FARMA1010 Social Pharmacy, Communication and Ethics Course description

The main focus of the course is the scientific, social and humanistic basis for health professions and health services. The course emphasises the fields of social pharmacy, communication and ethics. The subject as a whole forms a common frame of reference for practising the different professions.

The course will have a particular focus on knowledge and skills that promote respect, empathy and reflection, along with cooperation and communication skills. The goal is to ensure common competence that includes knowledge about the health and welfare services, laws and regulations and important challenges in society, in addition to general competence such as communication and cooperation skills, and the ability to take a critical approach to ethical issues. The general course content is placed in a pharmacy context, and reference is made to the pharmacist's place in the health service for each user and for society at large.

Listed below are the subjects covered by the course, with credits specified:

• Social pharmacy, 5 credits
• Profession, cooperation and communication, 4.5 credits
• Ethics, 4 credits
• Theory of science and research methods, 1.5 credits

The course is assessed on the basis of an individual written home exam over seven days, with a scope of 3,500 words +/- 10%.

Resit/rescheduled exam:

Resit/rescheduled exam is organised in the same way as the ordinary exam.

Participation is mandatory, and candidates are expected to attend all days of teaching. A minor absence (up to 20 %) may only be accepted under certain circumstances and upon application. In the event of absences that are not approved, candidates will lose their right to have their essays assessed.

An essay of 8-10 pages must be written in connection with the course. The essay shall take the candidate's project as its point of departure and be related to the course content. The essay must be handed in for assessment by the teacher responsible for the course no later than two months after the end of the course. A passed essay is a precondition for being awarded the 5 ECTS credits. If the essay is awarded a fail grade, the candidate can submit a revised essay once, by a specified deadline.

All examination support material is allowed as long as source reference and quotation technique requirements are applied.

Passed - Failed

Education and development in the Global South

The focus in this topic is development and education in the South. It covers important issues such as different and often competing education paradigms (e.g. ‘Western’ versus Indigenous education approaches and epistemologies), the relationship between tradition and modernity in the education system, development of national curricula, and the modes of pedagogical practice. A central focus is on the exploration of efforts within the Global South to apply education to development.

Education as and for sustainable development

Building on the first topic, the focus here is on pressing global phenomenon of advancing models of sustainable development, and how these relate to education and development initiatives within the Global South. A prominent concept is cultural understanding and the relationship between cultures, ecologies, development and education, and the instersections with particular ideologies, class, gender and ethnic identities, and school-community relationships. This topic includes consideration of advances within the countries of the Global South to re-define development in ecologically sustainable terms, and incorporate these cultural projects into education systems.

Educational aid, management and planning

The topic focuses on issues relating to international education as they are experienced and understood at an implementation level - locally, nationally and regionally, at school and in the local community, and on changes in the role of teacher and education.

The topic deals with educational aid, and the critical consideration of important lending and donor institutions (e.g. the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund), and the use of educational research by Aid agencies.

Students’ own professional experience will also be discussed in this context. The inclusion of fictional literature from the South will help to elucidate the relationship between national culture and identity in a post-colonial context.

Oddbjørg Skjær Ulvik

The target group for the course are candidates from the PhD programme in Social Work and Social Policy, but it will also be open to PhD students on other programs who wish to study the field in dept.

Internal candidates register the course in their Studentweb and send a summary, maximum one page, of their project to the PhD administration.

External candidates apply through the Søknadsweb. The following documentation must be enclosed:

1. Confirmation on admission to a PhD program

2. Summary of your research proposal (approx.one page) and how this PhD course will be relevant for your research project

Maximum number of participants is 15.