Pharmacy Education and Regulations in Iran

The graduates of mentioned profession receive Doctorate Degree who are entitled with the title of “Doctor”. They can legally use the title of “Dr. “and write it before their names.

The accredited degree for mentioned graduates is Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD). The professional doctorate degree in pharmacy is awarded by Iranian universities of medical sciences. The training curriculum of medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry devised uniformly for all universities of medical sciences by Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

Admission to universities of medical sciences in Iran is competitive and restrictive and the main admission requirements are high school diploma and acceptance in nationwide official university entrance exam which is given once yearly by National Organization for Education Evaluation. The exam is a comprehensive, four and half hours multiple-choice exam that covers all subjects taught in Iranian high schools—from math and science to literature and foreign language. The Students can apply for medicine, dentistry and pharmacy academic program after achieving acceptable scores in the nationwide university entrance exam. Public universities, which are the only free educational institutes for higher education in the country, are at the top of Iran’s higher-education hierarchy. The students who score at the top of the nationwide university entrance exam can be accepted to public universities. Admission to the Islamic Azad University (a private university) and international branches of public universities is quite easier and the enrollees are subject to pay the tuition fees.

Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD):

Undergraduate training in pharmacy in Iran takes five and half years. Upon completion of pharmaceutical school and successfully submitting dissertation, Doctor of a Pharmacy is awarded. After being registered within Iranian Medical Council and completion of Compulsory Government Service which is maximum 2 years for PharmD graduates, pharmacists can work in pharmacies nationwide

After registration with IRIMC, doctors receive their own Membership Card. IRIMC registered members pay annual membership fees (as the retention fee) to remain as active members. IRIMC checks every doctor’s identity and qualifications before they are able to join the register and keeps track of changes to doctors’ records.

IRIMC active registered members must update their IRIMC profiles including their photos and contact details in a regular basis and renew their membership cards every five years.

IRIMC has the powers to issue a warning to a doctor, suspend or place conditions on their registration or remove a doctor from the register.

Iranian Medical Council issues the Certificate of Good Standing (CGS) or Certificate of Professional Conduct in a signed and sealed envelope for its active registered members upon their request for being sent to a licensing/regulatory authority. The certificate is issued based on assessment of disciplinary records of the applicants.