What's the difference between pharmacy and pharmacology?
Basically the title:What's the difference between pharmacy and pharmacology? don't really know 
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Simply, pharmacy - study of medicine and pharmacology - study of any changes, reaction or response to that chemical in a living organism (what happens when you inject it).
tempestuous_temperament
Simply, pharmacy - study of medicine and pharmacology - study of any changes, reaction or response to that chemical in a living organism (what happens when you inject it).
Thanx
Hi all.
In short, Pharmacology is the study of drug interaction in living organisms. Learning how a drug interacts in the human body, for example, a drug that only affects certain parts of the brain, or specific organs, but not others, due to the molecular structure of the molecule. Pharmacology is a more specific department of medicine.
Pharmacy is a profession that ensures the safe use of medication and deals with patients, therefore pharmacists will need to have a wider knowledge of how a drug works, how it's formed and its side effects. Furthermore, Pharmacists will need to learn pharmacology, aswell as microbiology, drug delivery, drug production, specific human anatomy and many more. I hope this helps.
In short, Pharmacology is the study of drug interaction in living organisms. Learning how a drug interacts in the human body, for example, a drug that only affects certain parts of the brain, or specific organs, but not others, due to the molecular structure of the molecule. Pharmacology is a more specific department of medicine.
Pharmacy is a profession that ensures the safe use of medication and deals with patients, therefore pharmacists will need to have a wider knowledge of how a drug works, how it's formed and its side effects. Furthermore, Pharmacists will need to learn pharmacology, aswell as microbiology, drug delivery, drug production, specific human anatomy and many more. I hope this helps.
Pharmacology is much more on the research side.
As a student of pharmacology; I study the mechanisms of action of drugs and how we can create new ones. Pharmacy is about practicing and dispensing. You can cannot cross over to either discipline without doing another degree. Pharmacy is much more vocational.
As a student of pharmacology; I study the mechanisms of action of drugs and how we can create new ones. Pharmacy is about practicing and dispensing. You can cannot cross over to either discipline without doing another degree. Pharmacy is much more vocational.
josephtebbs
Pharmacology is much more on the research side.
As a student of pharmacology; I study the mechanisms of action of drugs and how we can create new ones. Pharmacy is about practicing and dispensing. You can cannot cross over to either discipline without doing another degree. Pharmacy is much more vocational.
As a student of pharmacology; I study the mechanisms of action of drugs and how we can create new ones. Pharmacy is about practicing and dispensing. You can cannot cross over to either discipline without doing another degree. Pharmacy is much more vocational.
Of course pharmacy has a lot of pharmacology involved too. In the the third year 50/120 credits were made up of pharmacology modules. And of course you need a good grasp of pharmacology in practice too when you're adivising on appropriate drugs, interactions, monitoring etc.
Pharmacology is the study of how drugs interact with the physiological processes of the human body. You'll do about what effect a drug will have on a certain part of the body and be able to explain why. You'll also probably have to know about the design of drugs and detailed knowledge on how they fit into receptor sites and stuff like that.
Whereas in pharmacy, you do need a certain level of pharmacological knowledge for the reasons Emmz mentioned but you also learn a lot more about the general knowledge of drugs - if u get what im saying. In pharmacy, you learn the science behind getting drugs into different formulations for different methods of delivery, the law and social aspects of drugs and dispensing. You will also do a lot of chemistry and chemical reactions, possible microbiology and biochemistry which you may not get on a pharmacology course.
Pharmacy is a much more vocational narrow career path when comparing it to pharmacology.
However if you're interested in making "mega money" (quote my physics teacher's wife, who works for Reckitt Benckiser) take a degree in pharmacy then a PhD in pharmacology. She only took a degree in pharmacology and she is doing very well for herself, but she realises that the pharmacy-pharmacology path would have been the best one to take
Whereas in pharmacy, you do need a certain level of pharmacological knowledge for the reasons Emmz mentioned but you also learn a lot more about the general knowledge of drugs - if u get what im saying. In pharmacy, you learn the science behind getting drugs into different formulations for different methods of delivery, the law and social aspects of drugs and dispensing. You will also do a lot of chemistry and chemical reactions, possible microbiology and biochemistry which you may not get on a pharmacology course.
Pharmacy is a much more vocational narrow career path when comparing it to pharmacology.
However if you're interested in making "mega money" (quote my physics teacher's wife, who works for Reckitt Benckiser) take a degree in pharmacy then a PhD in pharmacology. She only took a degree in pharmacology and she is doing very well for herself, but she realises that the pharmacy-pharmacology path would have been the best one to take
I think pharmacy is obviously alot more vocational, where you have a lot of job opportunities in hospital, community and even industrial pharmacy. I had offers to do pharmacy but on deciding that i liked the science behind pharmacy, but not the career as such, i chose pharmacology. Alot if people (mainly pharmacist students) will tell you its a bad decision. In my opinion it only is if you want to become a Pharmacist. But a life science degree like pharmacology does have job prospects. There area lot of research careers but if working in a lab isnt your thing then there are jobs which are slightly related, such as medical writers, reulatory affairs and Clinical research associates- which work in clinical trials along with doctors. If your a multitalented person and show hard work you can progress with these to earn big money if you like. But to be honest im not all that driven by money, and after about 5 years experience as a CRA you can earn up to £35000+ as a senior CRA, then have the opportunity to move into other career paths such as project management. On considering it a CRA job sounds really good to me- you can earn a decent living, tehre are plenty of jobs in scotland and s.england, you get to work with lots of different people and you can use your knowledge of science.
Even if you dont want to use your degree a science degree such as pharmacology does show to employers taht you can grasp difficult subjects and there are a lot of graduate training schemes in many buinesses.
So if you know you really want to do pharmacy then definatly go for that, but if your unsure what you want to do and are thinking of pharmacology dont despair, there are jobs out there, very few specifically asking for a pharmacologist, but at least you wont have as narrow a career path as pharmacy.
Even if you dont want to use your degree a science degree such as pharmacology does show to employers taht you can grasp difficult subjects and there are a lot of graduate training schemes in many buinesses.
So if you know you really want to do pharmacy then definatly go for that, but if your unsure what you want to do and are thinking of pharmacology dont despair, there are jobs out there, very few specifically asking for a pharmacologist, but at least you wont have as narrow a career path as pharmacy.
Gregorian IV
Pharmacology is the study of how drugs interact with the physiological processes of the human body. You'll do about what effect a drug will have on a certain part of the body and be able to explain why. You'll also probably have to know about the design of drugs and detailed knowledge on how they fit into receptor sites and stuff like that.
Whereas in pharmacy, you do need a certain level of pharmacological knowledge for the reasons Emmz mentioned but you also learn a lot more about the general knowledge of drugs - if u get what im saying. In pharmacy, you learn the science behind getting drugs into different formulations for different methods of delivery, the law and social aspects of drugs and dispensing. You will also do a lot of chemistry and chemical reactions, possible microbiology and biochemistry which you may not get on a pharmacology course.
Pharmacy is a much more vocational narrow career path when comparing it to pharmacology.
However if you're interested in making "mega money" (quote my physics teacher's wife, who works for Reckitt Benckiser) take a degree in pharmacy then a PhD in pharmacology. She only took a degree in pharmacology and she is doing very well for herself, but she realises that the pharmacy-pharmacology path would have been the best one to take
Whereas in pharmacy, you do need a certain level of pharmacological knowledge for the reasons Emmz mentioned but you also learn a lot more about the general knowledge of drugs - if u get what im saying. In pharmacy, you learn the science behind getting drugs into different formulations for different methods of delivery, the law and social aspects of drugs and dispensing. You will also do a lot of chemistry and chemical reactions, possible microbiology and biochemistry which you may not get on a pharmacology course.
Pharmacy is a much more vocational narrow career path when comparing it to pharmacology.
However if you're interested in making "mega money" (quote my physics teacher's wife, who works for Reckitt Benckiser) take a degree in pharmacy then a PhD in pharmacology. She only took a degree in pharmacology and she is doing very well for herself, but she realises that the pharmacy-pharmacology path would have been the best one to take
What will u become if u have a pharmacy degree then a PhD in pharmacology??? work for industry? but doesnt make a dif if u have ur own pharmacy rite??
Also... as pharmacy is a masters... does that mean u can start ur phd as soon as uv finished Mpharm if u liked??
the MPharm (Pharmacy) contains a module called pharmacology in which receptor sites are discussed, reactions and homeostasis within the body, effect of various drugs etc, and it leads to a place on the Pharmacy Register.
Pharmacology I'd imagine is an advanced 3/4 year degree based on the module called pharmacology within the MPharm and going into much much much more detail. Pharmacologists are NOT pharmacists and do not have the experience to fill prescriptions or counsel patients in a community or hospital setting. More involved with research and pharmaceutical companies.
Pharmacology I'd imagine is an advanced 3/4 year degree based on the module called pharmacology within the MPharm and going into much much much more detail. Pharmacologists are NOT pharmacists and do not have the experience to fill prescriptions or counsel patients in a community or hospital setting. More involved with research and pharmaceutical companies.
Well for a detailed comparison I found this site very helpful:
Pharmacist
http://www.ca.courses-careers.com/articles/pharmacist.htm (ano the title is misspelled but hey...i never made it!)
Pharmacologist:
http://www.ca.courses-careers.com/articles/pharmacologist.htm
Pharmacist
http://www.ca.courses-careers.com/articles/pharmacist.htm (ano the title is misspelled but hey...i never made it!)
Pharmacologist:
http://www.ca.courses-careers.com/articles/pharmacologist.htm
Gregorian IV
In pharmacy, you learn the science behind getting drugs into different formulations for different methods of delivery, the law and social aspects of drugs and dispensing. You will also do a lot of chemistry and chemical reactions, possible microbiology and biochemistry which you may not get on a pharmacology course.
nush86
What will u become if u have a pharmacy degree then a PhD in pharmacology??? work for industry? but doesnt make a dif if u have ur own pharmacy rite??
Both of you are correct. AS a second year Pharmacology BSc student at University College London I can confirm that Pharmacology is basically the study of drug action on the body, sometimes studied at a biochemical and molecular level.
Whilst we learn about the actions of drugs, we also learn about drug development, which is major sector for careers in the industry. However, the degree is much more wide-ranging. We studies subjects in details such as chemistry, biochemistry and statistical analyses.
Also we study Pharmacokinetics, which is the science behind how drugs behave in the body (ie absorption, metabolism, excretion) and as Gregorian V mentioned, the different formulations available and why you would use them.
As regards careers, there are many possible areas. You can go into research academically or in industry, in this or a related field. There are many opportunities in finance, management and of course there are options including graduate entry medicine. Pharmacology is much more highly regarded as a degree than something like biomedical science for example
Hope this answers some questions?
Jonah127
Can a MPharm graduated student work as a pharmacology graduated student and vice versa? Can a pharmacist do research on drugs too?
Pharmacists can do research on drugs (i'm pretty sure anyway) but they usually have a PhD, they don't have to work in the traditional areas of community and hospital although this is more common. Also, some uni's are more scientifically/research based for pharmacy e.g Nottingham, so if research was for you then you'd probably be better off going to a uni that has good links to industry/research.
To answer the first part, you can't switch between being a pharmacologist and a pharmacist, but they may be dealing with similar things in industry.
Vamp1reWeekend
Pharmacists can do research on drugs (i'm pretty sure anyway) but they usually have a PhD, they don't have to work in the traditional areas of community and hospital although this is more common. Also, some uni's are more scientifically/research based for pharmacy e.g Nottingham, so if research was for you then you'd probably be better off going to a uni that has good links to industry/research.
To answer the first part, you can't switch between being a pharmacologist and a pharmacist, but they may be dealing with similar things in industry.
To answer the first part, you can't switch between being a pharmacologist and a pharmacist, but they may be dealing with similar things in industry.
how do you know what unis are more industry/research based? russel and 1994 group?
danni2010
how do you know what unis are more industry/research based? russel and 1994 group?
More or less. If you are a pharmacist going into pharmacology research via a PhD the place you do your PhD is far more important. However, its all got a bit more mixed up now we have all the new schools of pharmacy as they have poached several of the internationally renowned academics who have taken their research groups with them. Also, you dont necessarily do your PhD at the same uni that you get your pharmacy degree anyway, so its less relevant. I did both my PhD and undergrad at Manchester but I was the only one in my PhD lab who had a first degree from there. There was one girl from APU, one from Dundee, one from MMU, one from Oxford Brookes as far as I can remember. It did help having a PhD from Manchester when I came to apply for research jobs afterwards as I'd done my work in a very hot area and managed to get good publications because we were well funded and had the research facilities, which you dont always get at the new universities. Has never impacted on any other area of my pharmacy career though.
danni2010
how do you know what unis are more industry/research based? russel and 1994 group?
Yeah and like Nottingham was ranked the top school of pharmacy in the Research Assessment Exercise. You also begin to figure out which uni's are more research based from open days etc, like the lecturers are usually conducting 'cutting-edge' research in a uni that is strong in that area. But that's just from my experience and there are other pharmacy schools that have links to research...Nottingham is just an example.
Vamp1reWeekend
Yeah and like Nottingham was ranked the top school of pharmacy in the Research Assessment Exercise. example.
Interesting, except the obvious times, guardian and independent league tables as well as the rae, what other tables are there out there for pharmacy?
Thanks,
Danni
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