Master of Pharmacy
Program Introduction
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Duration of Study
The normal duration of this program is 2 years,and the maximum duration is 4 years.
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Teaching Language
English
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Course Introduction
Program Feature
The School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine at Macau University of Science and Technology was established in 2016. It is the first educational institution that offers both bachelor and doctoral degrees in pharmacy authorized by Macau SAR. The establishment of the Program of Master of Pharmacy further improves the continuity of our school’s pharmacy discipline. Our faculty is dedicated to training clinical pharmacists and pharmaceutical professionals who provide better service for Macau residents, promote rational clinical drug use and improve drug management in Macau hospitals, and enhance high-end medical research and the pharmaceutical industry development. Graduates from this program will master systematic and in-depth expertise in pharmacy, can organically combine clinical problems with pharmaceutical research, and have deep potential in new drug innovation and development. At the same time, this program is strongly supported by the State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine (Macau University of Science and Technology). The advanced instruments equipped in this laboratory will assist the teaching and scientific research for graduate students and promote the completion of high-quality scientific research projects. Moreover, the courses are taught in English to bring academic research in line with international standards and provide guidelines for the internationalization and modernization of Macao's pharmaceutical industry.
Teaching Team
The School of Pharmacy faculty is a group of academicians, Distinguished Young Scholars, Yangtze River scholars, the World’s Top 2% Scientists, and other famous scholars and young talents. During the teaching process, the most cutting-edge pharmaceutical research information and advanced experimental techniques will be introduced.
Training Objectives
The goal of this program is to cultivate high-quality scientific research forces and academic elites engaged in pharmaceutical research, to develop a deep understanding of the latest front lines in pharmacy, and to turn graduate students into professionals and elites in related pharmaceutical research; to nurture the ability to independently engage in scientific research work. The aim is to prepare our students engaged in drug research and development, preparation and design, synthesis, detection, and evaluation.
Research Area
Pharmacology, Clinical Pharmacology, Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Analysis, Pharmaceutics, and Biopharmaceutics.
Potential Employment
Graduates of Master of Pharmacy can be engaged in drug research and development, preparation and formulation design, drug synthesis, drug detection, pharmacological experiments and safety evaluation, drug management, and pharmaceutical trade in Macao, Hong Kong, and other countries around the world; they can also work in the government, research institutes, laboratories or enter colleges and universities to engage in teaching and research related to pharmacy.
Study Plan
I. Academic Field
Pharmacy
II. Program Duration
The normal study period is 2.5 years. The maximum study period is 4 years.
III. Medium of Instruction
English
IV. Study Mode
Lectures
V. Entry Requirements
Anyone who has a bachelor's degree in Chinese medicine and pharmacy or related majors, and who has passed the relevant examinations for the admission of master students of Macau University of Science and Technology can enroll in this course.
College English Test (CET-4) 450 or above / CET-6 430 or above, or TOEFL 80 or above, or IELTS 6.0 or above, or other equivalent English proficiency certificates.
VI. Course Structure
Table 1. Core courses
Course name | Course code | Hour | Credit |
Pharmaceutical English | MPPZ01 | 45 | 3 |
Advances in Medicine Pharmaceutic | MPPZ02 | 45 | 3 |
Clinical Pharmacology | MPPZ03 | 45 | 3 |
Advanced Methodology in Pharmacy | MPPZ04 | 90 | 6 |
Literature Retrieval and Scientific Writing | MPPZ05 | 45 | 3 |
Table 2. Elective courses
Course name | Course code | Hour | Credit |
Medical Statistics | MPPE01 | 45 | 3 |
Modern biotechnology in novel drug development | MPPE02 | 45 | 3 |
Advanced Pharmaceutics | MPPE03 | 45 | 3 |
Advanced Medicinal Chemistry | MPPE04 | 45 | 3 |
Instrumental analysis | MPPE05 | 45 | 3 |
Clinical evidence-based pharmacy | MPPE06 | 45 | 3 |
Table 3. Thesis
Course name | Type | Credit |
Thesis | Core | 12 |
Remark 1: The credits required to complete the program are 42 credits, which are distributed as follows: 18 credits for core courses in Table 1; 12 credits for elective courses in Table 2; 12 credits for the thesis in Table 3.
Remark 2: Those who register as pharmacists in Macao must meet the regulatory requirements of the Pharmaceutical Administration Bureau of the Macao SAR Government. Completion of the program of Master of Pharmacy in M.U.S.T does not make the graduate a qualified applicant for registering as a pharmacist in Macao.
VII. Study Outcomes
Students are required to complete five core courses from Table 1 and four elective courses from Table 2 during their study period to gain 42 credits, including the thesis preparation.
After completing the required credits (except for the thesis), students must write a thesis proposal. Once the thesis proposal defense is completed, the student can continue to research and write master's thesis.
Students would conduct scientific research on pharmacy under the guidance of his or her supervisor. They have to develop the ability to conduct research independently, and write a complete and well-thought thesis with both theoretical and practical value. Based on the research content, student may have to go to the collaborative laboratory in Mainland China, Hong Kong or other countries or regions to conduct research or collect data.
To be qualified for the oral defense, each student have to publish at least one SCI/SCI-E papers as a first author or co-first author.
Dissertation must be written and defended in English. Application for special language needs to be submitted to the instructor and the Faculty.
The dissertation should pass the assessment and be defended successfully.
VIII. Graduation Requirements
Upon approval from the Senate of the University, a master’s degree will be conferred on a student when he or she has:
Completed and met the requirements prescribed in the study plan of his or her program (42 credits) within the specific study period and achieved a cumulative GPA of 2.50 or above (excluding dissertation).
Abided by the regulations of the University.
Cleared all charges and returned all University property and equipment borrowed.
completed an original research master’s thesis and pass the thesis oral defense.
If students pass all courses required in Tables 1 and 2 above with a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or above but fail to submit or pass the final thesis oral defense during the specified period, he or she can only get a completion certificate.
Note: All curriculums and study plans are based on the newest announcement of the Boletim Oficial da Região Administrativa Especial de Macau.
※In case of any discrepancy, the Chinese version shall prevail.
Course Description
Core Courses
MPPZ01 Pharmaceutical English （3 credits）
The main objective of this course is to train our students in pharmaceutical English communication, not only in reading and writing, but also in the poster presentation, oral presentation, and finally writing proposals and manuscripts. The topics will range from word selection to sentence building, and paragraph development. For manuscript preparation, the course will focus on material preparation, result presentation, logical sequencing, and structure.
MPPZ02 Advances in Medicine Pharmaceutic（3 credits）
This course mainly teaches new developments in pharmaceutical theory covering modern technologies and methods, including the development trend of pharmaceutical research and the application of various cutting-edge technologies in pharmaceutical research. The purpose of this subject is to enable students to understand the application of modern technologies and methods in pharmaceutical research through classroom in-person teaching and themed tutorials.
MPPZ03 Clinical Pharmacology（3 credits）
This course is an interdisciplinary subject that closely combines clinical pharmacology, pharmacy, and therapeutics. This course mainly teaches students the basic concepts and common laws related to clinical pharmacological treatments, including the general principles, the basic process of drug treatment, adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, drug use in special populations, and the impact of genetic polymorphisms on drug use, evidence-based medicine, and therapeutics. It focuses on how to choose drugs and how to use drugs in various settings, including effect evaluation and precautions so that students can master the principle of design and implementation of reasonable individualized treatment plans, which are safe, effective, economical, and reasonable.
MPPZ04 Advanced Methodology in Pharmacy（6 credits）
This course consists of theoretical and practical parts. The theoretical part mainly teaches basic pharmacological experimental principles, such as basic methods of pharmacological research, principles of experimental design, application of statistical power, use of transgenic experimental animals and animal ethics, analysis methods of biomacromolecules, identification, and synthesis of drugs, etc.
In the practical part, different laboratories are selected according to different research directions to learn experimental techniques applicable to the development of the students’ disciplines, which may include but are not limited to pharmaceutical analysis, chemical synthesis, preparation research, bioinformatics analysis, biomacromolecule preparation and functional verification, bioimaging research, genetic engineering technology, and its application, etc. Through practice, graduate students can deepen their understanding of the basic principles of pharmacy, link the basic theories with real-world applications, and improve their ability to solve practical problems, which in turn lay a broader and deeper foundation for the future project research.
MPPZ05 Literature Retrieval and Scientific Writing（3 credits）
Within the framework of information literacy theory, this course focuses on the research and academic writing process in medical and pharmaceutical sciences. By in-person teaching and project-guided reading, the course teaches literature research methods, techniques, and practices, especially the frequently used databases, open access resources and retrieval technology and applications, and the academic norms of using literature.
Elective courses
MPPE01 Medical Statistics（3 credits）
Medical statistics is a science of data collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation. It is an important course for clinical medicine and pharmacy. This course introduces students to basic concepts in medical statistics and various common statistical methods in simple and easy-to-understand terms. The course includes basic statistical methods, such as data characteristics and statistical description, probability distribution, parameter estimation, multivariate analysis of variance, Logistic regression analysis, survival analysis, principles of experimental design, etc.
MPPE02 Modern Biotechnology in Novel Drug Development （3 credits）
The content of this course mainly includes antibody library technology and antibody drugs, chimeric antigen T cell therapy, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, and gene therapy, antisense nucleic acid and mRNA drugs, transgenic animals and plants, and "Biopharming", biotransformation, combinatorial biosynthesis and synthesis biology etc.
MPPE03 Advanced Pharmaceutics（3 credits）
This course uses new theories and technologies of modern pharmacy to study drug preparation theory, preparation technology, quality control, and rational drug use. This course introduces the new progress of formulations, preparation theory of advanced pharmacy, new drug delivery system, dosage design, pre-prescription, biopharmaceutical technology, etc. The knowledge of advanced pharmacy plays an important role in the development of new drug preparations and the optimization of clinical drug regimens. Through theoretical teaching, graduate students can develop their ability to design new formulations and new preparations and lay a solid foundation for future research and the development of new drugs.
MPPE04 Advanced Medicinal Chemistry（3 credits）
This course mainly teaches principles of medicinal chemistry, drug metabolism, new drug development, various drug molecular simulations and drug design, pharmacophore study, chemistry and process research of drug synthesis, and chiral drugs. It also includes patent protection of drugs, new progress of various drugs, summary and review of clinically important drugs, etc.
MPPE05 Instrumental Analysis（3 credits）
The purpose of this course is to enable students to master the basic principles of various instrument analyses and the important components of the instruments and to develop a basic understanding of the application objects and analysis processes of each instrument. In addition, through studying this course, students will have some preliminary understanding of various analytical instruments, analytical methods, and development directions, to lay the necessary foundation for their future work, scientific research, and further study.
MPPE06 Clinical evidence-based Pharmacy（3 credits）
This course is a discipline combining the concepts and methods of evidence-based medicine with the needs and characteristics of pharmacy. Evidence-based pharmacy is a pharmaceutical practice process, which refers to the process in which pharmacists carefully, accurately, and wisely apply the best current evidence in pharmaceutical practice, combine it with clinical skills and experience, and refer to patients' wishes to provide pharmaceutical services that meet the needs of patients. It is to use evidence-based concepts and methodologies to solve practice and research topics in various fields of pharmacy, involving problems, interventions, effects, and continuous improvement in the process of drug development, production, distribution, storage, use, management, and pharmaceutical education.
