Swansea University Medical School has appointed two key members of staff as it prepares to launch its new pharmacy course.
Mair Davies, immediate past-Director for Wales for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and Dr Neil Hartman, head of nuclear medicine at Singleton Hospital, have both been given Honorary Professor appointments ahead of the new MPharm degree beginning in 2021.
Head of Pharmacy Professor Andrew Morris said: “I am very pleased to have the support of two such eminent individuals within the profession to help advise our course developments.”
He emphasised that the current crisis had demonstrated the important role that pharmacists play in the fight against Covid-19 and just why the profession is so crucial to healthcare.
“Pharmacy ensures the public has access to medicines and healthcare advice. This has always been an important role, but it has proven critical during the pandemic.
“In future the health service in Wales will continue to place a greater emphasis on preventing illness, on supporting people to manage their own health and wellbeing, and on enabling people to live independently for as long as they can – the pharmacists we will be training here in Swansea will be a crucial part of this.”
During Mair Davies’s four years as RPS Director for Wales there were considerable developments in the profession culminating in the release of the Pharmacy: Delivering a Healthier Wales vision document.
She said: “It is a pleasure to join Swansea University and I look forward to working with the Pharmacy Team and wider stakeholders to help develop an innovative new pharmacy programme.”
Dr Hartman joined Singleton in 2018 from St Bartholomew’s Hospital where he was head of radiopharmacy. He previously held affiliate academic appointments at Cambridge University, Queen Mary University of London and Purdue University.
Swansea Bay University Health Board radiopharmacy manufactures
radiopharmaceuticals for all the local nuclear medicine departments to ensure diagnostic services remain uninterrupted during the pandemic.
Dr Hartman said: “I am thrilled to receive this appointment which enables me to continue my involvement in pharmacy education and contribute to the development of the next generation of radiopharmacists.
He added that he sees his new role as four-fold:
- To aid the new pharmacy school in establishing an exciting curriculum;
- To teach aspiring pharmacists about the design, pharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics of diagnostic medicines in radiology and nuclear medicine;
- To recruit graduate students to aid and enhance our knowledge and application of novel radiopharmaceuticals; and,
- To provide a facility (at the Singleton Hospital) for pharmacy students (from Swansea University and further afield) to get shadowing experience in radiopharmacy.
Find out more about the new course by attending our next Virtual Open Day on June 20th
