Really stuck can anyone give me any advice

Hi i am about to start my degree in pharmacy at durham university and was wondering how hard is it to get a job in hospital, because i really dont wanna get into community.
Thanks

Hi i am about to start my degree in pharmacy at durham university and was wondering how hard is it to get a job in hospital, because i really dont wanna get into community.
Thanks

Hi,

I've just managed to secure a pre-reg place for next year at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. I would recommend getting plenty of work experience in community during the summers of your 1st and 2nd year. This will help you to get hospital summer placements in the summer of your 3rd year. This will give you the advantage that you will most certainly need to get a pre-reg place in hospital.

Thanks for the advice how hard would you say it is to get a hospital pharamcist role post pre reg like a permanent job

I wouldn't say that difficult - about 75-80% of pharmacists are retained as band 6s (look up the Agenda for Change banding system for NHS staff) - but this varies massively between trusts, so for example St George's retained all of their pre-regs last year as band 6s, whereas East Sussex Healthcare didn't retain any.

I wouldn't say that difficult - about 75-80% of pharmacists are retained as band 6s (look up the Agenda for Change banding system for NHS staff) - but this varies massively between trusts, so for example St George's retained all of their pre-regs last year as band 6s, whereas East Sussex Healthcare didn't retain any.

Oh okay thanks but why do so many people go into community, and have you got any tips for first year in terms of academics

i was looking at the agenda for pay how long does it take to move up from one grade point to another? And if you want to move to the next band would i need to complete all the grade points? Coz theyvhave many points

There simply aren't enough places in hospital or industry and other sectors such as CCG and general practice. Also, community pharmacists get paid more than hospital pharmacist (at least for the first few years), which is why a lot of pharmacists go into community.

In terms of academics, work hard, but also enjoy your uni/social life. Chances are your first year won't count towards your degree classification, but it's still good to have a solid foundation on which to build future knowledge.



Annually within a band (subject to satisfactory performance), and a promotion / re-definition of a job role is required to move to the next band.

As long as you get a pre-registration place at a hospital and do well while you're there it should be fine. A lot of hospitals require at least 6months+ experience (including pre-reg) at a hospital if you wanna work there so doing your pre-reg at a hospital is definitely important. However, getting a pre-registration place at a hospital is extremely competitive. Im currently a 4th year applying at the moment and trust me, competition is crazy so id recommend doing as many hospital placements and general community placements right from the beginning to increase your chances of securing a place.*

Hope that helps and best of luck with your first year! Any more qs feel free to ask *

So from what I understand please correct me if i am wrong it's harder to get a pre-reg reg hospital place then getting a permanent job at a hospital? And if I was to get a placement in a hospital during my course every summer break I would have a great chance of getting in a pre reg? Also does the fact that i go to durham which is a highly prestigious univesity affect my chances of getting a pre reg hospital place or even industry? Thanks again

Okay, so it's difficult to get a pre-reg place in hospital, and once you have that experience in hospital, it's relatively easy to stay in hospital. It's very easy to get a pre-reg place in community, and it's very easy to stay in community afterwards. What is very difficult is having done your pre-reg in community and then wanting to make the move to hospital. That is very difficult and requires a lot of perseverance. Going from hospital to community is much less difficult.

Yeah. But bear in mind that it's not the quantity of placements that matters, it's the quality - what you learnt from them. I only did 1 placement and managed to get a hospital pre-reg (at a very good, well-renowned hospital) but I know some people who did several placements and still don't have any pre-reg offers yet.

University doesn't make the blind bit of difference for hospital, it's all about you and your experience. I'm not too sure how industry works to be honest, it's not an area that I've worked in or am interested in. If anything, I'm inclined to say that industry employers might be wary of Durham graduates for at least a few years as your MPharm course is brand new and not at all well-established.

Okay, so it's difficult to get a pre-reg place in hospital, and once you have that experience in hospital, it's relatively easy to stay in hospital. It's very easy to get a pre-reg place in community, and it's very easy to stay in community afterwards. What is very difficult is having done your pre-reg in community and then wanting to make the move to hospital. That is very difficult and requires a lot of perseverance. Going from hospital to community is much less difficult.

Yeah. But bear in mind that it's not the quantity of placements that matters, it's the quality - what you learnt from them. I only did 1 placement and managed to get a hospital pre-reg (at a very good, well-renowned hospital) but I know some people who did several placements and still don't have any pre-reg offers yet.

University doesn't make the blind bit of difference for hospital, it's all about you and your experience. I'm not too sure how industry works to be honest, it's not an area that I've worked in or am interested in. If anything, I'm inclined to say that industry employers might be wary of Durham graduates for at least a few years as your MPharm course is brand new and not at all well-established.

oh okay i understand what did u mean by qualityof placements? Does this where i did the placement? Why havent the people u mentioned got any pre reg offers? And if i wanted to do aplacment do i just contact the hospital and ask if i can do a placement?

and one more thing in how many years after you finish your pre reg do you plan to move from band 6 to band 7

By quality, I mean what you learnt from the placement. If you did 4 placements but your hospital pharmacy pre-reg application process quality doesn't reflect that, you won't get a place, but if you only have 1 placement (or even none at all!) and reflect really well, you may get a pre-reg place.

Yeah, contact the education & training team at each hospital that you're interested in and ask about their summer placement programmes. Many hospitals now only take 3rd years, so find out what the entry criteria are.



Generally speaking, you undertake a clinical diploma (as a work-based qualification) as a band 6 pharmacist, which usually takes you 2 years to complete. So you can progress to band 7 after completing the diploma (so 2 years). However, it really depends on the service demand - if a band 7 job opens up before that, say you're 1.5 years into band 6 and haven't yet finished the diploma, then you may get promoted early with the proviso that you continue with the diploma as a band 7.

Thank you so much and how hard would you say the pharmacy degree is? Like as long as i revise daily and keep up to date would that be enough? And any other tips for the degree

No probs - and it's not that hard

Yeah, that should be more than enough.

In terms of tips, if you're strong on your knowledge of antimicrobials, that will go a very long way and help you so much, as they crop up everywhere. Every single pre-reg interview I have had has involved being asked at least one question on antimicrobials, from clarithromycin, to rifampicin, co-amoxiclav, to vancomycin and gentamicin. If you can recall the spectrum of activity of various common antimicrobials like the ones listed above, as well as their monitoring parameters (i.e. the side effects of those antimicrobials), you will be in a very good place in terms of clinical knowledge.

thanks again i will be sure to focus especially on the areas u have mentioned. Also i particularly like chemistry and human physiology like how our body works how much of that is in the course? And are there any books i should defintiely purchase for first year? And also if you dont mind did u get a first and from what uni?

There's quite a bit of physiology within the MPharm course, although this varies massively with university. For example, the course at Brighton (where I'm at) is very clinically-orientated, so we don't really do much physiology above the essentials.

Don't bother purchasing any books IMO, just borrow them from the library - I can honestly say that I've never used a book for revision etc - just good old Wikipedia.

I'm on track to get a first (just about to start 4th year).

There's quite a bit of physiology within the MPharm course, although this varies massively with university. For example, the course at Brighton (where I'm at) is very clinically-orientated, so we don't really do much physiology above the essentials.

Don't bother purchasing any books IMO, just borrow them from the library - I can honestly say that I've never used a book for revision etc - just good old Wikipedia.

I'm on track to get a first (just about to start 4th year).