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 from 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 70 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, in the educational sector, and in 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 and 2019, clearly establishing it as the best pharmacy school in the Visayas and Mindanao.
The Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy program is accredited Level III by the Federation of Accrediting Associations of the Philippines (FAAP) through Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU) evaluation, the highest accreditation status for any pharmacy program in the Philippines. USC Pharmacy celebrated its 75th Founding Anniversary in 2022.
For more information, contact:
Chair, Department of Pharmacy University of San Carlos Robert Hoeppener Building Talamban Campus, Nasipit, Cebu City 6000 Philippines Trunkline +63 32 230 0100 local 403 Email: pharmsec@usc.edu.ph Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uscDOP
Programs offered
The Department of Pharmacy offers a graduate program and an undergraduate program (Level III FAAP-accredited through PAASCU evaluation), as well as a Certificate Program in Clinical Pharmacy.
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
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 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 pubic health.
Junior Philippine Pharmacists Association-Pi Chapter (JPPhA-Pi Chapter) is a co-curricular organization of the Department and a recognized member of the International Pharmaceutical Students Federation (IPSF). The JPPhA-Pi Chapter has received the Best New Association Award given by the ISPF in 2018 and has been consistently awarded as one of the Outstanding Carolinian Student Organizations (TOCSO) in the University.
Alumni association
The Carolinian Pharmacists Alumni Association is the official alumni organization of the department.
