KIU, Western Campus – A team from the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda (PSU) visited KIU Western Campus School of Pharmacy on February 3 to consult and advise on how to improve the Pharmacy profession in terms of studying and teaching.

The four-man team was headed by Dr. Francis Otim and the Vice-President of PSU Dr. Jonans Tusiimire and they emphasized that the purpose of their visit was to improve the pharmacy profession.

“We are not here to find fault, we are here to improve. It’s our mandate to ensure proper training of pharmacists in Uganda,” Dr. Otim told a gathering of pharmacy students, which congregated in the Main Hall.

He also emphasized the need for competence among the students and challenged them to ensure that when they get out of Pharmacy School, they are competent enough to meet the requirements in the world of Pharmacy.

Dr. Otim thanked KIU students for having the right attitude to work in any part of the country unlike graduates from other universities who only want to work in Kampala.

Dr. Tusiimire congratulated KIU on its recent webometrics ranking of universities, where it maintained its position as the best private university in Uganda and second overall after Makerere University, and he urged them to strive to be the best pharmacists in the country.

“The time to be one of the best pharmacists in now, not when you graduate. You should tell yourself here and now that you can become the head of the National Drug Authority or National Medical Stores,” Dr. Tusiimire advised.

The team began with a visit to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s office, followed by an inception meeting with the university administration in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) boardroom.

They then made a tour of the facilities for the School of Pharmacy including the library, the computer laboratories, lecture rooms, offices and equipment laboratories.

They also held meetings with the teaching staff and students, which they followed with a review of key documentation including student numbers and staff documentation and ended with a debrief meeting with the university administration.

The meeting was attended on behalf of the university by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Mouhammad Mpezamihigo, the DVC KIU Western Campus, Dr. Frank Kaharuza Mugisha and the DVC Research Innovation, Consultancy and Extension (RICE), Prof. Dr. Durais Rahman.

Photo: Collins Kakwezi