Nanotechnology Inclusion in Pharmaceutical Sciences Education in Portugal

Abstract

Objective. To analyze the inclusion of nanotechnology in the curricula of Integrated Master's in Pharmaceutical Sciences programs in Portugal. Methods. Information regarding curricula (general notice and curricular unit description, objectives and syllabus) from national institutions was collected from their official websites or requested by e-mail, and analyzed for the occurrence of nanotechnology and related terms. A nanotechnology inclusion in curriculum (NIC) index was developed and used to rank each institution. Results. All institutions with available data (eight out of nine) offered nanotechnology in their curricula. Both basic and applied nanotechnology-related education were offered to students but mostly from a theoretical perspective. The NIC index provided a standardized tool for comparing the institutions' programs and highlighted differences according to the relative importance of the presence of nanotechnology and related terms in curricula. Conclusion. Portuguese institutions offering integrated master's programs in pharmaceutical sciences are including nanotechnology in their curricula. However, its implementation across all institutions remains weak and requires further strengthening to meet the requirements of this emerging field in health care practice.

The Role of Education in Nanomedicine as a Current Need for Academic Programs Related to the Healthcare Field: A Scoping Review

“…NIC was proposed as a potential tool for the inclusion of nanotechnology in distinct educational programs. 20 …”

“…Multiple cross-sectional studies have shown that students enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate programs in pharmacy, medicine, and biology, although they are conscious of the importance and relevance of nanotechnology or/and nanomedicine, have little exposure to it in their educational programs. 11,[17][18][19][20] The common finding is that no matter the major or the educational area, an important percentage of the students have a poor understanding of nanotechnology, their attitude is positive toward it, and most of them believed that they need more training and education in this field. The need for a curriculum change, which includes courses dedicated to teaching nanotechnology and its applications and reflects an interdisciplinary nature, was a common finding too.…”

“…NIC was proposed as a potential tool for the inclusion of nanotechnology in distinct educational programs. 20 The Division of Dermatopathology at the University of Connecticut re-evaluated the dermatology residency curriculum to incorporate molecular diagnostics and personalized medicine training into the core competencies. They proposed a basic curriculum template for how to begin approaching these topics, a template that could be used by other dermatology residencies to get the inclusion of Nanotechnology in their syllabus.…”

Need for Expansion of Pharmacy Education Globally for the Growing Field of Nanomedicine

“…There is a relative dearth of information regarding the rate and extent to which programs cover the medical application of nanotechnology in current pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences curricula. An evaluation of the inclusion of nanotechnology in Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences programs in Portugal collected the curricula delivered at five public and four private Universities [30]. Curricula were systematically searched for references to nanotechnology or related terms (e.g., liposome, nano, colloid).…”

Nanobilim ve Nanoteknoloji Eğitimi Araştırmaları Üzerine Bir Bibliyometrik Analiz

“…Accordingly, European universities composed nanotechnology courses, researchers published articles on NST education, digital education sources were developed such as nanoyou. In the meantime, nano education outreach programs (Moraes, 2012;Saidi & Sigauke, 2017), integrating nanotechnology in the science curriculum (Blonder & Sakhnini, 2017;Neves, 2018;Yu & Jen, 2020), developing hands-on activities (Bagaria et al, 2011;Furlan, 2009;Lati et al, 2019), determining public understanding, awareness or attitudes towards NST (Scheufele & Lewenstein, 2005;Senocak, 2014;Vandermoere et al, 2011), instrument development (Lin et al, 2013;Schönborn et al, 2015) research studies were implemented.…”