The University of Debrecen was founded in 1912. The Faculty of Medicine was inaugurated in 1918. In present days, Debrecen is still renowned for its outstanding educational resources and institutes of higher education. More than ten thousand students attend the University of Debrecen in each year. The education of pharmacist began within the framework of a joint education program between the University Medical School of Debrecen and the former Lajos Kossuth University with Consent of the National Accreditation Committee and the Higher Education Board in 1996.
At the University of Debrecen, Professor Géza Mezey began organizing the pharmacy program, which led to the successful launch of the first class in the pharmacy program in 1996. The establishment of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (2001) and its development, the outstanding cooperation, efforts, and continuous support of the leadership of what was then the University of Medicine in Debrecen and Kossuth Lajos University were indispensable; without the active assistance of their staff, the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences could not have been established in its current form. The coordination and development of pharmacy education was led by Professor Géza Mezey, director of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, until his death (October 17, 2001).
The Faculty of Pharmacy currently consists of ten departments including the Biopharmacy, Pharmacognosy, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Surveillance and Economics, Pharmacodynamics, Pharmaceutical Industry and Pharmaceutical Technology, Pharmaceutical Technology, Molecular and Nanopharmaceutics and External Department of Industrial Pharmaceutical. The cooperative collaboration between the Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, and the Faculty of Science is an ongoing project and on absolutely necessary step for the higher education of pharmacists in the city of Debrecen.
General introduction and mission
The pharmacy education conforms to a great extent of European standards answering at the needs of the 21st century in Health Care. The main goal of the Faculty of Pharmacy is to improve education and to promote the creation of new courses and educational structures in order to rationalize training, and approach the access of the European Union to various fields, including pharmacy education of the health sciences. The primary mission of the University of Debrecen, Faculty of Pharmacy is to serve the pharmaceutical health care needs of Hungary and foreign countries by educating pharmacists to be able to provide contemporary as well as innovative pharmacy services. The Faculty of Pharmacy offers a dynamic curriculum, which includes a broad base of both didactic and experiential components, enabling the graduate to develop practical skills that will enable him/her to function effectively and efficiently in a changing and challenging health care environment. Consistent with this mission, contribution to the body of pharmaceutical knowledge through scholarly activity and service are also important goals.