The Pharmacy Council of Ghana has revealed that there exist many career opportunities in the pharmaceutical sector for all who wish to pursue an education in pharmacy.
Deputy Director in Charge of Operations at the Pharmacy Council, Dr. Daniel Amaning Danquah noted that currently the number of pharmacists in the system do not meet the demand.
Explaining why this is so, he shared with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show: “There is work opportunity after pursing pharmacy studies. The total number of pharmacists in Ghana will be about 3,500. Let’s consider the work available. We have community pharmacies which are about 3,400 in total across the country. The arrangement is that each pharmacy must have one pharmacist. Apart from that, we have pharmacists who are teaching in the various institutions. So, we really don’t have the numbers. So now those who are working in the hospitals are allowed to superintend the community pharmacies. We are only managing with the numbers that we have”.
Dr. Daniel Amaning Danquah furthered that even though the country has few pharmacists than desired, the progress is commendable. “Some countries with developed economies such as America and UK have been training pharmacists for a very long time spanning over years before we even began. But, if you look at the steps we are taking and the numbers we are producing, we are on the right track”, he added.
The current education of pharmacists is characterized by a university-based training with experiential experiences offered in mainly the hospitals, pharmaceutical industries, pharmacy and medicines regulatory institutions and community pharmacies.
Certificates awarded include Bachelor of pharmacy degree (BPharm) and Doctor of pharmacy degree (PharmD).
Among the list of Pharmacy schools in Ghana are the University of Ghana School of Pharmacy, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, University for Development Studies, among others.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah
