The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry and the University of Malta signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate the sponsorship of trainee opportunities for Pharmacists who are reading for the post-graduate Doctorate of Pharmacy degree at the University of Malta.
The MOU was signed on behalf of the Malta Chamber by President Mr David G Curmi and Mr Reginald Fava, Chairman of the Chamber’s Pharmacy Owners Business Section; and on behalf of the University of Malta by the Rector Prof. Juanito Camilleri.
The Malta Chamber is a prime and consistent believer in the need of continuous investment in the country’s human resource. As indeed underlined by the fundamentals of its ‘Economic Vision for Malta 2014-2020’, it is only through the ‘Fostering of Human Development’ that Malta can remain competitive when compared to other neighbouring economies. The same applies at a sectorial level as in the Pharmaceutical industry which requires a highly educated and increasingly erudite work force.
Mr Reginald Fava a pharmacist as well as an entrepreneur who has long promoted the profession, noted that through this Memorandum of Understanding, candidates undertaking the PharmD course will be helped to sustain their studies, via placements in the industry. This is a much needed leap forward in the sector.
The PharmD is a novel international course and for Malta it is a first, as it bestows targeted up- skilling of graduates in essential technical and clinical areas that provide for a well prepared workforce which businesses and public entities can utilize to expand and deliver their core business functions through research and innovation. Through the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, the Malta Chamber is inviting pharmacists who are registered for the programme to take up paid traineeships in different pharmaceutical areas including pharmaceutical regulatory affairs, pharmaceutical industry, community pharmacy and medical representation as well as in pharmaceutical senior management positions.
The Doctorate in Pharmacy degree is a Level 8 postgraduate programme which provides the opportunity for pharmacists to develop further their career and take up advanced practice and applied pharmacy research. The postgraduate Doctorate of Pharmacy degree is offered by the University of Malta in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago USA. The College of Pharmacy of the University of Illinois at Chicago ranks amongst the top ten schools of pharmacy in the USA and ranks fourth among US colleges of Pharmacy in attracting National Institute of Health Research Funding.