University of Khartoum Faculty of Pharmacy

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1- Pharmacy practice before the establishment of the Faculty of Pharmacy:

Before the establishment of the Faculty of Pharmacy, the profession of Pharmacy was practiced by Greeks, Syrians, Armenians and Egyptians in the private sector. In the governmental sector, responsibilities were taken by clerks who took intensive courses in Pharmacy, and these included:

Sayed Al-Mubarak: responsible for the Medical Force in the Sudanese Army. He martyred in the Guest House attack in 1971. A hall was built to commemorate his memory later on.
Dr. Hamid Al-Obeid: responsible for the Omdurman area. He later studied in the Faculty of Pharmacy at the same time with his daughter Samia.
Mohammed Hasan: responsible for the Khartoum North area.
Al-Mofti: Head of the Pharmacy Administration.

Private Pharmaceutical companies included:

Sudanese Chemical industries, SCI (established in 1960).
Nicholas (established in 1961).
Pill (established in 1963).
SPL (established in 1975).
Amipharma (established in 1987).
Sigma-Tau.

The first generation of the Sudanese pharmacists studied abroad in Egyptian, Lebanese and French universities. They included: Dr Ali Shibeika (an owner of a private pharmaceutical company), Dr. Ibrahim Gasim (the first Sudanese Dean for the Faculty of Pharmacy), Dr. Salih Sulaiman (Head of the Pharmacy Administration) and others.

In 1968 the Sudanese Pharmaceutical Association was established, and the students of the Faculty of Pharmacy played important roles in its establishment and activities.

2- The Establishment of the Faculty of Pharmacy

The Faculty of Pharmacy-one of the faculties of the University of Khartoum-was established in 1963. The idea was born when the Ministry of Health invited Prof. M.M. Mutawi (the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy-University of Alexandria) in 1954. Prof. Mutawi recommended the establishment of a School of Pharmacy that had academic links with the School of Medicine. In 1961 a committee was formed by the University of Khartoum to review the status of Pharmacy education in Sudan. The committee included Prof. O.H. Lenil (Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy -University of London) and Prof. Amin Haddad (Head of School of Pharmacy- University of Beirut). The committee supported the recommendations of Prof. Mutawi and accordingly the University of Khartoum approved the establishment of the School of Pharmacy in July 1962. Prof. Patrick Francis D’Arcy – a Professor of Pharmacology – was appointed as the Head of the School. He was handed the responsibilities of planning for and establishing the School.

In 1963 the University of Khartoum approved the establishment of the Faculty of Pharmacy in place of the School of Pharmacy according to the recommendation of Prof. D’Arcy. Therefore, Prof. D’Arcy was the founder and first Dean for the Faculty of Pharmacy.

3- The Faculty Buildings

The first building was located in the place of what is now the Dissection Room in the Faculty of Medicine. It was previously one the University of Khartoum Houses. The building included a lecture hall and a room used as a laboratory and office for the departments of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmaceutics and Pharmacognosy. Pharmacology and the basic sciences were taught in the Faculty of Medicine buildings. The construction of the present building started in the period of Prof. D’Arcy Deanship. The building started with the previous office of the Dean, two lecture rooms (presently used for the Clinical Pharmacy Master Program) and the Departments of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmaceutics. In the period of Dr. Ibrahim Gasim’s Deanship, the Sayed Al-Mobarak lecture hall and the departments of Pharmacognosy and Pharmacology were constructed.

4- Prof.Yahia Mohammed Al-Kheirs’ Achievements

In the period of Prof. Yahia’s Deanship, the number of students per batch increased from 18 students to 40 students, the capacity and infrastructure of the laboratories were expanded and the bachelor degree was upgraded to Bachelor of Pharmacy with Honours.

5- Student Numbers

The first batch (1964) consisted of 18 students, followed by a second batch (1965) of 20 students, a third batch (1966) of 22 students and a fourth batch (1967) of 25 students. Numbers gradually increased reaching around 150 students per batch at the present time.

6- Education

Students spent their first year in the Faculty of Science where they study Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Botany and Zoology, after which they take their first evaluation exam. Starting from the second year students are taught in Pharmaceutical sciences. These are conducted by the four departments which are:

1. Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
2. Department of Pharmaceutics
3. Department of Pharmacology
4. Department of Pharmacognosy

In addition students also study basic courses in Physiology and Biochemistry. Students are advised to have training periods in Pharmacies and Pharmaceutical plants approved by the Faculty Board, during the summer holidays. Students are also trained during annual field trips (inside and outside Sudan).

7- International Representation

The Faculty of Pharmacy is represented throughout the world by its graduates starting from North America in the West to Japan in the East, thanks to the excellent qualification they had in the Faculty of Pharmacy.

Who Is Professor D’Arcy?

Patrick Francis D’Arcy graduated from the University of London in 1952 and gained his PhD in 1956. In 1958 he became head of pharmacology at Allen & Hanburys. He returned to academia in 1962 as dean of the faculty of pharmacy and professor of pharmacology at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, where he initiated pharmacy education. In 1967 he became technical director at Riker Laboratories and special lecturer at the pharmacy department, Nottingham University. His next move was to Northern Ireland as professor and head of the pharmacy department at the Queen’s University of Belfast where he remained for 16 years.

His monthly column on adverse drug reactions in Drug Intelligence and Clinical Pharmacy was widely read and quoted. He edited Pharmacy International and later the International Pharmacy Journal. He was also a past editor of the International Journal of Pharmaceutics. His book on iatrogenic diseases and his manual of drug interactions have been described as classics in their areas. He took a special interest in third world health care and was director of the International Pharmaceutical Federation’s third world department.

Professor D’Arcy was Conference Science Chairman for the British Pharmaceutical Conference in 1980. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours in 1981. In 1984 he received the Harrison memorial medal, awarded for outstanding achievement by a pharmacist in the science and practice of pharmacy. He was made a fellow of the School of Pharmacy in 1993 for his contribution to pharmacy, both nationally and internationally. In 1996, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of science by the University of Khartoum.

Patrick F. D’Arcy Books:
The Pharmacy and Pharmacotherapy of Asthma
by D’Arcy, Patrick F. (Editor); Mcelnay, James C. (Editor)
Publisher: Ellis Horwood/John Wiley & Sons, New York Date Published: 1989 ISBN-13: 9780470215227 ISBN: 0470215224
Iatrogenic Diseases (Oxford Medicine Publications) (Paperback) by P.F. D’Arcy (Editor), John Parry Griffin (Editor)
Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press (20 Jan 1972)
ISBN-10: 0192641573
ISBN-13: 978-0192641571