Experience of teaching toxicology at the Saint Petersburg State Chemical and Pharmaceutical University

Introduction. One of the significant issues of our time is the widespread distribution of chemicals in various fields of human activity, their pollution of the environment and the associated increase in chemical effects on humans. Any person can be exposed to a wide variety of chemicals, which can lead to the development of various pathologies, from acute poisoning to malignant neoplasms. In this regard, high-quality training of medical and pharmaceutical specialists in toxicology is necessary.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the experience of the St. Petersburg State Chemical and Pharmaceutical University in training students, master’s students, postgraduate students and practicing pharmaceutical specialists in toxicology.

Material and methods. The materials of the work were documents of educational and methodological complexes on toxicology for students of the pharmaceutical faculty, master’s students, postgraduate students and students of advanced training courses of the St. Petersburg Chemical and Pharmaceutical University.

Results. Toxicology as an independent academic discipline has been taught to students of the Faculty of Pharmacy of St. Petersburg State Chemical and Pharmaceutical University for 15 years. During this period, a lot of methodological work has been done, two textbooks, three manuals and schoolbooks, a large amount of test questions and situational tasks, and electronic educational and methodological complex have been prepared. Over the past five years, toxicology has also been taught to master’s students and students in advanced training courses in "Industrial pharmacy". Since 2023, the St. Petersburg State Chemical and Pharmaceutical University has opened a postgraduate program in scientific specialty 3.3.4 "Toxicology", which can be considered a significant success in the training of highly qualified personnel in the field of higher pharmaceutical education on current issues of toxicology.

Limitations. The study is limited to an analysis of the experience of teaching toxicology at the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the St. Petersburg State Chemical and Pharmaceutical University.

Conclusion. Studying toxicology during initial training and additional education at St. Petersburg State Chemical and Pharmaceutical University allows pharmaceutical specialists to acquire the necessary competencies for high-quality performance of professional duties when working in their specialty.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study does not require the submission of a conclusion from the biomedical ethics committee or other documents.

Authors’ contributions:
Strelova O.Yu. – concept and design of research, collection, processing and analysis of the material, writing, editing;
Grebenyuk A.N. – concept and design of research, collection, processing and analysis of the material, writing, editing;
Tikhonova V.V. – collection of the material, writing;
Balabanova O.L. – collection of the material, writing.
All co-authors are responsible for approving the final version of the article and ensuring the integrity of all its parts.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no apparent and potential conflicts of interest in relation to the publication of this article.

Funding. The study had no financial support.

Accepted: January 12, 2026 / Revised: January 30, 2026 / Accepted: February 2, 2026 / Published: March 18, 2026

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