Each academic year is divided into two semesters, the winter and the spring semesters. Pursuant to the presidential decree n. 110/93 from the beginning of the 1993-94 academic year the minimum number of semesters of the Department of Pharmacy is set at ten (10).
The curriculum offers courses which are either theoretical or include additional laboratory training. A total of 67 courses are offered, including compulsory, laboratory-based practical courses and elective courses. During the last two semesters (9th and 10th) students are also required to complete a practical internship both in a community and hospital pharmacy in order to be eligible for the Pharmacy Board Examinations administered by the Ministry of Health. Only graduates who have passed the Pharmacy Board Examinations are considered registered Pharmacists.
During the winter semester courses are taught in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th semesters, and during the spring semester the courses are taught in the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th semesters.
Compulsory courses are courses which all undergraduate students are obliged to attend and successfully pass.
The attendance of theoretical courses is considered to be only an academic obligation and is not compulsory, so a system of absenteeism is not observed. Nevertheless, attendance is promoted as only lecture attendance can lead to an accurate knowledge of the subject matter of each lecture. The exams, either written or oral, are prepared by the teaching staff at the end of each semester in each specified subject.
Courses are marked with grades expressed on a scale of zero to ten (0-10), and the pass mark is a grade of five (5). In case of failure, the student must re-enroll and attend the course in the next semester. The current curriculum of the Department of Pharmacy includes thirty-eight (38) compulsory courses and seven (7) compulsory laboratory practical courses corresponding to 230 credits.
Elective courses are those courses from which the student must select a specific number in order to complete the required number of courses to obtain a Pharmacy undergraduate Degree. The students are free to choose these courses in accordance with their personal interests.
The regulations regarding exams, grades and credits are the same as those that apply for compulsory courses. In case of failure, the student may re-enroll and attend the course in the following semester or enroll in another elective course.
The Department of Pharmacy curriculum includes twenty-one (21) elective courses from which the student must select an adequate number of courses and/or a graduate dissertation in order to accumulate 30 credits. For those students who choose to do a graduate dissertation (12 credits), the credits necessary from the elective courses will be reduced to 18.
Finally, a practical internship both in a community and hospital pharmacy is required to accumulate a total of 40 credits (20 credits / semester).
Many of the compulsory or elective courses are accompanied by laboratory-based practical courses which are carried out in laboratories specially equipped with instruments and apparatus. The course-content of these practical courses is related to the course material itself or an associated course completed in the previous semester. Student attendance of the laboratory-practical courses is mandatory, not only for the purposes of learning but also for practical reasons (since only a limited number of students can work in the laboratories at any one time).