrow’s
patients will be seeking more medicines services, health promotion activities
and advice on how to squeeze more active years out of their ever lengthening
lives.
“The only way to rise to this challenge is for the pharmacist to
be adequately equipped with an up-to-date knowledge of the pharmaceutical
and relevant
clinical
sciences.”
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader