Course content - Learning outcome - Admission - Prerequisites - Teaching - Examination - Evaluation

Course content

The course aims to give participants an understanding of the role of medicines in the global society, as influenced by public and private players and policies nationally, and internationally.

Specifically, the course aims to inform about:
Patients:

• What influences the way people understand and use medicines? The quality of care from health providers, public health information and communication, patients’ own culture, beliefs, religion and experiences.
• Influence on patients’ choice of medicines, adherence to treatment, and on stigma

Pills:

• Create awareness about the role of Western and traditional medicines. Counterfeit medicines. How the medicines are being used, challenges, and examples of how they are being tackled by different groups and/or countries.

Policies:

• How public health policies are developed, and what influences them (who are the different forces influencing policies, which interests do they have, and how are they competing with each other)
• The role of medicine policies in the “developed” world, and in the “under developing countries”
• How different countries legislation affects the population’s access to and use of drugs.
• Prices, essential drugs and WHO policies

Profits:

• The role of the pharmaceutical companies
• Corruption

Learning outcome

After completing the course the participants should:

• Understand the impact of medicines in the global society on the health and economy of the individual, the families, vulnerable groups and the communities.
• Understand how drugs are perceived and used by ordinary people (with different educational, economic and cultural background).
• Have knowledge about the rationale behind international, national, institutional, public health programs and providers "drug policy".
• Furthermore, they should understand how drugs are integrated with other preventive and curative efforts in the community, and how cost-efficacy of drugs can be judged in such contexts.
• Know about examples of countries and organizations that have successfully dealt with parts of the problems with drugs, and made significant public health gains (including examples from HAI and other patient groups winning public health “battles”);
• Apply the understanding of the above principles to the following:
• The killer infections in the “poor” world: TB, HIV/AIDS and malaria
• The killer infections in the “rich” world: Lifestyle disease
• Women’s situation, and their ability to take care of own health (including pregnancy), children’s health and family health

Admission

The course is open to students who have had their study plan approved for the advanced part of the Professional Pharmacy Programme (5-year masterdegree programme) at the University of Oslo. This requires that all previous Pharmacy courses of the 5-year masterdegree programme at UiO have been passed.

The course is obligatory for master students in international health at (and developed in cooperation with) the Institute of General Practice and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo.

Only students admitted to the course may take part in instruction and tuition and sit for the examination.

 

The examination in this course is not available for external candidates. Only students admitted to the course may sit for the examination.

Prerequisites

Formal prerequisite knowledge

For pharmacy students: The course is only available to students who have passed all previous pharmacy courses up to FRM3040.

Teaching

Lectures, seminars and projects.
The information will be presented using a variety of teaching methods, aiming to let the students use the knowledge gained in exercises to encourage integration of the learning to real life situations.

Workshops, PBL-work and seminars are obligatory.

Inactivity and / or excessive absences in compulsory education means that the student does not receive final assessment / examination

Access to teaching

A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.

Examination

The course exam is a home-exam

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

Explanations and appeals

You may request an explanation of your grades, and you may also appeal against your grades or make a complaint about formal examination errors. Read more about explanations and appeals.

Resit an examination

You can usually resit an exam, but the conditions depend on whether you had a valid reason for absence from the regular exam. Read more about resitting an exam.

Withdrawal from an examination

A student may sit this exam up to 3 times. If a student wishes to withdraw from the exam, s/he must do so in StudentWeb at least two weeks prior to the first day of the exam. Failure to do so will be counted as one of the three opportunities to sit the exam.

Special examination arrangements

If you have a disability or a health problem that entails significant inconvenience in an examination situation, you may be considered for special examination arrangements. Mothers who are breastfeeding may apply for extra time to complete the exam.

Evaluation

Feedback from our students is essential to us in our efforts to ensure and further improve the high quality of our programmes and courses. All courses are subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students on a particular course to participate in a more comprehensive, periodic evaluation of this course.

Periodic evaluation report