History of the School

The University of Liberia School Of Pharmacy, which is one of the professional schools in the University, was founded in 1986. The West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists—originally the West African Pharmaceutical Federation (WAPF)—a sub-regional body of pharmaceutical associations or societies in Anglo-phone West Africa and specialized agency of the erstwhile West African Health Community (WAHC) was instrumental in its founding. Initially, the School of Pharmacy was established to develop human resources in the pharmaceutical sector in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Gambia, with the hope that the governments of those countries would share in the cost of providing the training. Due to unexplained constraints, the role of supporting the education of pharmacists was, however, left only to the Liberian Government, through the University of Liberia. Nevertheless, the WAPF was pivotal in the birth of the School in a number of other ways. It funded the mission of Professor Emmanuel Ogunlana and the late Professor Lawrence Ndeka, both of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to Liberia for the feasibility studies for the establishment and writing of the prospectus that was, up to the time of this revision, used by the School. Not too long thereafter, the same sub-regional pharmaceutical organization seconded one of its pharmaceutical sciences laureates, the late Professor Albert N. Tackie of Ghana, to the position of coordinator. Yet further, the College of Pharmacists, upon a request made by the then Chief Pharmacist of Liberia, sent a Needs Assessment Team to the School. This was headed by Prof. Kwame Sarpong of Ghana who was then the Head of the School of Pharmacy in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Chairman of the Governing Board of Examiners of the College. Location of the School The School of Pharmacy, University of Liberia, shares facilities with the A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine located in Oldest Town. The A. M. Dogliotti College of Medicine where the School is based was founded in 1968 as a joint venture between the Liberian Government and the Italian Authorities, including the Vatican and the A.M. Dogliotti Foundation. This two sister healthcare science-teaching institutions of the University also share some instructional staff members in subject areas offered in both schools. Achievements of the School Since the inception of classes in the School on June 16, 1986, out of the total enrollment volume of about 100 students, the School has graduated 61 students during ten cycles of commencement exercises but lost eight students due to death. The School participated in all of the meetings on harmonization of Pharmacy curricula (i.e., educating and training of pharmacists) in the West African Sub-region, one of which culminated in a consensus that the undergraduate training of pharmacists (following completion of high school) should consist of a professional doctorate degree program (PharmD.) of no less than six years in duration. From an initial two-man team, the support staff for the School has grown to a sixteen-man group, greatly improving performance-effectiveness and management efficiency.