The main feature of study in this Department is that students can learn firsthand about the pharmaceutical industry, including factory tours of pharmaceutical companies in Toyama Prefecture, classes about the history of medicine in Toyama, practical training on tablet manufacture at the Toyama Prefectural Institute for Pharmaceutical Research, and lectures by previous students who work at pharmaceutical companies. In addition to classes such as these dedicated to drug development, there are also classes held with students in the Department of Pharmacy, thus there are many opportunities to interact with those students who want to become pharmacists - those who will ultimately deal with the medicines.
In winter of the third year, students receive their laboratory placements. In laboratory research, it is important to be able to continue the cycle of: understanding the rationale for the experiment, conducting the experiment without mistakes, thinking about the results obtained, and debating the next steps that should be taken. It is often hard, since the work may not go smoothly, but by receiving guidance from the instructors as well as input from senior students and classmates, our time in the laboratory continues to give us satisfaction.
With our dream of someday developing medicines ourselves, we want to continue to improve our abilities so that we can work in research and development in the future.