Biological Sciences:

Introduction to cell biology course provides a basic understanding of the structure and function of cellular organelles and components, and the functional interaction of the cell with its microenvironment. Human Anatomy and Physiology course provide the fundamentals of the organization and functions of the human body. Both courses lay a foundation for learning the patho-physiological concepts of diseases and their pharmacological interventions. Topics include anatomical terminology, structure and elaborated functions of cell, tissues, organs and organ system levels as well as cover the remaining parts of body systems. Biochemistry course is a general introduction to biochemistry with an emphasis on human biochemistry. The course includes detailed discussions of bio-molecules and their purification and identification, enzymes and enzyme kinetics, bioenergetics, metabolic pathways, and regulation of biochemical processes in the cell. Pharmaceutical Microbiology course gives insight into pharmaceutical microbiology with special emphasis on microorganisms causing human disease, identification and control of pathogens, disease transmission, host resistance, and immunity and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology course highlights the importance and applications of biotechnology in pharmacy and medicine.

Topics include central dogma of molecular biology, recombinant DNA technology, recombinant proteins, nucleic acid technology, gene therapy, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, stem cell research and therapeutic use of biopharmaceuticals with examples.

Biological Sciences labs are equipped with all required instrumentations to conduct demonstrations and lab experiments for educational and research purposes. The lab serves the following courses: Cell biology, anatomy and physiology, biochemistry and microbiology.

The demonstrations and experiments done in the lab are designed to:

1. Study the structure and function of systems with models and tissue slides.
2. Acquire the basic skills to pursue meaningful investigations into biological processes.
3. Undergo simple biochemical detections of various biomarker constituents in body fluids using biological kits, UV spectrophotometer, and ELISA.
4. Perform microbiological techniques like staining, phenol coefficient, sterility testing, antibiotic sensitivity as well as clinical interpretation of microbiological tests.

Pharmaceutical chemistry:

Pharmaceutical chemistry courses are integral part of pharmacy education as it enables the students to understand and correlate the chemistry of drugs with their actions/fate in the body. These courses aim to provide educational experience, skills and in depth integrated knowledge at the interface between chemistry and biology disciplines. These courses focus on several aspects of drug design, discovery and development from synthetic and natural sources besides imparting knowledge and understanding of drug stability, formulation into a dosage form, molecular interaction of drug with its receptors, mechanism of action, metabolism of the drug, behavior of drug inside body etc.

There are two well equipped state of the art laboratories which cater to the needs of the B. Pharmacy students. A separate research lab with essential analytical instruments is available to support the research activities of the faculty and students.

About this program: The College of Pharmacy offers a four year integrated program leading to the Bachelor degree in Pharmacy. The college is in academic partnership with West Virginia University USA and has been approved by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. Our vision is to be recognized nationally and internationally for quality education in pharmacy and research in pharmaceutical and health-related areas. Our graduates are prepared to play a key role in improving the health of Omanis and other people by providing patient care and improving therapeutic outcomes. Our graduates are prepared to play a key role in improving the health of Omanis and other people by providing patient care and improving therapeutic outcomes.

Career Opportunities: The graduates of Pharmacy have a pivotal role in the healthcare system and are mostly employed as hospital pharmacists in the government and private sectors. There are also challenging job opportunities in community pharmacies, pharmaceutical marketing, and drug regulatory affairs. The Pharmacy graduates are appointed in the pharmaceutical industries as production chemists and quality control analysts. Most of the graduates pursue their higher education in specialized branches like clinical pharmacy, pharmacology, management, industrial pharmacy, biotechnology, and drug discovery to excel their career in health care sectors, research, academia and industry. The curriculum gives ample skills and knowledge to the graduates to evolve as entrepreneurs and start their own pharmaceutical businesses. 

Course components: The Pharmacy Curriculum has significant focus on active student learning strategies enabling the students to be good learners while they pursue their academic program. The program has a thrust on theoretical concepts for which a rigorous laboratory procedures adequate provision for communication skills are embedded in the curriculum and assessment methods.  Components on professional skills, ethics and values are imbibed during in program administration.

The courses in the biological and chemical sciences provide strong science fountain to learn advanced pharmaceutical and Pharmacological science courses. The program has more emphasis on clinical course like clinical pharmacy, clinical pharmacokinetics, and Pharmacology and Pathophysiological basis of Pharmaco-therapeutics. The clinical courses are spirally ingrate and the students are given clinical skill from model pharmacy and clinical skills lab (OSCE)

Bachelor of Pharmacy Program of the College of Pharmacy, National University of Science & Technology comprises 146 credits of coursework including, 6 credits of University common or Program specific  electives. After completion 146 credit each student has to undertake 600 contact hours of experiential training in community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy and /or industrial pharmacy for graduation.