[An overview of the development of pharmacy education in Slovakia]

Before 1777, the pharmacist in Slovakia gained their professional qualification by practising in a pharmacy. From the establishment of the University of Trnava to 1777, they attended lectures and took examinations at its Faculty of Medicine, then from 1784 onwards in Budapest. After the establishment of Czechoslovakia, the candidates of pharmacy studied in Prague, and after the closing of Czech universities (1939) in Bratislava. Between 1940 and 1948 there existed a three-year course, and later a four-year course at the Faculty of Medicine, the contents of which were close to the level of the development of sciences and the requirements of pharmaceutical practice. A logical completion of the development of the course of studies was the establishment of independent Faculties of Pharmacy in Bratislava and Brno and the prolongation of the course to five years. Commencing with the academic year 1977/78, the course of studies was divided into three specializations, General Pharmacy, Clinical Pharmacy and Technological Pharmacy. Since the academic year 1990/91 the course is uniform again, with possible differentiations in the profile of the graduate during the course according to the interests and options of the student.