Ask me anything! Passed my GPhC registration exam (to become a pharmacist) today.

What questions did you get asked for hospital pre-reg?

Nearly everyone can get a pre-reg place if they have a good application/interview/willing to move around the uk. Hospital places are harder to get and industry even harder. Durham still haven't had their 1st batch of students graduate and go on to pre-reg so it's a bit difficult to say but the course is apparently good and like most unis they probably would provide support/help to applicants when applying for summer placements/ part time job whilst being a student and then when applying for pre-reg. As a student make sure you try to get as much work, voluntary experience etc as you can specially during the summer holidays as that will help you with applications and stand out more when you apply for pre-reg later on.

why is it so hard to get into hospital or industry? and are u planning to get into hospital? What could i do to get into hospital? do u have any tips for the MPharm course itself like revision/placements

Does year 1 of a pharmacy degree count towards your final degree classification?What is the percent of each year of the pharmacy degree?

Soon to be on the register and a practicing pharmacist. Feel free to ask me anything about pharmacy, pre-registration training year, anything about myself etc.

1. In my opinion it isn't as hard a degree as some people make it out to be, but the teaching method, course content does vary quite a bit between the different years and between uni. In general however I would say you would have to invest the time to be able to do well and it can be very demanding, specially in the later years when it really counts towards your degree classification. You need to be committed and motivated to cover a wide range of topics and syllabus some of which you will love to enjoy whilst others you will just be glad to get through. I think in the later years they prepare you to become more of a clinical pharmacist working in the community or the hospital as these are the 2 sectors most people go into. Saying that you do learn a lot about the industry and other aspect of pharmacy throughout your degree.
2. A-level grades- Biology-A, Art & Design-A, Chemistry-B, Maths-B
3. Which uni you go to does matter but only to a certain extent, in terms of Unis having better relationships with big pharma companies like GSK and Astra-Zeneca, it seems a lot of there pre-reg trainee pharmacists are from unis like nottingham but that doesn't mean they don't take other students, as I am aware students from my Uni (Bradford) who have gone on to also work for companies such as Astra Zeneca. I think the main skill to try and achieve whilst still being a student is getting as much pharmacy work experience as you can over the long summer holidays after every year (especially in 3rd year summer holidays) many may even offer you pre-registration place afterwards. I think many of the better regarded unis also provide more work experience as part of their course at both hospital and community which can be advantageous, specially considering it can be hard finding experience by yourself
4. There is still a demand for good, suitably qualified and experienced pharmacists, but there is also the growing competition you have to get through over the years even after pharmacy school, pre-reg training and even after years of working as a pharmacist, With numbers of students increasing and therefore increasing number of graduates, there will be an even greater competition in the future. But it is a bit of an uncertainty whether employment for pharmacists will be as effected as more new job oppotunities are arising e.g. working as an independent prescriber in a gp surgery and utilising the Master of Pharmacy degree in other areas of Science. Only time will tell what happens in the future. Although job prospect is not as great as it used to be few years ago, it is definitely still a lot better compared to many other degrees and career paths.
5. Community pharmacy higher paying intially and with experience (specially if you go on to running your own successful business) but Industry can lead to much higher pay in the long run, particularly if you can reach the highest levels in the company.

1. In my opinion it isn't as hard a degree as some people make it out to be, but the teaching method, course content does vary quite a bit between the different years and between uni. In general however I would say you would have to invest the time to be able to do well and it can be very demanding, specially in the later years when it really counts towards your degree classification. You need to be committed and motivated to cover a wide range of topics and syllabus some of which you will love to enjoy whilst others you will just be glad to get through. I think in the later years they prepare you to become more of a clinical pharmacist working in the community or the hospital as these are the 2 sectors most people go into. Saying that you do learn a lot about the industry and other aspect of pharmacy throughout your degree.
2. A-level grades- Biology-A, Art & Design-A, Chemistry-B, Maths-B
3. Which uni you go to does matter but only to a certain extent, in terms of Unis having better relationships with big pharma companies like GSK and Astra-Zeneca, it seems a lot of there pre-reg trainee pharmacists are from unis like nottingham but that doesn't mean they don't take other students, as I am aware students from my Uni (Bradford) who have gone on to also work for companies such as Astra Zeneca. I think the main skill to try and achieve whilst still being a student is getting as much pharmacy work experience as you can over the long summer holidays after every year (especially in 3rd year summer holidays) many may even offer you pre-registration place afterwards. I think many of the better regarded unis also provide more work experience as part of their course at both hospital and community which can be advantageous, specially considering it can be hard finding experience by yourself
4. There is still a demand for good, suitably qualified and experienced pharmacists, but there is also the growing competition you have to get through over the years even after pharmacy school, pre-reg training and even after years of working as a pharmacist, With numbers of students increasing and therefore increasing number of graduates, there will be an even greater competition in the future. But it is a bit of an uncertainty whether employment for pharmacists will be as effected as more new job oppotunities are arising e.g. working as an independent prescriber in a gp surgery and utilising the Master of Pharmacy degree in other areas of Science. Only time will tell what happens in the future. Although job prospect is not as great as it used to be few years ago, it is definitely still a lot better compared to many other degrees and career paths.
5. Community pharmacy higher paying intially and with experience (specially if you go on to running your own successful business) but Industry can lead to much higher pay in the long run, particularly if you can reach the highest levels in the company.

I know it’s been a while for this thread but taking a chance, confusion about my current situation led me here. How did those people you mentioned get into industry. I never wanted to be a pharmacist after year 1 of study and don’t want to do the pre reg exam, I don’t mind an office job in another industry but figured pharma makes more sense because of my mpharm degree. I know some will say do the exam as a back up but I refuse to work one more day in a pharmacy I’d rather stack shelves in Tesco if I unfortunately happen to lose my job one day, plus what’s the point of being on a register where you have to do CPDs every year and work some shifts still while paying a stupid fee. Anyhow any advice on how to transition into something different and which paths are likely with my degree as I’m finding difficulty , seems pharmacy degree isn’t so transferable

Hi. Which year are you in at the moment? A few of the drug companies offer summer placements you apply beginning of 3rd year including GSK, AstraZeneca and MSD from which you may also get opportunity to do half of your prereg/foundation year with them alongside usually a hospital placement role. Look at the following link for variety of roles pharmacist can get into: https://www.abpi.org.uk/careers/working-in-the-industry/research-and-development/pharmacy/
As you can see from link above only a small percentage of pharmacist work in industry. However, pharmacist have greater flexibility of getting into and working in different roles in industry. Pharmacists often build up with experience to advanced roles e.g. Qualified Person (QP). There are more entry level pharmacist roles available currently in hospital for pharmacist so some of my colleagues have went from working in hospital pharmacy to industry, such as working in aseptic unit, medical information and clinical trials role in hospital to working in manufacturing, medical information, trials, regulatory affairs etc in industry after a few years. Ask your tutors and lecturer for support and advise, they may even have some links, even if you are not able to get something with the big pharmas some smaller pharmas may allow you to get some volunteer experience to observe pharmacist for some days. Another route is going the PhD route post pharmacy specially if you want to progress in research and development, again tutors/lecturers/current students in the upper years are great people for advise.

Hi. Which year are you in at the moment? A few of the drug companies offer summer placements you apply beginning of 3rd year including GSK, AstraZeneca and MSD from which you may also get opportunity to do half of your prereg/foundation year with them alongside usually a hospital placement role. Look at the following link for variety of roles pharmacist can get into: https://www.abpi.org.uk/careers/working-in-the-industry/research-and-development/pharmacy/
As you can see from link above only a small percentage of pharmacist work in industry. However, pharmacist have greater flexibility of getting into and working in different roles in industry. Pharmacists often build up with experience to advanced roles e.g. Qualified Person (QP). There are more entry level pharmacist roles available currently in hospital for pharmacist so some of my colleagues have went from working in hospital pharmacy to industry, such as working in aseptic unit, medical information and clinical trials role in hospital to working in manufacturing, medical information, trials, regulatory affairs etc in industry after a few years. Ask your tutors and lecturer for support and advise, they may even have some links, even if you are not able to get something with the big pharmas some smaller pharmas may allow you to get some volunteer experience to observe pharmacist for some days. Another route is going the PhD route post pharmacy specially if you want to progress in research and development, again tutors/lecturers/current students in the upper years are great people for advise.

Soon to be on the register and a practicing pharmacist. Feel free to ask me anything about pharmacy, pre-registration training year, anything about myself etc.

Helllo!!
I will be heading into final year (4th) and have confirmed a placement with an independent Pharmacy. I was wondering if anyone knows more information about CPPE. And also wondering if during pre-reg you can get most of your training done, for instance Flu Jabs, Travel, MURS...e.t.c.
Thank you so much!!!

First of all massive congratulations on you becoming a pharmacists I’m a year3 pharmacy student and I’m sort wanting some guidance on pre reg:
1) where did you do your pre reg ?
2) do you think it’s better to do pre reg with a company w.g. Lloyds, boots, rowlands or an independent chain ?
3) how difficult was the pre reg exam what’s does it entail
I’m kind of nervous for the years up ahead 😭