An Coiste Feabhais Acadúil
The Committee on Academic Quality Improvement
The Academic Quality Assurance Programme 2002-2003
REVIEW OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACOLOGY
Final Review Report
29th May 2003
Department of Pharmacology: Review Group Report
This report arises from a visit by a review team to the Department of Pharmacology, NUI,
Galway, on March 18th – 19th 2003. The Department had already prepared a ‘Self Assessment
Report’ that, with other documentation, was made available to the review team well in advance of
the visit. In the course of the visit, the review team interviewed all members of the academic,
technical and administrative staff, post-doctoral researchers, and a number of postgraduate and
undergraduates students from the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Medicine and Health
Sciences. The reviewers also had discussions with the Vice-Dean of Medicine and Health
Sciences, the Vice-Dean of Science, the Secretary for Academic Affairs, the Assistant Secretary
from the Office of the Registrar, the Dean of Research and the Acting Director of Computer
Services.
The review team consisted of:
Professor Kenneth Broadley (Division of Pharmacology, Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff
University) acting as chair
Dr. A. K. Keenan (Department of Pharmacology, UCD)
Dr. Maria Tuohy (Department of Biochemistry, NUI, Galway)
Dr. Annette Harte (Department of Civil Engineering, NUI, Galway) acting as rapporteur
The report is structured to cover the following main topics:
1. Aims and Objectives
2. Organisation and Management
3. Programmes and Instruction
4. Scholarship and Research
5. Community Service
6. Summary, Concluding Remarks and Recommendations
1. Aims and Objectives
The aims of the Department as outlined in the Self Assessment Report are well articulated. These
are not, however, communicated to the students. The review group is of the opinion that the
objectives of the Department as set out in the Self Assessment Report are unclear and need to be
clarified and expanded. This should be considered in conjunction with the development of a
Departmental Strategic Plan.
2. Organisation and Management
The organizational and management structures and practices, currently in operation in the
Department of Pharmacology, are considered under two headings: (i) resources (human and
physical), and (ii) programmes of learning and research.
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Department of Pharmacology: Review Group Report
Current organization and management of resources
•
The Department has had an acting head since 1999 and has survived a period of considerable
uncertainty with limited physical and human resources.
•
At present, all members of staff are members of the departmental management committee.
However, this committee only meets approximately every 3 months. Given the expansion of
the Department in the Science Faculty, more frequent meetings are essential to create a teambased approach to management of resources and activities.
•
A finances sub-committee is in place – this is particularly important in view of the increased
involvement of the Department in PRTLI and programme grant awards has warranted this
development. As the Department expands, further sub-committees, will be essential in order
to maximize existing resources and to foster a team-based approach to resource management
and planning.
•
While individual staff members contributed to the self-assessment document, the finalization
was not a team activity. Some points were raised as to whether the full profile of issues,
reflecting the entire departmental team, was represented in the self-assessment document.
•
The Department is exemplary in terms of how it manages existing physical resources, and has
taken a highly organized approach to managing teaching and research facilities. The
Department has been very pro-active in securing computing facilities to support its teaching
and research activities in clinical and basic pharmacology. One technical staff member is
employed full-time in support of these activities.
•
The Department has a very commendable and responsible approach to safety issues, training
and staff development. While all technical staff have received formal training in key aspects
of safety/safety management, one technical staff member has undertaken the role of ‘safety
coordinator’ in the Department.
•
The commitment of all staff to the Department is very clear – this should be recognized and
commended. No formal mechanism exists to promote/recognize this effort - a more formal
departmental management structure may provide such a framework at departmental level.
•
While all staff members have demonstrated an unparalleled level of commitment to
students/teaching and research activities, under very difficult circumstances, it is clear that
staffing issues are of major concern and pose a real threat to maintenance of current activities
in the Department, as well as the development of the true potential of the Pharmacology
Department. The Department has managed its existing ‘human’ resources more than
admirably, mainly because of the commitment of individual staff. The Department is
currently in a state of crisis with regard to adequate numbers of staff. In the interests of staff
morale, and to maximize the true potential of this strategically important discipline, there is
an urgent need for the appointment of additional staff. While commitment has been made to
fill the Chair of Clinical Pharmacology, the prominence and importance of the basic
Pharmacology programmes also require an appropriate level of support. It is envisaged that 5
full-time permanent academic staff members in basic Pharmacology are needed to meet
current and imminent demands in the Science faculty teaching programmes. This support is
also essential for staff morale.
•
Post-doctoral staff are heavily engaged in all aspects of teaching, training and research. The
contribution of these researchers to maintaining the very credible track-record of the
Department in terms of research out-put during the post-1999 years of transition should be
commended. The track-record and high calibre of these candidates is clearly obvious, and
they represent a very valuable resource for the Department. Every effort should be made to
support and encourage the development of these researchers, to enable them to develop their
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research and receive recognition for their efforts, and to develop a career structure that will
attract and retain such candidates in the Department.
•
One half-time administrator currently supports all of the teaching and research activities
currently on-going in the Department. Given the number and breadth of courses provided by
the department to students in the Science and Medical Faculties, and to support the ongoing
expansion of the Department’s activities in the B.Sc. degree programme, a full-time
administrator is essential.
•
While existing physical resources are meeting the current needs of the Department, due in no
small part to the commitment and organizational skills of the staff involved, a crisis will arise
once the first batch of 4th year B.Sc. students majoring in Pharmacology come on-stream. To
avert such a crisis, the University should put in place a strategy/commitment to provide the
necessary facilities.
Current organization and management of programmes of learning and research
•
The Department has a very impressive track-record with regard to the organization and
delivery of programmes of learning to medical students, at post-graduate level (e.g. the highly
successful M.Sc. in Neuropharmacology programme), and at undergraduate level in the
delivery of the module course in Basic Pharmacology (formerly Applied Pharmacology and
Toxicology) to 3rd Year Undenominated and denominated B.Sc. degree groups. The
introduction of Pharmacology as a B.Sc. degree subject in the academic year 2002-2003
should further enhance the importance of the Department as a high quality centre of learning.
•
The courses provided by the Department to Medical and Science students are well organized,
as reflected in the glowing comments of all students interviewed. Coursework and
complementary practical activities are well co-ordinated and organized, both in the service
teaching programmes and courses now offered by the Department. Student surveys are
conducted and feedback is sought. However, a formal student-staff forum does not exist at
present. Course co-ordinators are present for all programmes, but given the shortage in
permanent staff, the two current permanent members of staff have responsibility for several
courses simultaneously – this is especially true for the basic pharmacology programmes.
•
Serious organizational and management issues have arisen in the provision of clinical
pharmacology course to 5th Medical students, in that a previous ad-hoc arrangement, whereby
these lectures were given by a visiting lecturer with expertise in Clinical Pharmacology, has
lapsed due to the unavailability of suitable staff. This year’s 5th Medical cohort will not
receive these lectures, which are very popular with students and seen as a vital component of
their medical training.
•
As mentioned above, the clinical and basic pharmacology programmes of learning are
organized to a high standard. Close integration of the two strands could serve to enhance both
programmes even further. Provision has been made for the appointment of a chair in Clinical
Pharmacology. However, given the recognized strategic importance at Faculty and University
level of the B.Sc. programme in Basic pharmacology, provision of adequate human and
physical resources for this programme, which currently requires the input of a significant
proportion of staff in the department, is equally vital.
•
All members of staff (technical, administrative, research and academic) have made an
outstanding contribution to vibrant promotion of pharmacology. However, given the number
of courses provided, the consequent intensity of the teaching activities, in combination with
the inadequate human resources in terms of permanent academic staff, the current mammoth
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personal commitment cannot be sustained indefinitely, both in the interests of staff morale
and maintenance of quality.
•
Research postgraduate students in the department are very satisfied with the levels of
supervision, training and resources available to them for their studies.
•
The Department does not have a formal strategic plan. Again, given the rapid expansion of
the department and its importance in the Science and Medical faculties, a strategic plan that
would allow the Department identify its resource requirements and plan for future
development would be very useful. It would also serve to integrate the activities of the
department at teaching and research levels, in both clinical and basic pharmacology, and
enable the department to build on its strengths in both areas.
Recommendations
•
Formal Departmental committee structure and more frequent meetings. Recording of minutes
(and decisions). Setting up of sub-committees, to maximize existing resources and to foster a
team-based approach to resource management and planning.
•
In the interests of staff morale, and to maximize the true potential of this strategically
important discipline, there is an urgent need for the appointment of additional staff to meet
current and immediately imminent demands in the Science faculty teaching programmes.
•
Appointment of a full-time administrator is essential.
•
Facilities (laboratory and teaching) for forthcoming 4th year B.Sc. student cohorts.
•
Development of a formal student-staff forum, i.e. meeting every 2 months between
representative staff in the department and class reps.
•
Provision of staff to deliver lectures to 5th Medical cohort.
•
Closer integration of the clinical and basic pharmacology strands of the department could
serve to enhance both programmes. In addition to the Clinical Professorship, which has been
approved, provision of adequate human and physical resources for the Basic Pharmacology
programme (see above).
•
Development of a Departmental Strategic Plan.
3. Programmes and Instruction
The wide variety of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes delivered by the Department are
of high quality, have had excellent outcomes and have been recognised as such by favourable
external examiner reports and highly positive student feedback.
•
In the academic year 2002-2003, the Department is delivering courses as follows:
Science Faculty:
Seven undergraduate programmes
Two postgraduate MSc programmes.
The PhD programme, which is by research, currently has 4 fulltime students enrolled
Medical Faculty:
Two undergraduate programmes (3rd Year of Medicine & Nursing)
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There is also a commitment to deliver a course in Clinical Pharmacology to the 5th Medical
year; this has been delivered for a number of years on an ad hoc basis, but no clinical
lecturer has been available this year
•
Of the total FTE’s generated by this activity (85 approx, in the current year), Medicine and
Nursing contribute 16% and 10% respectively, Undergraduate Science contributes 34%,
while the remaining Postgraduate component is taught MSc: 33%, PhD: 7%.
•
The lecture courses for these programmes are given by two permanent staff members, two
fixed term lecturers, and a postdoctoral research fellow.
•
The BSc Pharmacology programme is now in its first year (2nd year undergraduates). With
effect from 2003-2004, the new BSc programme will commence teaching 3rd year students.
•
In addition to extremely high lecturing loads for teaching staff, technicians and research
post-doctoral fellows have been planning teaching activities, roles which are inconsistent
with their terms of employment. Furthermore, postdoctoral fellows have been carrying
considerable teaching loads. The extra commitment made by these staff members has gone
largely unrecognised by the Institution.
•
The University has given a commitment to providing an additional contract lecturer for the
2003-2004 session. Provision of further staff will depend on the number of FTE’s allocated
to the Department.
•
The appointment of a Professor of Clinical Pharmacology has been sanctioned and will
proceed pending the agreement of the Western Health Board.
Recommendations
•
There is clearly a demand for a strong B.Sc. programme. To respond to this demand,
permanent staff must be recruited. The natural growth of this aspect of the Department’s
remit will not be well served by appointment of temporary teaching staff, some of whom will
be inexperienced.
•
Plans must now be put in place to allow delivery of the 4th year programme, in particular the
provision of staff and laboratory support for the 4th year projects.
•
In line with the University’s strategic objective of fostering a research-driven environment,
the number of FTE’s allocated to research students must be increased.
•
It is inconceivable that the Clinical post be left unfilled, since this year’s Medical students
have already been denied that critical component of their training.
•
Provision must be made for communication of structured information to students, such as
marking schemes for examinations
•
Modifications of the 3rd year Medical programme should be considered, in light of
student feedback: 1. Increase the proportion of marks awarded for continuous assessment
2. Facilitate learning by introducing an MCQ examination in the first semester
3. Explore the possibility of expanding the timescale for lectures. These are now
compressed into less than two semesters
4. Consider the introduction of tutorials based on clinical cases
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4. Scholarship and Research
The Self-Assessment document describes a vibrant research department based on a single area of
pharmacological endeavor: Neuropharmacology. All current members of academic staff are
involved in this area of research. There are a number of projects described which were under the
direction of Dr T Connor, who has now left the Department. Active research now appears to be
undertaken primarily by Dr J Kelly (Lecturer), Dr A Harkin (post-doctoral research Fellow) and
Louise Horrigan (Fixed term lecturer). In addition, Dr. M. Greally, who has recently been
appointed as Lecturer (fixed-term), should enhance the research base of the Department.
•
The strategy to continue to concentrate on Neuropharmacology is therefore appropriate in
view of the smallness of the Department.
•
The facilities are divided on two sites, the research laboratories primarily at the CNS
Laboratory, Distillery Road, where well-equipped laboratories provide state-of-the-art
facilities for behavioural, molecular biological and analytical techniques of relevance to
Neuropharmacology. There is, however, no room for expansion with the required increase in
staffing. The buildings are also quite old, small and in need of replacement.
•
Funding of research has been primarily from the pharmaceutical industry and at a level
compatible with the number of staff. There has been a dependence on contract type research
based on drug screening in the well-established animal models (e.g. of depression). A stated
objective is to decrease the degree of dependence on this type of funding. It is suggested that
the department should increase its search for funding from Government agencies, such as the
Health Research Board. This would favour research with a higher scientific impact value.
There is a need to build on the international track record in psychopharmacology.
•
Publications listed that have appeared in significant journals number 7 for 2001 and 4 for
2002. This is a reasonable output considering the conditions under which the staff are
operating - inadequate numbers, heavy teaching loads.
•
Post-doctoral staff in the Department make a huge, and tremendously valuable contribution to
programmes of learning, with teaching loads comparable with many academic staff. In
addition, the contribution of these staff to the research out-put of the Department is most
impressive. Some concern arose as to the very likely negative impact of heavy teaching loads
on the true research potential of individuals (and ultimately the true potential of the
Department), and career development of post-doctoral research staff. Given the high quality
and commitment of post-doctoral staff to the Department, some formal mechanism to
recognize their contribution and to foster/nurture/encourage their research interests would
reap significant future benefits for the Department and University.
•
Post-docs felt that their winning of research grants went unrecognised, in particular since
they could not be named as the Principal Investigator and had to have a full time member of
staff named as PI. There was clearly no career development programme or opportunity for
progression in the University.
•
The lack of space for expansion, cramped accommodation, lack of recognition of post-docs,
heavy teaching loads and the short term teaching posts make for difficulties in attracting firstclass research staff at all levels from post-doc to Professor.
•
There are currently 4 full-time PhD students in the Department. Morale is generally sound. A
completion rate of 3 years stated in the Self-Assessment document is most acceptable. These
students are provided with generic skills through the operation of ‘training’ programmes.
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Recommendations
•
Career structure to support and encourage the development of post-doctoral researchers, to
enable them to develop their research and receive recognition for their efforts, and to develop
a career structure that will attract and retain such candidates in the Department
5. Community Service
Internal
•
The two permanent staff members of the Department actively participate in a number of key
committees of the Faculties of Science and Medicine and Health Sciences.
External
•
A number of staff members are involved in providing courses to trainee psychiatrists under
the Western Health Board. This work is to be commended and these links should continue to
be a priority in line with Strategic Priority 4 of the University’s Strategic Plan.
•
The Group notes the willingness of staff members to engage in public lectures and provide
expert opinion to the local and national media.
•
Staff participate in information sessions for 2nd Level students, at University Open Days and
through individual school’s visits.
6. Summary, Concluding Remarks and Recommendations
The Group was very impressed by the high level of commitment shown by all members of staff
as evidenced by very favourable comments by students and external examiners.
For many years, the Department has operated on a skeleton staff and delivered a wide range of
excellent programmes in the Science and Medical Faculties. At the same time, the Department
has developed an international reputation in the area of Neuropharmacology as borne out by a
very impressive publication record and the awarding of research grants from a broad range of
funding agencies.
In recent years, the development and implementation of the MSc programme in
Neuropharmacology has been a very important strategic development for not only the Department
and the Science Faculty but also the University. The high calibre of the MSc is evidenced by the
placement of both the students and graduates in research institutions and industries throughout the
world. This programme is a vital strand in the Strategic thrust of the University in the area of
Biomedical research.
The main recommendations of the group may be summarised as follows:
1. The University should recognize the outstanding contribution and commitment of all staff in
the development of Pharmacology as a core discipline during a period of considerable
uncertainty.
2. The University should recognize the strategic importance the new BSc. Programme in
Pharmacology. This recognition must include the provision of adequate permanent staffing.
In order to be able to guarantee delivery of the existing programmes together with the new
BSc course, five full-time academic staff members in basic Pharmacology are essential.
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3.
To address the difficulty in attracting and retaining quality post-doctoral research staff, the
University must provide a suitable framework for the career development of such staff and
put systems in place to ensure that they can develop their research programmes.
4. The Group notes that the University has recently established a chair of Clinical Pharmacology
and given a commitment to the filling of this post. The group supports the filling of this post
to deal with the issues of delivery of courses in Clinical Pharmacology to Medical students.
The group recommends that the University should urgently seek to progress the filling of this
post with the Western Health Board.
5. Provision must be made for the delivery of the Clinical Pharmacology course to the 5th Year
Medical students in the event of a delay in the filling of the Clinical chair.
6. As the recent innovations and strategic developments in the teaching and research activities
of the Department have been in the area of basic Pharmacology, it is essential that the new
chair in Clinical Pharmacology should give a commitment to the nurturing and promotion of
these initiatives.
7. As the Department expands, management structures should be put in place to facilitate the
participation and contribution of all categories of staff to the management and day-to-day
running of the Department.
8. A full-time administrator should be appointed.
9. The aims and objectives of the Department should be reviewed in conjunction with the
development of a Departmental Strategic Plan.
Comments on the Methodology of the Review Process
Wherever possible, the Group should meet with members of the Senior Management of the
University e.g. Registrar and Deans. When this is not possible, those selected to deputise for
them should be fully briefed on all key issues related to the Department.
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