Teaching and scientific co-operation within the single-cycle degree course in Pharmacy - An exported model, Tirana

At the Catholic University "Nostra Signora del Buon Consiglio"/"Our Lady of Good Counsel" (UniNSBC) in Tirana (Albania), managed by the homonymous Foundation, a Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and a Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences, in cooperation respectively with the University of Rome -Tor Vergata and the University of Bari, are present since the a.y. 2004-2005. In the a.y. 2005-2006, a Faculty of Pharmacy with a single-cycle degree course in Pharmacy was founded as well, as a result of an agreement (July 2005) with the University of Milan (UniMI). The UniNSBC initiative in Albania represents the greatest Italian university operation abroad, with its seven degree courses and the commitment of more than 450 Italian professors. Since the UniNSBC is a unique and highly qualified reference point in the whole Balcanic Area, among the goals of this co-operation there is the improvement of the healthcare and pharmaceutical systems in Albania and in the neighbouring countries,. The 2nd level degree course in Pharmacy of UniNSBC shares with that of UniMI the training goals, the study plan and the syllabus, and proceeds with an identical didactical path. The agreement between the two Universities binds them to encourage the exchange of students, whose study periods in the host University are considered as an integral part of the curriculum of the sending University. During the fifth year, the students get a double registration and are allowed to attend courses or laboratories and to take exams according to the rules of the host University as well as do their practical professional apprenticeship and the thesis. The preparation of the degree course involved a large number of teachers of the Faculty of Pharmacy of UniMI (90% of the courses taught by Italians) and, following the convention of September 2007 and the additional act of 2010, the requirements to be fulfilled in order to be granted the double degree were established. Among these, the responsibility for teaching the lessons should rest with the Italian teachers for at least 70% of the credits. As stipulated in the agreement, UniMI and UniNSBC are working to develop partnerships for improving the academic, cultural and scientific relations, for organizing teaching trips for professors, researchers and technical-administrative staff of both parties, in relation to research and training projects in areas of common interest. UniMI and UniNSBC have also committed to draw up a co-operation plan for scientific research. This plan will gradually become effective by setting up laboratories and by training its personnel at UniNSBC. The development of collaboration and co-operation activities is supported by UniNSBC and its Foundation "Our Lady of Good Counsel", on the basis of available resources and by acquiring public and private, national and international funding