Academic regulations for the Doctor of Pharmacy Course
Chapter one:Admission and Registration Principles
Chapter two:The Educational System
Chapter three:Courses and Duration of Study
Chapter four:Attendance and Absence
Chapter five:Adding and Removing
Chapter six:Value of Student’s Educational Improvement
Chapter seven:Study leave and Withdrawal from Study
Chapter eight:Approving the Courses of the Admitted
Chapter nine:Dissertation
Chapter ten:Graduation
Chapter one:
Admission and Registration Principles
Article 1: Admission principles for the Doctor of Pharmacy Course are as follows:
1-1: Holding a high school certification
1-2: Being allowed to continue education based on current rules and regulations of the I.R. Iran
1-3: Having the general conditions for admission to a higher education according to the guidelines of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution
1-4: Having physical and psychological health based on the guidelines of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution and confirmed by the medical commission of the university.
Article 2: Those who are admitted are obliged to go to the relevant university or colleges before the announced deadline to start the process of registration. Being late for enrolment in the first semester, will be considered as withdrawing from course.
Article 3: Every semester according to the educational calendar, students must attend the education department to confirm their continuation of education and for selecting the course units. Not doing so without legitimate excuse and previous notification for that semester will be considered as withdrawal from studying. If the student is late for registration but has a legitimate excuse, s/he will not be allowed to select course units in that semester but by issuing an educational leave that semester will be considered as an allowed period of their education.
Note: Students who have not enrolled in a new semester must hand in their legitimate excuse(s) in writing to the education department less than a month after the beginning of semester.
Chapter two:
The Educational System
Article 4: The Doctor of Pharmacy Course is based on the unit selection system of teaching.
Article 5: In unit selection system the value of each unit will be evaluated by the number of units that the course has and passing or failing a course is limited to that very course.
Article 6: Each theoretical and practical (or laboratorial) unit is counted in a way that its content is taught respectively in 17hrs and 34hrs through an educational semester or summer period and it should also be scheduled according to the approved program of the Supreme Council of Planning. Moreover, each practicum and internship unit will be administered respectively in 51hrs and 68hrs.
Article 7: Each academic year contains two semesters and one summer period if necessary.
Article 8: Each semester consists of 17 educational weeks and the summer period consists of 6 educational weeks.
Note 1: Final examination period of academic semesters or summer periods will not be counted as training time.
Note 2: In special and crucial cases the university is allowed to run course(s) in less than 17 weeks after the suggestion of the related college provided that the total hours of each unit does not descend the set hours inaugurated in the 6th article of principles.
Chapter three:
Courses and Duration of Study
Article 9: The minimum number of courses for graduation in the Doctor of Pharmacy Course equals the number of scheduled units which are approved in that course.
Note: Passing the pre-required academic units and their criteria will be determined based on the program appointed by the university council.
Article 10: The student is allowed to pick 12-20 units per semester.
Note 1: In the last semester of education the student will be exempted from following the 12-unit rule.
Note 2: The student who has reached an average of 17 in a semester is allowed to pick up to 24 units for the next semester if possible.
Note 3: In cases which the student is left with maximum number of 24 units, s/he is allowed to take all the remaining units in one semester if s/he has not failed to reach the minimum average of passing in sum. This action should be followed by the permission of the college.
Note 4: In summer period the student is not allowed to pick more than 6 units.
Article 11: The maximum permitted time to study the Doctor of Pharmacy Course is 5 to 9 years.
Chapter four:
Attendance and Absence
Article 12: The student is obliged to participate in all the sessions related to the theoretical and practical courses. Not participating in each session will remain an absent for the student.
Article 13: The absent hours for theoretical and practical (or laboratorial) units should not exceed four out of seventeen from the total hours of that unit and for practicum and internship courses the absent hours should not exceed one out of ten from the total hours. Otherwise the mark of that course will be considered as zero.
Article 14: If the number of absents for each theoretical and practical (or laboratorial) units exceeds four out of seventeen and for practicum and internship courses exceeds one out of ten, that course will be removed if the absents are justified while at the same time it is not necessary to follow the 12-unit rule. Moreover, that semester will be counted as a whole semester in the educational records of the student.
Article 15: Unjustified absence in the examination session will be considered as obtaining zero in that course and justified absence will cause the course to be dropped and removed.
Article 16: If the sum of absent hours of a student (both justified and unjustified) exceeds one out of ten in practicum and internship courses and four out of seventeen for theoretical and practical (or laboratorial) units, the student will be obliged to repeat that course or unit completely.
Article 17: The Educational Council of the university decides if the absences from classes, practicum and internship hours and examination sessions are justified or unjustified.
Chapter five:
Adding and Removing
Article 18: In each semester after two weeks have been elapsed, the student can remove maximum two courses (theoretical, practical, practicum and internship) or register for two other units or even substitute the two selected courses with one another, provided that the selected units do not exceed the appointed limits of article 10.
Note 1: Absence in the first two weeks for adding or removing units or any reasons is not permitted and if happens will be counted as allowed number of four out of seventeen and one out of ten permitted absences.
Note 2: Adding and removing process is not permitted in summer periods.
Article 19: The student can remove only one of the theoretical or practicum and internship courses until 5 weeks to the end of the semester of course by the confirmation from the Education Department provided that first, the number of absent hours do not exceed four out of seventeen and one out of ten and second, the remaining units do not go below 12.
Article 20: Removing all the selected units in a semester is allowed only if the student is not able to continue education in that semester according to the recognition of Education Department of university. In this case the semester will be counted among the maximum allowed time of the student’s education duration.
Chapter six:
Value of Student’s Educational Improvement
Article 21: Assessing the student’s improvement in each semester is based on the student’s attendance in classes, activities, and results of mid-term and final examinations. The course professor is another reference for the student’s assessment.
Article 22: Assessing the student’s improvement in practicum and internship courses will be followed based on the following points:
22-1: Having professional manner and keeping medical character and having good relationships with the patient and the staff
22-2: Regular and full-time attendance in related courses and classes
22-3: Paying attention and devoting sense of conscientiousness to the appointed duties according to the criteria of the related unit
22-4: Increasing skills and the student’s utilization from practicum and internship courses
22-5: Participating in the final examinations and obtaining the needed marks
Article 23: Taking written exam at the end of the each semester is obligatory for the Doctor of Pharmacy Course.
Note: The examination of practicum and internship courses will be administered by the end of each course.
Article 24: The educational improvement assessment scale for student is the final examination result and the student’s mark for each course will be numerically between zero to 20.
Article 25: The minimum passing mark for all the pharmacy courses (except dissertation, practicum and internship) is 10 and the minimum total average for each semester is 12. The minimum passing mark for practicum, internship and dissertation courses (dissertation 1, 2, 3) is 14. The student who does not obtain the minimum passing mark for each course has to select that course again as soon as possible. All the marks (both passed and failed) will be counted and summed up in the average mark of the student’s record.
Note: The theoretical and practical (unconnected) marks which have two characters are separated but for theoretical-practical (connected) courses which have one character, only one mark will be counted.
Article 26: The final mark of the student has to be proclaimed to the Education Department of university maximum after 10 days after the examination by the professor(s).
Note: If the final mark is not proclaimed to the Education Department the process will be carried out in the Education Council of the university and decisions will be made about the professor and the students.
Article 27: The Education Department of college has to send the final marks to the General Education Department of university maximum after three weeks after the last examination and when the objections have been taken care of and probable mistakes have been corrected.
Note: The mark will be unchangeable after it is proclaimed to the General Education Department of the university.
Article 28: At the end of each semester the average of marks and the sum of average marks up to that semester will be counted and they will be registered in the report card.
Note 1: To calculate the average, the number of units for each course will be multiplied by the mark obtained for that course and the sum of all the multiplication will be divided by the total units which the student has obtained passed or failed.
Note 2: The marks obtained in the summer period will only be counted in the total average of a student’s achievement and this period will not be counted as the allowed time of education.
Article 29: The average marks of units for each semester should not go below 12 otherwise registering for the next semester would be under conditions.
Note 1: In cases which the introduced number of units from the university is less than 12 that semester will not be counted as an educational semester for the student but if the student fails to obtain minimum of needed average, the student will be treated under conditions. In cases that the student has selected less than 12 units due to personal problems, that semester will be counted as an educational semester and if the average goes less than what is needed the student will again be treated under conditions.
Note 2: The University is obliged to hand in a written document indicating the conditional status of the student to the student and the parents and one sample of that document should be kept in the records of the student. This way the student cannot deny of being informed and the rules will be practiced regularly.
Note 3: A student under conditions is not allowed to select more than 14 units for that semester.
Article 30: A student who has been under conditions in three consecutive or four periodic semesters will be excluded from continuing study.
Article 31: The total average of the student should not go below 12. The student whose total average is less than the appointed limit can repeat the courses in which has obtained less than the needed point provided that the allowed time for education has not ended otherwise the student cannot graduate. Apparently, the marks of the repeated courses will be added to the previous ones and they will be registered and counted in the record card of the student.
Chapter seven:
Study leave and Withdrawal from Study
Article 32: The student can benefit from study leave in the pharmacy training for maximum two consecutive or periodical semesters and it will be registered as studying time.
Article 33: Asking for study leave should be handed in written to the Education Department of the university by the student at least two weeks before registration.
Note: The Education Department of the university is obliged to inform the student about approval or disapproval of the study leave request in written after asking for the opinion of the head or the deputy of the related university.
Article 34: Leaving without having permission from the university in which the student is studying will be considered as quitting study and such a student will not be allowed to continue study.
Note: In exceptional cases which the student considers his/her leave justified, the reasons should be given to the university at least one month before the end of that semester. If the university confirms that the leave is justified, that semester will be counted as an educational leave for the student.
Article 35: The student should hand in the study leave request to the Education Department in person. This way the student is allowed only once to ask for having the request back after one month from the request. When the date of the request is expired, the leave decree would be signed up and the student will not be allowed to continue his/her study from then.
Note 1: The student who has quit studying is obliged to act to all the financial commitments that were run in studying period.
Chapter eight:
Approving the Courses of the Admitted
Article 36: Equalizing and approving the courses which have been passed by the admitted in other branches or higher education institutions in other educational levels will be allowed with the following conditions:
36-1: The former university and its degrees should be confirmed by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education or Ministry of Culture and Higher Education.
36-2: The content of the passed courses should be in common with the courses of the new major based on the recognition of the Education Department and the mark for each course should not be less than 12.
Note: Equalizing and approving courses will be done by the Education Department of the acceptor university.
Article 37: The number of admitted units and the units which the student has passed in the new higher education institution will be recorded in the student’s record card. Apparently, the mark of the passed courses from the former major will be counted in the total average.
Note: One semester will be decreased from the maximum allowed time of the student for every 20 admitted units.
Chapter nine:
Dissertation
Article 38: Writing the dissertation is the last part of the Doctor of Pharmacy Course in which the student is obliged to do research about a related subject to the major under the directions of his/her supervisor.
Note 1: The subject of the dissertation and choosing the supervisor is done after the suggestion of the student and the supervisor’s acceptance and the Research Council of the university’s approval will determine that.
Note 2: The period between registering the dissertation subject and defending that should not be less than one year.
Article 39: The students the Doctor of Pharmacy Course can choose the dissertation subject with the supervisor after passing at least 140 units. The dissertation subject will be confirmed after the approval of the Research Council of the university.
Article 40: Maximum two persons from the faculty members or specialists and noted researchers will be determined as the advisor with the supervisor’s suggestion after the approval of the Research Council of the university.
Article 41: The dissertation will be evaluated by the jury made of the supervisor and at least two faculty members or researchers, experts and adepts chosen from the related college and with the presence of the deputy of the Research Council or a faculty member as his/her representative.
Note: The minimum academic degree of the supervisor and faculty members should be “Assistant Professor”. For researchers, experts and adepts bearing PhD would be compulsory.
Article 42: If the jury decides that the dissertation is poor the student can complete and defend it at a time that the jury determines. This time should not exceed the allowed time of study for that student.
Article 43: The jury’s evaluation of the dissertation is in a numerical scale from zero to twenty.
Note: The student’s dissertation of Doctor of Pharmacy Course will be categorized into four groups according to their marks as follows:
Excellent: Dissertations from 19 to 20
Very good: Dissertations form 17 to 18.99
Good: Dissertations from 14 to 16.99
Unacceptable: Dissertations less than 14
Note 2: Only students who have passed all the curriculum units of Doctor of Pharmacy Course are allowed to defend their dissertation.
Note 3: The dissertation which has obtained at least 19 will be granted a “superior” degree if there has been printed an article from it or it has been printed in a scientific journal.
Article 44: The dissertation units will be presented as follows:
-
(2 units): After the approval of the suggested subject by the Research Council and passing the research methodology course.
-
(2 units): During semesters after passing the course “dissertation 1” and one semester less than registration for the course “dissertation 3” followed by the supervisor’s confirmation and approval.
-
(2 units): Last semester
Note: Apparently, the marks for the courses “dissertation 1” and “dissertation 2” will be announced by the supervisor at the end of the semester which the course has been selected and the mark for the course “dissertation 3” will be announced by the jury.
Chapter ten:
Graduation
Article 45: The student who has passed all the courses of the Doctor of Pharmacy and has successfully defended the dissertation will be considered as a graduate based on the rules of these regulations.
Article 46: The date in which the dissertation has been passed will be considered as the graduation date.
Attention: In cases which these regulations have not mentioned anything the criterion would be the decision of the Education Council of Kish International Campus.