Basic expectation from graduates of any pharmacy program is to be able to provide pharmaceutical care at both patients and community levels, be able to solve problems arising during practice, be able to improve quality and outcomes of the services provided continuously and be able to respond effectively to patients and community changing needs. Pharmacy education in Saudi Arabia established in 1959 by founding the first college in Riyadh (King Saud University) followed by establishing two pharmacy colleges in Jeddah (King Abdulaziz University, 2001) and Abha (King Khalid University, 2001), then a college in Al Ahsa (King Faisal University, 2002), followed by four colleges three-years later in each of Buraydah (Qassim University, 2005), Madinah (Taibah University, 2005), Taif (Taif University, 2005) and Makkah (Umm Al-Qura University, 2005). Up to date the number of pharmacy colleges offering basic degrees in pharmacy are 21 governmental and eight privates. This review describes pharmacy education in Saudi Arabia, the historical perspective, current situation, and the important features. The report focuses on the changes during the last two decades covering three main aspects (1) Clinical education and training, (2) Research output, and (3) Quality and accreditation.

The global threat of multidrug-resistant infections requires new approaches for its management. A blend of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) electrospun nanofibrous membrane was utilised as a scaffold to sustain the release of three broad-spectrum antiseptics to combat multidrug-resistant (MDR) microorganisms. The scaffold was characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, contact angle, and scanning electron microscopy. The latter revealed a random and smooth structure. The contact angle value of 81.8 ± 1.8 confirmed the hydrophilic nature of the scaffold, which is important for wound healing. The high surface-to-volume ratio of the scaffolds was utilised for loading benzoic acid (BA), methylparaben (MPB), and propylparaben (PPB) which were released during 72 h concentrations ranging between 0.20 and 0.8 mg mL⁻¹. The initial release of antiseptics was high and was then sustained for over 72 h. After 8 h, the burst release was 61.64 ± 4.11% for BA, 41.11 ± 2.98% for MPB and 34.32 ± 3.13% for PPB. The release profile of BA was superior to that of the MPB and PPB. The loaded scaffolds inhibited MDR-resistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans and were not cytotoxic to a fibroblast cell line. They inhibited their colonisation by the tested microorganisms to non-detectable counts or at least reduced microbial counts by at least 6–7 logs (p ≤ 0.001) for 72 h. Crystal violet techniques and electron microscopy confirmed colonisation inhibition. Because of their non-cytotoxicity and broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, the antiseptic-loaded PMMA/PCL nanofibrous scaffolds could be utilised as wound dressings, particularly in non-healing wounds.