History

          The Faculty of Pharmacy, Rangsit University became the first private university in the academic year 1987 to teach and produce graduates in the field of Pharmacy which is essential for public health care in the production and usage of both modern and herbal medicines. Moreover, the Faculty gives advice on people’s health care regarding the consumption of dietary supplements and the rational use of various natural therapies. To produce pharmacists in the private university can be regarded as helping the nation to equip citizens to serve society without relying on the state budget.                                            

          The first phase was to produce pharmacists who could perform in all aspects of their profession, such as in hospitals, marketing, pharmaceutical industries, communities, academic and research, etc. Subsequently, the program was revised a number of times, namely Bachelor of Pharmacy Program in the academic year 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2005, respectively. Later, the professional pledge focused on the safety of people's medical use and a greater role in disease prevention to meet the needs of society. In addition, the Pharmacy Council of Thailand started to play more roles in determining the production of pharmacists. Therefore, from the academic year 2009 onwards, in order to take the pharmaceutical professional licensure exam, only pharmaceutical courses which are open for six years would be approved by the Pharmacy Council. The Bachelor of Pharmacy Program must be changed from the original five-year program to Doctor of Pharmacy Program in Pharmaceutical Care, a six-year program, began in the academic year 2009. The instructional design of the program focuses on helping pharmacists in preparation and selection of medicines, providing effective medical services, and become an expert in pharmaceutical practice which emphasizes the role in patient care. Doctor of Pharmacy Program in Pharmaceutical Care has increased the content of knowledge in medical therapy, diseases, medical use for each patient in order for students to understand the system of public health organizations and enable them to communicate with patients and other personnel in the healthcare team, as well as aiming to develop skills and experiences through practical training. The program also focuses on developing graduates’ to be creative, morally and ethically adhering to the code of ethics of the pharmaceutical profession. In the academic year 2012, the faculty added another six-year program in the field of pharmacy to meet the nation's need for self-sufficiency in medicine production, research, and development. The new program was approved by the University Council, the OHEC, and certified by the Pharmacy Council. The Bachelor of Pharmacy Program n Pharmacy (new program in 2012) was opened to students at the same time as the Bachelor of Pharmacy Program in Pharmaceutical Care. Later in the academic year 2013, the faculty revised the program to Industrial Pharmacy in accordance to the Pharmacy Council’s definition of a pharmacist concerning professional practice in the pharmaceutical industry which the Bachelor of Pharmacy Program in Industrial Pharmacy (program revised in 2013) was approved by the University Council and the Pharmacy Council on May 19, 2014.

          Later in the academic year 2013, the faculty revised the program to Industrial Pharmacy in reference/in accordance to the Pharmacy Council’s description of “a pharmacist” concerning professional practice in the pharmaceutical industry which the Bachelor of Pharmacy Program in Industrial Pharmacy (program revised in 2013) was approved by the University Council and the Pharmacy Council on May 19, 2014.                                                                                        

In the academic year 2017, the faculty revised both programs after the completion of five years. Pharmaceutical care (revised in 2018) was approved by the OHEC on August 29, 2017, and Industrial Pharmacy (revised in 2018) was approved by the OHEC on September 22, 2017, including the Bachelor of Pharmacy Program (revised in 2018). Both programs have already been certified according to the Pharmacy Council Announcement No. 23/2017 with a period of seven years for accreditation on June 20, 2017. According to the results, it revealed that the accreditation is under OHEC consideration guarantees the quality of both programs through the quality assurance program of the Pharmacy Council (a complete quality indicators in comparable to the internal educational quality assessment system at the program level of the OHEC).   Therefore, the OHEC meeting No. 2/2016 on March 14, 2016 approved the system of Quality Assessment of the Pharmacy Council's program from the academic year 2016 onwards. Both programs (revised in 2018) certified by the Pharmacy Council and implemented in the academic year 2018. The programs were exempted from internal educational quality assessment.                                                                                                                    

         In addition to providing a degree, the faculty also recognizes the importance of promoting graduate education to expand knowledge in medicine and other health product research. In the beginning of the graduate program, two programs were in operation: Master of Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy which started from the academic year 2012 until the complete revisions of the five-year program in 2017 by changing their names to Master of Science Program in Pharmacy and Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacy, respectively. Both graduate programs were approved by the Office of the Higher Education Commission on February 27, 2017 and have been implemented since the academic year 2017. Both programs passed the annual system of internal educational quality assessment at the program level.          

          From past to present, Faculty of Pharmacy has five deans. The first is Prof. (Special) Chawee Bunnag, Pharm. D. (Academic Year 1987 - 1997). The second is Prof. Dr. Sasee Panyarachun, Pharm. D. (Academic Year 1998 - 2001). The third is Assoc. Prof. Dr. Oraphan Matangkasombat, Pharm. D.  (Academic Year 2002 - 2009). The fourth is Prof. (Special) Dr. Krisana Kraisintu, Pharm. D. (Academic Year 2010 - 2012). Currently, Asst. Prof. Dr. Thanapat Songkran, Pharm. D. is the Dean since the academic year 2013. From 1992 up to present, a total of 27 badges of pharmacists have been produced, totaling to 3,555 graduates.                                     Under the current Dean’s policy and administration, Asst. Prof. Dr. Thanaphat Songsak, Pharm. D., has established a Medical Cannabis Research Institute with the purpose of producing research and innovation related to medical cannabis. This can be beneficial to the people, and apparently, this gave Rangsit University a recognition in becoming a pioneer (leader) in society to initiate research on narcotic plants (cannabis) for benefits. Rangsit University, therefore, with an order No. 155/2018, announced the upgrading from Faculty of Pharmacy to College of Pharmacy on June 7, 2018. It is considered to be the only pharmacy institute in Thailand, using the name of College of Pharmacy.