Message from the Chair

　　 The National Taiwan University (NTU) Department of Pharmacy was the first pharmacy school in Taiwan. Established in 1953, the Department has over 60 years of history, and it is the home for the high-quality pharmacy professionals in Taiwan. Our program has expanded gradually from a regular Bachelor’s degree program to a Master's degree program, Ph.D. degree program, and further to Molecular Medical Sciences Program and Chinese Herbal Medicine Program. In 2009, the Department initiated the first Pharm.D. program in Taiwan. We have over 3,000 undergraduate and 600 graduate alumni who have devoted themselves in various fields of pharmacy and contributed considerably to the health and human well-beings. Their achievement had earned the respect and recognition of the society. We have also grown from less than 10 faculty members to nearly 30 full-time faculty members. NTU School of Pharmacy (NTUSP) was established in 2013 included Department of Pharmacy, Graduate Institute of Clinical Pharmacy, and Drug Research Center. The present site of the NTUSP , "SHUI-SEN HALL", donated by an outstanding alumnus, Dr. Jane H. Hsiao, presents the collective efforts and supports from the previous Deans, faculty members and alumni for the NTUSP. Being a Chair of the NTU Department of Pharmacy, I will be committed myself to pharmacy education for the Department and Taiwan with the core values” foster professional pharmacists, practice innovation, serve the people, and devote to the pharmacy field”. Practice in line with the words from the Department founder, Prof. Yun-Tao Sun, “The advance of the pharmacy improves the population health. Therefore we shall so everything possible to learn and to study it. It is a long-term responsibility to perfect the pharmacy education and to benefit the mankind”.

The NTU Department of Pharmacy has always maintained a demanding and solid training with high standard. The curriculum includes courses from basic sciences to advanced pharmacy courses. The goal of our coursework is to ensure the professions of our graduates not only in the healthcare areas, but also in various fields of pharmacy. With rapid developments in medical and biological sciences, the field of pharmacy has also been expanded and involves more knowledge. Furthermore, with the expansions of pharmacy services, pharmacists nowadays play a different role with different expectations in the society. In response to the changes in pharmacy practice, the Department has reformed its curriculum and program structure. In 2009, the six-year Pharm.D. program was established and co-existed with the four-year B.S.Pharm. program. The double-track system was closed and replaced by the six-year system in 2015. We believe the six-year Pharm.D. program will further enhance pharmacy profession and pharmacy practice environment in the long run.

In addition to the prime mission of training competent pharmacists, the NTU Department of Pharmacy also provides a diverse programs that embraces a wide range of biopharmaceutical areas. A number of NTU Department of Pharmacy alumni have plunged into basic sciences, some have become research fellows in the Academia Sinica, and others have served in the government and become key policy makers in the field. Several of our alumni are entrepreneurs who have run successful businesses in pharmaceutical industry. With the advancements in biotechnology, Taiwan’s government has picked the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry as two major fields for economic development. It is hoped that biopharmaceuticals would be a next generation industry that boosts the economic growth of Taiwan. With the rapidly changing environment, the NTU Department of Pharmacy will take the responsibility to train competent personnel and to provide cutting-edge research to advance the development of the biopharmaceutical industry.

It’s my privilege to be entrusted with the leadership. I will carry forward the achievements of Prof. Yun-Tao Sun, the founder of the Department, and spare no efforts in cultivating and developing NTUSP with the core values of “profession, science and humanism”. Under the core valuable and the tradition of the NTU and with collective efforts of facility members and alumni, the NTU Department of Pharmacy will advance to be a “Great School of Pharmacy”.

I would focus on the 5 goals and 15 strategies in my deanship:

Li-Jiuan (Rita) Shen, Ph.D.
Dean, National Taiwan University School of Pharmacy
Chair, National Taiwan University Department of Pharmacy