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Initiated by Fr. Ernest Hoerdemann, SVD, the then College of Pharmacy was established in July 1947 and occupied part of the third floor of the then Science Building along Pelaez Street. Student transferees from the University of the Philippines Junior College of Cebu were its maiden enrollees who graduated in 1950. The College was granted official recognition by the government on July 1, 1951. From 1953 to 1963, Fr. Robert Hoeppener, SVD, was appointed regent of the college; hence, the building for the School of Health Care Professions, home to the Department of Pharmacy, is named after Fr. Hoeppener. By 2011, the College of Pharmacy had its last batch of graduates before it was reorganized as the Department of Pharmacy.
Sustaining over 75 years of academic excellence, the department is home to the highest number of licensure examination topnotchers in Southern Philippines, with many alumni assuming leadership roles in professional organizations, drugstore chains, the educational sector, and the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. The Professional Regulation Commission recognized the department as the second top-performing school of pharmacy in the Philippines for 2011, 2014, 2018, 2019, and 2024, and the top-performing school in the country for 2015 and 2025, clearly establishing it as the best pharmacy school in the Visayas and Mindanao. USC has been recognized by PRC as a Top Performing School 20 times since 1996.
The Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy program is accredited Level IV by the Federation of Accrediting Associations of the Philippines (FAAP) through the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU) evaluation, the highest accreditation status awarded for any pharmacy program in the Philippines. USC Pharmacy celebrated its 75th Founding Anniversary in 2022. In 2025, the department inaugurated the offering of its CHED-approved Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) and Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences programs, the first of their kind outside Luzon.
For more information, contact:
Chair, Department of Pharmacy
University of San Carlos
Fr. Robert Hoeppener Building
Talamban Campus, Nasipit, Cebu City 6000
Philippines
Trunkline +63 32 230 0100 local 403
Cell: +63 908 880 2989
Email: pharmsec@usc.edu.ph
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uscDOP
Programs Offered
The Department of Pharmacy offers an innovative suite of programs—three graduate and two undergraduate, including the Level IV PAASCU-accredited B.S. Pharmacy program.
Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (B.S. Pharm.)
Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm. D., post B.S. Pharm. continuation program)
Master of Science in Pharmacy (M.S. Pharm.)
Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (M.S. Pharm. Sci.)
Certificate Program in Clinical Pharmacy
Career Tracks
Graduates with a B.S. Pharm. degree are qualified for employment as:
Academic Pharmacists
Clinical Pharmacists
Community Pharmacists
Compounding Pharmacists
Corporate Managing Pharmacists
Entrepreneurs, Drugstore Owners
Manufacturing Pharmacists
Pharmaceutical Scientists
Public Health Pharmacists
Regulatory Pharmacists
Research Areas
Research at the Department of Pharmacy advances bioactive discovery from Visayan flora, indigenous pharmaceutical product development, and equitable access to medicines in both community and institutional contexts. Among the discoveries made at the department was the identification of Saccharopolyspora cebuensis, a novel actinomycete, and the isolation of its macrocyclic lactams by faculty members Pimentel-Elardo and Tiro. These compounds had antibiotic properties and were named Cebulactam A1 and Cebulactam A2 to pay homage to the deep seas of Cebu, the source of the endemic S. cebuensis.
Drug Discovery and Development. This research area focuses on the assay for pharmaceutical and health applications of molecules and bioactive compounds sourced from species in the world’s center of marine biodiversity and the rich Visayan flora.
Ethnopharmacology. This research area focuses on the study of substances with ethnic or cultural significance for local communities.
Nanocarriers and Targeted Drug Delivery. This research area focuses on the pharmacokinetics-aided development of smart formulations using indigenous biomaterials to deliver drug payload into specific target tissues and organs.
Pharmacy Practice. This research area focuses on the work, responsibilities, and clinical practice enhancement across different fields of practice of the profession.
Public Health and Education Technology. This research area focuses on health promotion and the use of technological tools and media to assist educational initiatives for improved public health.
Facilities
The Department of Pharmacy houses eight (8) undergraduate laboratories for pharmacology, pharmaceutics, dispensing, pharmaceutical instrumentation, pharmaceutical chemistry, and pharmaceutical biology, and the Pharmaceutical Research Drug Development Laboratories (PRDDL) dedicated for pharmacy research. The PRDDL is a specialized research facility dedicated to drug delivery, pharmaceutical nanotechnology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, and natural products. It houses top-tier pharmaceutical instruments including differential scanning calorimeter, dynamic light scattering instrument, spray-drying units, HPLC units, semi-automatic capsule filling machine, and humidity chamber to advance pharmaceutical science and technology skills of Carolinian pharmacy students.
Pharmaceutical Research and Drug Development Laboratories Tuklas Lunas Development Center
USC Laboratory Animal Facility (BAI and PALAS accredited)
Botanical Garden
Student Life
Junior Philippine Pharmacists Association–Pi Chapter (JPPhA–Pi Chapter) is the co-curricular organization representing the student body of the Department of Pharmacy. JPPhA-Pi Chapter is a recognized member of the International Pharmaceutical Students Federation (IPSF) and the Federation of Junior Chapters of the Philippine Pharmacists’ Association (FJCPPhA). The chapter received the Best New Association Award from the IPSF in 2018 and has been recognized several times as one of the Outstanding Carolinian Student Organizations (TOCSO) in USC. The organization spearheads academic events and social activities for pharmacy students throughout the year.
In addition, pharmacy students lead a newly established extra-curricular organization, University of San Carlos–Student Chapter of the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (USC-SC ISPE) that provides opportunities to develop collaborative student projects between academia and industry professionals and for global networking and information exchange.
Alumni association
The Carolinian Pharmacists Alumni Association is the official alumni organization of the department.
