The Federal University of Acre (Ufac) expects the entry of the first class of the Pharmacy course in 2028. Graduation should start with 50 places per class, selected by Enem/Sisu, and will have generalist training, preparing students for different areas of professional activity.
The forecast is part of the course implementation schedule, which already has a Pedagogical Course Project (PPC) prepared, but which, according to the organizing committee to g1, still needs to undergo adjustments, approval at university levels and the necessary procedures with the Ministry of Education (MEC).
"The expected start is precisely related to the schedule of the Transforming Universities program. Ufac was awarded new courses in different phases, and the courses that make up the first phase are expected to be implemented by the first half of 2027", said the professor and president of the commission, Andréia Andrade.
The Pharmacy course, however, is not among the degrees in the first phase of the MEC program. Therefore, according to the teacher, the perspective is that the first class could enter as early as 2028. The forecast, however, does not yet represent a definitive date for the start of classes.
"The year 2027 will, therefore, be an important period for us to complete the adjustments to the project and complete the necessary processing and implementation stages. The effective date for opening the first class will depend on the completion of these stages", he highlighted.
The course
Initially, the project provided for 30 places per class. With the inclusion of graduation in the Transforming Universities program, this number should be increased to 50. The form of admission is also already planned: students must be selected through Enem/Sisu.
The duration and organization of the subjects will follow the 2017 National Curricular Guidelines for Pharmacy courses, with the minimum workload required for training.
Although the general format of the course is already underway, one of the points that is still under discussion is the class shift, since the initial proposal was for it to be a full-time course.
"One of the aspects we are considering is precisely the proposal for a more inclusive university, taking into account the reality of working students, those who need to combine graduation with other activities and also the requirements of internship and practical training. Therefore, this definition will still be made during the adaptation of the project", highlighted Andréia.
The proposal is that the student leaves Ufac prepared to work in different areas of the profession. According to the professor, the training will be generalist and should consider the more than 100 possibilities of work recognized for pharmacists, not just in pharmacies, drugstores or laboratories.
The commission also intends to take advantage of characteristics of the Amazon region to develop research related to the pharmaceutical area.
"Acre is located in a region of enormous biodiversity, which opens up important possibilities for research and development in the pharmaceutical area. The perspective is that the course will also be a basis for, in the future, progress in continuing education, including the possibility of creating master's and doctorate programs in Pharmaceutical Sciences", he highlighted.
Structure
Ufac will not need to build the entire course structure before the first class enters. This is because part of the first-year subjects may use spaces and components already existing at the university.
"Ufac already has a structure that allows it to serve the first years of the course, especially in the so-called basic training or common core. This is possible because the University already has several courses in the health area, such as Medicine, Nursing, Nutrition, Public Health and Physical Education, which have disciplines and laboratory structures that can be shared with the Pharmacy course", said Andréia.
The use of this existing structure also avoids the need to immediately duplicate all spaces and equipment, although it will be necessary, gradually, to adapt rooms, laboratories and acquire equipment for pharmaceutical training.
Among the specific structures planned is the creation of a University Pharmacy. The space should be used for teaching, research and extension activities, in addition to serving the community.
"This implementation will, therefore, be progressive: we have a structural basis to start the course, but the specific infrastructure will need to be expanded as the course progresses", he stressed.
Faculty
Regarding teachers, the implementation of the course will include 11 new vacancy codes. The distribution between the different specialties, however, has not yet been defined, as the curricular matrix needs to be completed to know which specific areas should be covered by new teachers.
"The proposal considers, on the one hand, the structure that Ufac already has. As we have teachers who will be able to work in the common core subjects, it is not necessary for all areas to be covered by new teachers. On the other hand, we will need to incorporate teachers with specific training in Pharmacy to cover the subjects specific to pharmaceutical training", said Andréia.
The expectation is that new teachers have training in Pharmacy and postgraduate studies related to Pharmaceutical Sciences. However, the definition of specialties will come after the completion of the curricular matrix and will still need to go through internal procedures to hold the competitions.
"The 11 codes represent a very important condition for the implementation of the course, but the distribution by area is not yet closed, precisely because we are finalizing the adaptation of the Pedagogical Project and defining which specific skills will need to be incorporated into the teaching staff", he highlighted.
Adaptations
The proposal to create the course began to be built in 2024, when the committee responsible for preparing the PPC was created. Since then, the group has analyzed projects from other institutions, carried out a bibliographical review and worked on adapting the proposal to national guidelines.
The project already has a curriculum matrix, syllabi, survey of the collection needed for the library and forecasts for the University Pharmacy.
After this adjustment phase, the project will still have to go through the University Council and the respective Ufac chambers. Only after this process can you proceed with the necessary procedures with the MEC.
"At this moment, we are not starting to develop the course from scratch. We have a pedagogical project already built and we are working on adapting it to meet the new MEC program and, subsequently, comply with all institutional approval stages", he said.
