Objectives of Programme's Learning Outcomes

• 1. Pharmaceutical expertise: Use a foundation of concepts and knowledge in health sciences and pharmaceutical sciences.
• Understand and integrate the fundamental sciences (chemistry, physics, biology, botany) involved in the specific fields of pharmaceutical sciences
• Understand compounds for pharmaceutical application regarding their chemical structures, their structure-activity relationships, their physicochemical properties, their origins (synthetic, semi-synthetic, natural), their analytical control methods and their areas of use from a therapeutic point of view.
• 2. Scientific method: Solve pharmaceutical problems using their knowledge and critical mind.
• Develop a critical, practical and analytical mind
• Manage doubt and uncertainty
• Develop and rigorously manage an experimental protocol (from information gathering to the production, interpretation and presentation of results).
• 3. Communication: Communicate in an appropriate, efficient, rigorous and respectful way in a professional perspective.
• Use a rich vocabulary linking concepts and words accurately
• Summarise, explain, and argue
• 4. Sense of responsibility: Act ethically and professionally.
• Base their reasoning on the data from the scientific literature
• Understand and respect the limits of their field of activity
• Show loyalty and scientific honesty (in teamwork and in respecting the results and the work of others)
• 5. Quality: Assess themself, expand their knowledge and adapt their attitude.
• Be aware of the concepts of good business practices and quality management.
• Have developed an interest in the medical-pharmaceutical field
• Locate scientific information efficiently
• Compare different sources of information

Learning Outcomes of UE

The Introductory Pharmacognosy course lays the foundations for an understanding of the definition and scope of pharmacognosy. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
- Recognize the historical and contemporary importance of natural products in pharmacy
- Define a natural substance
- Identify and classify the various sources of natural products used in pharmacy into the major classes of secondary metabolites.

UE Content: description and pedagogical relevance

The course will begin with an introductory chapter on the history of the use of medicinal plants in therapeutics, tracing the exploitation by human beings of chemical molecules from natural sources to adapt to their environment (chemical ecology). The role of primary metabolism and specialized/secondary metabolism in living beings will be discussed in relation to the definition of a natural substance. The various biogenesis pathways will be discussed, as well as the main classes of secondary metabolites, namely natural substances derived from the shikimic acid pathway, nitrogenous natural substances (alkaloids) and terpenic natural substances. This course will be followed by Part II PHYTOCHIMICS AND STUDY OF DRUGS OF VEGETABLE ORIGIN, in which active substances of natural origin of therapeutic interest belonging to these three major classes will be discussed.
Four hours of the course will be dedicated to an innovative pedagogical initiative, designed to facilitate students' assimilation of key concepts. This activity, dubbed "PhytoQuest", will take place as follows:
Using a PlantNet-type mobile application (Home - Pl@ntNet (plantnet.org)), participants will be invited to explore the Mons region in search of local medicinal plant varieties (monographed in the European Pharmacopoeia). To facilitate this quest, a dedicated group will be created on the PlantNet online platform, enabling students to join and interact. Each participant will be assigned the mission of locating, photographing and identifying three native medicinal plant species from a list of plants. The students will then be asked to write a report, using a collaborative online application, describing the medicinal use of the plant captured in the images, as well as its phytochemical profile, based on the different categories of secondary metabolites seen in the theory course. This task will enable the teacher to make corrections and comments as needed.
This pedagogical activity is designed not only to encourage active learning, but also to promote interaction and collaboration between students, while providing them with a concrete experience of pharmacognosy in action. This will be followed by practical work (15h), during which students will be trained in the basics of microscopic analysis of medicinal plants in accordance with the European Pharmacopoeia. Plants used in the "PhytoQuest" activity will be supplied to students in dried bulk and powder form for macroscopic and microscopic analysis. Students will be assessed on their ability to carry out a macroscopic and microscopic analysis of a plant in accordance with the European Pharmacopoeia, and to reach a conclusion as to the identity and quality of the plant.

Prior Experience

Organic and analytical chemistry
Botany