Pharmacy Degree

TSR Wiki > University > Choosing a Subject > University Courses > Pharmacy Degree

Introduction

Modern medicines are very powerful and have a great potential for relieving suffering and curing disease, but also for misuse and inducing dangerous side effects. The pharmacist is the focus for all strands of knowledge which support the rational and safe use of medicines. This is reflected in the professional aspects of pharmacy which have a commitment to people as patients or as clients and to their well-being. Practising pharmacists are part of the health care team along with doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, dietitians and others. - Kings College London

Course Structure

The MPharm (Hons) degree consists of a 4 year full-time study, followed by a pre-registration year spanning a year supervised by a professional pharmacist. In which the pre-registration year placement can be in a hospital, community or in industry. After the pre-registration year, an additional exam set by the GPhC (originally set by RPSGB) must be taken and passed in order to registered as a fully qualified pharmacist.

The University of Bradford offers a 5-year sandwich course. Instead of doing the pre-registration year altogether, it is split up into two periods of 6 months. These two periods are integrated into the normal four years as part of your third and fifth year. It can give you experience in two different areas of pharmacy.

Admissions

Entry Requirements

In general, entry requirements range from AAA - BBB at A-level depending on the institution. The details of these requirements for the current 26 Schools of Pharmacy are shown below:

• Aston Unviersity: AAB
• University of Bath: AAB*
• University of Birmingham: has been confirmed. First intake of students in 2013
• University of Brighton: ABB* (Aptitude test)
• University of Bradford: ABB* including an A in Chemistry [1]
• Cardiff University: AAB*
• Durham University: has been confirmed. First intake of students in 2013 or 2014
• De Monfort University: ABB or 320 UCAS points
• University of East Anglia: AAB*
• University of Hertfordshire:ABB or 320 UCAS points*
• University of Huddersfield: 300-340 UCAS points*(Admissions test)
• Keele University: ABB*(Admissions test) FPC
• Kings College London: AAB*
• Kingston University: BBB or 300 UCAS points FPC
• University of Central Lancashire: ABB or 320 UCAS points
• Liverpool John Moores University : 300-320 UCAS points* (Aptitude test)
• Manchester University: AAB-ABB* FPC
• Medway School of Pharmacy: ABB*
• Nottingham University: AAB* FPC
• University of Portsmouth: ABB*
• Queen's University of Belfast: AAB-ABBa
• University of Reading: AAB-ABB including Chemistry and One other Science*
• Robert Gordon University: ABB
• School of Pharmacy: AAB*
• University of Strathclyde: ABB
• University of Sunderland: 300 UCAS points
• University of Wolverhampton: 320 UCAS points*
• University of Ulster: AAB or 340 UCAS points

Key

• Star (*) : Interview
• FPC : 5 year Foundation pharmacy course is available

There are also a number of 5 year courses run by a selection of universities for those applicants who do not have the required subjects to apply for Pharmacy at A level (see FPC key). The first year is a foundation year, in which the student will reach an acceptable academic level in which they can begin the standard Pharmacy course. The entry requirement are normally the same as the standard 4 year MPharm requirements.

Interviews are commonplace for the MPharm degree at most institutions.

An applicant would require Chemistry as an A level subject, taken at AS and A2, where all universities require a minimum of a B at A level. The addition of a science, such as Biology, is greatly preferred and can strongly bolster an application. Mathematics is also looked upon favourably by all institutions offering pharmacy.

Haven't achieved the grades to study Pharmacy?

If you haven't achieved the A levels grades required for the standard route, it may not be the end of the world! There are some options that you can take: such as clearing, resitting your A levels or if you feel that going back to 6th form is not for you, a foundation course.

These are not like the standard pharmacy foundation courses, which accept students with ABB or more, as the ones below accept students with lower A levels grades than normal, where some of these can be as low as 240 points.

• Medway School of Pharmacy - CCC (C in chemistry required)

More soon to come...

Also there are some universities that allow students to transfer internally from a similar background course to the MPharm course, these are not stated on the prospectus or on the website, so please double check with the admissions tutor/s before applying.

• University of Brighton - Students can apply internally in their first or second year of BSc in Pharmaceutical and Chemical Sciences, where they need "an overall average mark of not less than 65%; Not less than a mark of 50% in any assessed component; Any modules that are assessed as pass/fail only, will need to be passed but will not be part of the calculation above and these will need to be achieved at the 1st attempt at the module.

• Kingston University: the BSc in Pharmaceutical Science course allows you to transfer to the first year of Pharmacy, when certain marks have been obtained in modules of the Pharmaceutical science course.

Interview Hints and Tips

Common Interview Questions

Each school of pharmacy will have their own set of questions on what to ask potential undergraduates and it can vary slightly within each school. Some common ones include:

• Name three drug delivery systems
• What does MRSA stand for?
• Name three ways we isolate/discover drugs
• Name a prescription only medicine (POM) and what it does
• Why does insulin have to be administered intravenous only?
• A long division question
• Name some drugs which you will find exclusively in a hospital pharmacy
• What is insulin?
• If a patient wants to take insulin orally, what must be done to the drug? (Hint: dosage form)
• What is antibacterial resistance? How does it occur?
• What can one do to prevent resistance?
• Would you prescribe a patient who is suffering from flu antibiotics? Why?
• What functional groups give certain properties to a molecule?
• Name three ways a pharmacist helps to promote health in the community
• Have you read anything interesting in the news recently related with pharmacy?

• Why do you want to study Pharmacy?
• What skills does a pharmacist need/have?
• What particular subject in pharmacy interested you?
• Where in the profession do you see yourself in 10 years time?
• What's the difference between Medicine and Pharmacy?

Specific University Questions

University of Reading: These questions CAN be a part of your interview and are not exclusive to this university

• Why Reading and not a university in london?
• TWO mental arithmetic question e.g adding things together that are in diff units e.g .3ml + 30ml + 3L
• Tell me about your work experience?
• What part of chemistry do you enjoy and why?
• Tell me what you know about pharmacy?

--Cousto

University of Hertfordshire: Standard questions for UCAS cycle 10

• Why Hertfordshire?
• What skills do Pharmacists require?
• Name 3 ways in which Pharmacist promote healthy living in the community
• If you were a qualified pharmacist now, what one things would you like doing and dislike doing?

Liverpool John Moores University: The interview is in small groups of about 5-6 students, the following questions are not exclusive to this university:

• Why Liverpool?
• Which subjects other than science do you stuy that may be helpful when you are a pharmacist?
• What is your other favourite university after LJMU? and why?
• What qualities must a pharmacist have?
• Talk about how the heart works.
• Give a way in which a drug may be administered.

To get an idea on what the aptitude test is like, visit this link on the Facebook page where you can find some practice questions.

--algérie_mon_amour

Need even MORE questions?? Then click HERE for the ULTIMATE interview question thread with almost 100 questions on the first post!

UCAS Form & Personal Statement

Work experience within a pharmaceutical, or health care related facility would be looked upon favourably by any institution, although not massively vital. It would be advised to seek out some sort of experience in order to boost your application as well as to give you an insight into the career of a pharmacist. In addition, a personal statement suggesting the importance of pharmacy in society, and how subject choices relate to the subject would be advisable.

There are some examples of pharmacy personal statements which can be found here

Course Structure

Each university must fulfill the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) required subjects. But the order in which these subjects will be within the MPharm degree, will differ slightly from one university to another. Therefore the list of subjects indicate the general topics in a pharmacy course:

YEAR 1

Normally the first year is a foundation year, where the theory behind pharmacy is first taught. You will get to interview a few patients and possibly go on a pharmacy placement.

First Year Topics

The common subjects are:

• Biochemistry Organic Chemistry
• Pharmaceutical Analysis
• Pharmacy Practice
• Physical Pharmacy

Some universities also cover health psychology, mathematics and statistics in the first year. Furthermore some university may cover microbiology in your first year and this varies between the universities.

YEAR 2

Second Year Topics

• Cardio-Respiratory System
• Pharmacy Practice
• Nutrition, Metabolism and Excretion
• Drug Development, Formulation and Product Design
• Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Immunology and Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

Some universities will cover Pharmacy Ethics or Psychiatric Medicine in the second year.

Life as a Pharmacy Student

How to Cope on a Pharmacy Placement

Code of Conduct

Pharmacy students, like many others studying on a health professional course have a code of conduct. This code of conduct was written in 2009 by the Regulatory arm of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (the old regulator) and endorsed by the British Pharmaceutical Students Association (BPSA) and the Council of University Heads of Pharmacy Schools (CUHOPS). In 2010 the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) was formed as the new regulator for pharmacy and now publishes the Student Code of Conduct.

When starting your pharmacy degree your university will deliver a session telling you about the Code and you will be expected to formally agree to its principles. In the past the Code of Conduct was given to all first year pharmacy students as a hard-copy, but this is no longer the case. The Code of Conduct can be read on the GPhC's website HERE.

The basis principles of the code of conduct is to follow seven key points. Therefore as a pharmacy student you must:

1. Make patients your first concern
2. Use your professional judgement in the interests of patients and the public
3. Show respect for others
4. Encourage patients and the public to participate in decisions about their care
5. Develop your professional knowledge and competence
6. Be honest and trustworthy
7. Take responsibility for your working practices

As the supporting and representative body for pharmacy students, the British Pharmaceutical Students' Association gives information and support to those who are worried about the Code or Fitness to Practice: Click here to access their Code of Conduct page

Graduate Destinations and Career Prospects

Most pharmacists are employed in general practice community pharmacies, or in hospital based pharmacy departments. Pharmacists are also involved in research, manufacture, analytical control, marketing and administration within the pharmaceutical industry; others teach in schools of pharmacy or hold administrative and scientific posts in the National Health Service (NHS). Also, a small number of pharmacists have the opportunity to work as a pharmaceutical journalist.

There remains a shortage of pharmacists not only in the United Kingdom but also in many other countries. Therefore graduates in pharmacy readily obtain employment.

Opportunities also exist for graduates in European countries, where the mutual recognition of EU member states' pharmaceutical qualifications enables British pharmacists to practise with ease in Europe.

Adapted from the Universities of Strathclyde and Cardiff

For more information about the careers paths and starting salaries in pharmacy click HERE

Professional Issues and Professional Bodies

Professional and Regulatory Bodies

The regulator for pharmacy is the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC): www.pharmacyregulation.org

The professional leadership body for pharmacy is the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS): www.rpharms.com

The British Pharmaceutical Students' Association (BPSA) is the official student organisation of the RPS. It is the only national body that solely represents and supports both pharmacy undergraduates and preregistration pharmacists: www.bpsa.co.uk

There are a vast number of other pharmacy professional organisations out there that let students use their services. These can be found on the BPSA's website. A full list of the organisations the RPS work with is also listed on their website.

Resources for Pharmacy Students

Here are a list of books and other related sources that you can look at:

Academic Textbooks

MUST BUY BOOKS:

• Rang & Dale's Pharmacology by Humphrey Rang, Maureen Dale, James Ritter and Rod Flower.
• Aulton's Pharmaceutics: The Design and Manufacture of Medicines by Michael Aulton.

A-Z OF RELEVANT BOOKS FOR PHARMACY:

Anatomy and Physiology

• Principles of Anatomy and Physiology (12th edition) by Gerard J. Tortora and Bryan H. Derrickson.

Clinical Pharmacy

• Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics by Roger Walker and Cate Whittlesea.
• Oxford Handbook of Practical Drug Therapy by Duncan Richards, Jeffrey Aronson, D.John Reynolds and Jamie Coleman.
• Oxford Handbook of Clinical Pharmacy by Phillip Wiffen, Marc Mitchell, Melanie Snelling and Nicole Stoner.

Drug Delivery

• Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery by Ram I. Mahato and Ajit S. Narang.

Endocrinology

• Crash Course: Endocrine and Reproductive Systems by Alexander Finlayson.

Microbiology

• Hugo and Russell's Pharmaceutical Microbiology by Stephen P. Denyer, Norman A. Hodges, Sean P. Gorman.

Medicinal Chemistry

• An Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry by Graham L. Patrick.

Oncology

• Molecular Biology of Cancer: Mechanisms, Targets, and Therapeutics by Lauren Pecorino.
• The Molecular Biology of Cancer by Stella Pelengaris and Michael Khan.

Pharmaceutical Analysis

• Pharmaceutical Analysis: A Textbook for Pharmacy Students and Pharmaceutical Chemists by David G.Watson.

Pharmacy Practice

• Pharmaceutical Practice by Arthur J. Winfield, Judith Rees, Ian Smith.

PRE-REGISTRATION TRAINING:

• The Pre-registration Interview: Preparation for the Application Process by Nadia Bukhari
• Hospital Pre-registration Pharmacist Training by Aamer Safdar and Shirley Ip.

Websites

• British Pharmaceutical Students' Association
• Pharmaceutical Journal Online
• Tomorrow's Pharmacist
• National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
• British National Formulary
• Chemist + Druggist
• The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• Future Pharmacist Magazine
• Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education
• Electronic Medicines Compendium
• National Prescribing Centre

See Also

General Pharmaceutical Council

UCAS Course Search - Pharmacy

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain - A Career in Pharmacy

British Pharmaceutical Students' Association (BPSA)

Forums

Another forum that can help you out and has pre-registration and current pharmacists there is:

Pharmacy Forum