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Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Creating compassionate pharmacists who aim for the heart of medical care.
The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences was opened in 1975, with the guiding principle: "to love nature, to respect life and to seek the truth". Now the largest faculty of its kind in Japan, this school offers stimulating, practically based courses.
The university has over 6,000 alumni who are working in medical organizations nation wide. We are constantly developing our curriculum to meet the needs of every student.
Educational principles and goals
- To foster professionalism, responsibility and logical thinking in the laboratory and kindness and sympathy in everyday life.
- To produce world-class pharmacists who have compassion and awareness, as well as the skills and knowledge required to contribute to medical welfare.
- To provide students with sound knowledge and skills in both Western and Chinese medical fields.
- To offer a curriculum that fully prepares students to gain the qualifications required to practise as a pharmacist in Japan.
Topics
Contributing to modern medicine through a fusion of Western and Chinese medicine
The university has always been an active proponent of combining Chinese and Western medicine. A sister school agreement was signed with the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine in 1986, and we have also established a Department of Chinese Medicine, where we employ full time teaching staff from China. The curriculum was revised in 2004 to include Alternative Medicine, the latest medical field to emerge in the 21st century. These new subjects help to create an even more fulfilling curriculum.
Establishment of student conferences in traditional medicine
The university makes use of its broad international network to establish study trips for Pharmaceutical Sciences students to China and Korea, the homes of Eastern medicine. By observing and experiencing the preparation of medicines and treatment in these countries, students can broaden their horizons and develop their skills to a world-class level.
Emphasizing practical lessons
Hokuriku University set an example for other Japanese universities by making practical experience a compulsory course component in 1991. We continue to place a strong emphasis on work experience in hospitals and pharmacies. Pharmacists must have the communication skills to work as a team with not only the patient, but also doctors, nurses and other pharmacists. Practical experience gives students a taste of the workplace atmosphere, and allows them to prepare for their entry into the workforce.
Medicinal botanical garden and specimen room
The university's specimen room contains approximately 2,000 species of medicinal plants collected from Japan, China and South-East Asia. The university also has a 15,000 m2 botanical garden, one of the largest owned by a pharmaceutical institution in Japan. It has over 1,000 species of plants, which are used for teaching and research at the university.
A graduate school devoted to pharmaceutical research
As the status of pharmacists increases, so does the level of responsibility they must shoulder. To steel our graduates for this responsibility, Hokuriku University has established a graduate school to provide even higher-class research and education in the pharmaceutical science field.