Introduction:

When discussing pharmacy education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the College of Pharmacy at King Saud University is renowned. The study program at the College of Pharmacy began in 1379 AH (1959 AD) at King Saud University. Initially, there were only three faculty members and 17 students, making it the third college to be established. The first group of students graduated in 1383 AH. In 1401 AH, the College of Pharmacy for Female Students was established, with eight female students and three female faculty members. The first batch of female students graduated in 1406 AH.

Over the course of the past sixty years, the college has been committed to development, creativity, and excellence in various areas, including the academic, research, professional, and community awareness fields.

In terms of the academic field, the college has made significant strides in updating its curriculum to align with global advancements in pharmacy sciences. As a result, the college now offers a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. In the field of graduate studies, the college provides seven master's programs, one of which is the Master in Quality Control in Pharmacy.

In the research field, the college has made remarkable progress. Its scientific research endeavors have been recognized both locally and within the Arab world, earning the college top rankings.

The Master in Quality Control in Pharmacy program was established in 1422 AH. The Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and Clinical Pharmacy Departments were responsible for developing the program, and they received significant support from the Program Board. Since its inception, the program has been successful in producing pharmacists with a master's degree in the field of pharmaceutical preparation quality. These graduates are qualified to work in various regions of the Kingdom, providing pharmaceutical and health services in both the public and private sectors.

The Program Board has continuously worked to adapt to the College of Pharmacy's changes, aiming to develop new structures for academic and training programs that meet the requirements of the Saudi labor market. They have implemented short-term and long-term plans to achieve the highest level of quality.

Due to the program's significance and high demand, a sizable number of male and female students, totaling 104, have successfully graduated by the end of 2023. These graduates are employed across different sectors. The program has also contributed to a significant number of research publications focusing on drug quality assurance, ensuring that it reaches patients in optimal condition. This includes monitoring manufacturing methods, storage in factories, overseeing the delivery process to patients in hospitals and health centers, and conducting quality assessments after market distribution. 

Degree Name :

Master in Quality Control in Phamracy

Program Language:

English

The importance and rationale for creating the program 

1. The new program enriches students ’knowledge regarding drug quality supervision by focusing on the latest knowledge in the field of specialization.
2. The new program is distinguished by adding updated courses and deleting courses in order to keep pace with recent developments in the field of quality control in pharmacy
3. The new plan takes into account the qualification of highly qualified human cadres in the specialization of quality control, conducting scientific research and evaluating drug quality control programs, which contributes to providing solutions to the problems facing the pharmaceutical sector and all its workers.
4. The new program is distinguished by that its standards are similar to most prestigious international programs in American, Canadian, British and Australian universities in the same specialization.

Program Vision

Leadership and distinction in the field of quality control in pharmacy in education and research.

Program message.

Preparing a generation of pharmacists and researchers who are scientifically and professionally qualified in the field of quality control in pharmacy through a distinct educational and research environment that is consistent with quality standards and meets the requirements of the labor market and contributes to solving the scientific and industrial problems facing society and workers in the field of medicines.

Program Mission:

1. Graduate qualified pharmacists with advanced knowledge and experience to work in various health and pharmacy fields.
2. Preparing a pharmacist with high capabilities in identifying the difficulties and problems he faces at work and giving him the ability to solve them with knowledge and research.
3. Meet the needs of the governmental and private health sector, pharmaceutical factories and research centers for high equivalence in the field of pharmaceutical quality observation.
4. Motivating students to conduct academic and applied scientific research and publishing their research results in international refereed journals with a high impact factor.
5. Contribute to maintaining the scientific and research excellence of the university.

Program output

Knowledge and Understanding:

1. Acquiring basic knowledge specialized in the field of quality control in pharmacy and related research.
2. Enabling students to acquire the necessary skills to know and understand the theoretical and applied foundations advanced in the field of quality control in pharmacy provided by the program.
3. literacy with the ethics of the academic profession and scientific research and its applications.

Mental skills:

1. Acquire the skills of analyzing problems and methods of scientific research and writing scientific reports and research proposals.
2. The ability to evaluate scientific reports and research in the field of quality control in pharmacy.
3. Acquiring the skills of persuasion and scientific description, and preparing and delivering research results.

Professional and practical skills:

1. Enabling the student to prepare quality control programs in high-quality pharmacy and to effectively manage them
2. Enabling the student to analyze, and evaluate any quality control programs in pharmacy
3. Enabling the student to design and criticize scientific research and studies according to scientific foundations.
4. Providing graduates with the ability to overcome professional problems.
5. Developing the ability to design research projects in the field of quality control in pharmacy and implement them according to theoretical and practical foundations.
6. Familiarity with advanced statistical skills related to pharmaceutical research.
7. Preparing high-quality research that can be published in prestigious scientific journals with a high impact factor.

General Skills:

1. Developing the ability to professionally manage scientific discussion sessions.
2. Providing graduates with the ability to continuously develop themselves by following up on developments in the field of quality control in pharmacy and using resources to obtain information easily and easily.
3. Giving students sufficient confidence in their ability to develop and innovate in the field of research and employment.
4. Giving students the ability to work in a team and manage time.
5. Enable the student to self-evaluate and determine his personal educational needs.

Program Beneficiaries

1. Students who obtained a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Saudi Arabia,residents, and outside the Kingdom.
2. Teaching assistants from various universities and governmental and private educational institutions in pharmacy.
3. Workers in hospitals, pharmaceutical factories, research centers and other pharmacists interested in research fields in the field of quality control and quality in pharmacy.

Available Employment Opportunities

1. A lecturer position in governmental and private Saudi universities and colleges.
2. Researcher position in Saudi governmental and private universities and colleges.
3. Leadership work in the Ministry of Health and in governmental and private hospitals, pharmaceutical factories, drug analysis centers, pharmaceutical companies, scientific bodies and other institutions related to medicine.

Admission Requirements:

In addition to the conditions for admission contained in the unified regulations for postgraduate studies in Saudi universities and the organizational and executive rules and procedures for postgraduate studies at King Saud University, the department requires the following for admission:

The Bachelor's degree must be from a Saudi university or from a non-Saudi university recognized in the country of study.

1. The student must have a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences or a doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) With GPA of at least (3.25/5)
2. The students have to obtain a score of no less than (475) in the (TOEFL) test or equivalent score
3. The student attend the program written test.

Degree Requirements

Courses only

The student must pass 46 study units of master's courses, including the research project

General structure of the program:

Courses option

The required number of units is (46) study units from the master’s courses, including the research project, as follows: