Pharmacy - Ex Poly

^^^ There we go then, every uni is equal.

First a bit of background - I trained as a medical secretary and I am married to a Pharmacist, called Graham Phillips who writes a lot for the Pharmaceutical Journal and other Pharmacy Press. My husband was on RPSGB council for four years and was Chairman of the Society's Education committee for three. The parallels raised with law and the various universities are not really applicable to pharmacy, because as several of you have pointed out, there are no bad schools of pharmacy, because all are accredited to identical standards by the society. That is not to say that each does not have its own unique flavour, appeal and personality, but the standards are identical. My husbands father is also a Pharmacist and our oldest son is hoping to study pharmacy next year, so we are doing the rounds of the various schools at the moment. Yesterday, they visited UEA. They were addressed by Duncan Craig the head of school. Duncan made much the same points and added that UEA has achieved 100% student satisfaction in the survey for the last two years running. Pretty remarkable for a brand new school which has only just received its full accreditation. While it used to be true that there was some cache attached to studying at say, LSOP, this is increasingly less true. For example, one of the most competitive places for pre reg placements is Guys and Thomas's in London,. Last year there were 16 places and UEA got 4 of them. It is certainly not the case that teaching at the more prestigious schools is always superior. It is a question of horses for course. The newer schools have had the opportunity to start from scratch. Pharmacy is changing rapidly and in some cases the newer schools are producing more relevant graduates than the older ones with their tradition and baggage. We work closely with the new school in Herts and offer placements, Saturday jobs and holiday jobs, preferentially to Herts students. It means that by the time they come to do their pre reg with us, they will already have been working with us for perhaps 4 years. So, in some cases going to one of the newer schools, makes you more employable not less. Hope this is helpful and dispels any myths and misunderstandings. (Sorry about the length!)