My experiences in Pharmacy

ah that's good then!
yh me too, i find it weird when the entry requirement ask u to have chem in particular!
okay!

is keele good too? it's 13 in rank for pharmacy

Like you I had an unhealthy obsession with rankings whilst at school and college. Rankings are merely numbers on pages go to open days, see how there course is structured and compare that with your learning style and then decide. P.s. do not be fixated on rankings!

Guys thanks for all your inquiries I think that's the most I can answer for today I'm afraid. On my annual holiday not sure my wife would it appreciate it if i spend all of it on student room. Thank you all and the best for the future.

Hello, I am not sure if I want to go into Medicine or pharmacy, (maybe neuroscience). Have you been in a position to choose between these professions? In what way did pharmacy 'call out' to you?

a big thanks to you!!!
you have enlightened everything!
hope u have a lovely day

Hey, fire away! I'll answer them (but probably slowly throughout the day) my fingers are hurting from all the typing lol!

1) Ofcourse it is harder to get into medicine than pharmacy, however I would say it is wrong to say medicine is more challenging than pharmacy. It takes 5 years to be a doctor or a pharmacist.
For me I'm very family orientated I need a job were I can go home and forget about work, I wasn't so sure I could do that with medicine.

Hey, fire away! I'll answer them (but probably slowly throughout the day) my fingers are hurting from all the typing lol!

Lol you are exactly like me, with the family oriented part! That's one thing that i think is a drawback in medicine (besides actually getting into the profession). I also want to try get a career in something that works everywhere i go in, globally. Do you think pharmacy is like that? P.S. I am interested in industrial pharmacy, i wanna actually make the drugs.

aw sorry, i cant now! i am not cruel

Very few pharmacists nowadays make drug. Only a small fraction of pharmacists work in industry. Pharmacy is more and more clinically orientated and less on the side of manufacture and more on the side of what will drug x do to patient B, and how can i optimise therapy etc!

So wait, who makes the drugs, besides pharmacists? pharmaceuticals?

Pharmaceutical companies employ pharmaceutical chemists, biomedics, and pharmacists. Most pharmacists do not go into industry thats not to say you cannot but rather they choose to pursue other avenues!

Lol you are exactly like me, with the family oriented part! That's one thing that i think is a drawback in medicine (besides actually getting into the profession). I also want to try get a career in something that works everywhere i go in, globally. Do you think pharmacy is like that? P.S. I am interested in industrial pharmacy, i wanna actually make the drugs.

1) Ofcourse it is harder to get into medicine than pharmacy, however I would say it is wrong to say medicine is more challenging than pharmacy. It takes 5 years to be a doctor or a pharmacist.
For me I'm very family orientated I need a job were I can go home and forget about work, I wasn't so sure I could do that with medicine.

No i didn't do any work experience, but you could always pop into to your local pharmacy and say if you can shadow for a day I'm sure they won't mind. Work experience would certainly be an advantage but i doubt it is essential!

would you need a good knowledge of biology to do a pharmacy degree? i thought about doing pharmacy but the biology aspect put me off..it's not my strong subject and i dropped it after year 12

Good Evening all,

I've been asked by many people to summarize my experience in pharmacy school and now as a pharmacist. Thus I thought the student room would be good platform to reach out to prospective pharmacy students and pharmacists.

I graduated from the Medway School of Pharmacy (University of Kent) in 2014 with a 2.1 in pharmacy. I am currently employed as a clinical pharmacist at a specialist hospital.
My time at pharmacy school was fun, interesting and at points frustrating.
Medway School of Pharmacy overall was a good school with a few disadvantages. Like many I often found lecturers very tedious and by the third year my lecture attendance had fallen <10%. Despite this I often scored very highly in exams due to the support material the SOP provided prior to exams and the lecture notes themselves were very extensive.

Pharmacy is not like any degree, it is not suitable for people who are reserved and shy as you will have frequent workshops in which you have to present your findings. In addition you have annual OSCEs which really test your ability to express what you have learnt in a coherent manner.
At the Medway School of Pharmacy there is overwhelming pressure! There are annual exams in which you have to reach above 70% to pass. Failure to do so will result in your removal from the course. This is has its pros & cons, it is beneficial as it gets you ready for the registration exam (this is an exam pharmacy graduates have to sit and attain over >70% to register as a pharmacist), however it can sometimes be overwhelming as there is so much to learn from hepatitis B drugs to fungal nail infection treatment!

Prior to commencing pharmacy I had no idea how much law and ethics I would cover. After completing the course I felt like a semi-solicitor covering a variety of acts and regulations ranging from the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to the Animal Scientific Procedures Act 1986. Some people can find law tedious but only now as a practicing pharmacist I realised how essential law & ethics is to my practise as a pharmacist.
Pros of MSOP;
1) Extensive lecture notes and thorough support for those who seek it!
2) Fantastic Library facilities
3) Prompt feedback
4) Honestly, medway school of pharmacy graduates tend to have superior clinical knowledge and pharmaceutical calculation skills than other graduates that reflects the emphasis of teaching in this area.
5) A very close group, were people get along really well!

Cons:
1) Location, not much to do in the area other than catch the 1/2-45 minute bus ride to london
2) Coursework policy; whilst most unis now submit there coursework online/moodle anonymously (with student ID only) the MSOP still requires you to hand in your coursework by hand with your name. This can be very tricky as often there is a huge queue on deadline day meaning you may have to wait awhile! Additionally if your coursework is even a minute late you automatically get a zero, whilst most school of pharmacy issue a 10% penalty for late submissions.
3) Uni of kent and greenwich fiasco! Although being run by a dual uni has its perks (such as using a plethora of library facilities) there are several disadvantages also; these include frequent changes in the administrative team and lack of financial support (bursaries are almost non-existent)!
4) Although I really loved the academics and thought they were awesome in every sense of the word.. I often found auxiliary staff such as technicians and academic assistants (particularly in the chemistry department) a very grumpy bunch! They would often exude a sense of arrogance and superiority which was non-existent in our world renowned academics.

Overall I loved my time at medway and wouldn't change it for the world I think they warrant a 9/10!.

Pharmacist Career

Pharmacist Career (particularly in community) is becoming saturated, although salaries are still relatively high compared to other professions (a newly qualified pharmacist can expect to earn probably in between £32-£36K), although salaries in hospital are slightly lower but better career progression.
As a hospital pharmacist I absolutely love my role, my typical day would involve ward rounds, going over discharges, dealing with queries from nurses and consultants. Perhaps the public may still have the perception that pharmacists are "shopkeepers" but in fact they are highly trained individuals with 5 years of rigorous training.


Please feel free to ask any questions!

Hey, I am going to be studying at University of Reading for Pharmacy this year...and being an ex student at the Medway School of Pharmacy XD ( I left due to family/personal reasons ), I really do understand about how much pressure the uni does put on their students, it is for a good cause tho. My favourite staff members had gotta be Durodie ( his personality ), Sumbayev ( his accent ) and of course, Gubala ( my personal tutor, really kind guy!). I absolutely hated labs tho as well - a personal reason was that I always get REALLY FLUSTERED during chemical practicals.....even in sixth form and GCSE....it's just something about me in which I panic doing practicals. I forgot the name of the woman but she always wore glasses and had short blond hair, I swear she had some form of OCD with having to flippin clean every inch of the equipment we had to use after some form of practical urgh! Gotten used to her by the end of the year tho!
Have to admit on the student life XD By the end of the first year, I think I literally knew Tap N Tin and Glam like the back of me hand XD

Anyways, I just want to ask how to increase one's chance of getting an actual pre-reg placement after graduating? Is it common for pharmacy graduates to not be able to get a pre-reg placement after the 4 years? If they don't....does that mean the student is like....in really big trouble as that is the only way in order to sit the dreaded pre-reg exam? I'm just really afraid that I won't be able to get one. Do you have to be insured to get one before you graduate, or can you still apply after you graduate? I am aware of the increased competition for placements now...a bit worried tbh....but I just have to keep on going forward really, I personally do want to work in hospital. Is the application process different to community compared to hospital?