Confused between Pharmacy and Pharmacology degree

Hi ,

I am in Y12 and contemplating between Pharmacy and Pharmacology degree. At this point I am very keen in joining industry (drug research and manufacturing) which means , however one part of me says taking Pharmacy gives me a wider choice of options to explore in future , be it Hospital , community or industry. Do you mind sharing your thoughts and opinions?

Reply 1

unknown2343

Original post by 19skishor

Hi ,
I am in Y12 and contemplating between Pharmacy and Pharmacology degree. At this point I am very keen in joining industry (drug research and manufacturing) which means , however one part of me says taking Pharmacy gives me a wider choice of options to explore in future , be it Hospital , community or industry. Do you mind sharing your thoughts and opinions?

i applied for both, but i defo think go for pharmacy there are greater career opportunities

Reply 2

dvuo

Original post by 19skishor

Hi ,
I am in Y12 and contemplating between Pharmacy and Pharmacology degree. At this point I am very keen in joining industry (drug research and manufacturing) which means , however one part of me says taking Pharmacy gives me a wider choice of options to explore in future , be it Hospital , community or industry. Do you mind sharing your thoughts and opinions?

Hi, I’m a year 13 student and I’ve applied for pharmacy at all 5 uni’s. However one of my uni choices (top uni) rejected me but gave me an alternative offer for pharmacology. Check my post for more detail.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING is that if you study PHARMACOLOGY you will NEVER be allowed to work as a pharmacist in the uk, even if you have 100 PhDs. Essentially, all bachelor degrees (e.g. BSc) are undergraduate degrees and all masters degrees (e.g. MPharm) are postgraduate degrees, and you can’t get a postgraduate degree without an undergraduate degree. There are some exceptions to this, including pharmacy (MPharm) which despite being a masters, is studied at an undergraduate level (note that the MPharm is the ONLY degree that can be used to become a pharmacist in the UK). This means, if you study pharmacology at uni, any degree you study after will be postgraduate, and since the MPharm is an undergraduate degree, you cannot be a pharmacist. Also note that it is very hard to find a job with just a degree in pharmacology (BSc) and that you almost ideally need a post-graduate degree.

Now that that’s out of the way, there are some key differences.

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Pharmacy is in the healthcare field, and pharmacology is in the biomedical field. This means pharmacy focuses more on patients etc. whereas pharmacology focuses more on research and science.

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Pharmacy courses (MPharm) are 4 years long, whereas pharmacology courses (BSc) are 3 years long. Note that most people who study pharmacology tend to study a postgraduate degree as well, which would mean it takes longer studying pharmacology than pharmacy.

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Pharmacists have a high base salary, whereas pharmacologists have a very low base salary.

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There are many vacancies for pharmacy, and almost zero vacancies for pharmacology. Most people with a pharmacology degree get a postgraduate degree in a different course (usually things like research, neuroscience etc.) and get a job in one of those fields.

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You can really only be a pharmacist with a pharmacy degree (unless you study for a different post-graduate degree). Since pharmacology is in the biomedical field, there are many jobs you can be e.g. data analyst, biomedical scientist, neuroscientist etc. (although note you would need a postgraduate degree for these).

•

Whilst yes, pharmacists can work in different locations (community pharmacy, hospital, GP etc) the job role is still the same, you are still a pharmacist regardless. There’s not much of a difference.

I wanted to point out that in your original post you stated “drug research and manufacturing” and I wanted to clarify that pharmacologists do not manufacture or produce drugs. They mainly research them and their effects on the human body. Jobs focusing on manufacturing drugs would be more chemistry based (a good course for something like this would be medicinal chemistry).

From everything I’ve just said, pharmacy seems like a more stable option in terms of salary and finding a job. However pharmacology, may be better suited for you (as long as you are open to studying a postgraduate degree), as it provides a larger variety of jobs.

Reply 3

19skishor

Thank you @dvuo for the detailed post. And all the best woth your admissions and exams.

Please can you share how you started preparing for interviews and any materials/ resources ?

Reply 4

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

As above, pharmacy is a completely separate field to pharmacology.

If you want to become a registered pharmacist, do a pharmacy degree. If you don't want to become a registered pharmacist, don't do a pharmacy degree. It exists for the purpose of training allied health professionals (i.e. pharmacists).

Pharmacology is a science degree, focusing on the biosciences relating to drug interactions on (mostly human) physiology.

Pharmacology is to pharmacy as biomedical science is to medicine. One of the degrees is to train as a healthcare professional, and the other one is "just" a science degree.

Reply 5

unknown2343

Original post by dvuo

Hi, I’m a year 13 student and I’ve applied for pharmacy at all 5 uni’s. However one of my uni choices (top uni) rejected me but gave me an alternative offer for pharmacology. Check my post for more detail.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING is that if you study PHARMACOLOGY you will NEVER be allowed to work as a pharmacist in the uk, even if you have 100 PhDs. Essentially, all bachelor degrees (e.g. BSc) are undergraduate degrees and all masters degrees (e.g. MPharm) are postgraduate degrees, and you can’t get a postgraduate degree without an undergraduate degree. There are some exceptions to this, including pharmacy (MPharm) which despite being a masters, is studied at an undergraduate level (note that the MPharm is the ONLY degree that can be used to become a pharmacist in the UK). This means, if you study pharmacology at uni, any degree you study after will be postgraduate, and since the MPharm is an undergraduate degree, you cannot be a pharmacist. Also note that it is very hard to find a job with just a degree in pharmacology (BSc) and that you almost ideally need a post-graduate degree.
Now that that’s out of the way, there are some key differences.

•

Pharmacy is in the healthcare field, and pharmacology is in the biomedical field. This means pharmacy focuses more on patients etc. whereas pharmacology focuses more on research and science.

•

Pharmacists have a high base salary, whereas pharmacologists have a very low base salary.

•

I wanted to point out that in your original post you stated “drug research and manufacturing” and I wanted to clarify that pharmacologists do not manufacture or produce drugs. They mainly research them and their effects on the human body. Jobs focusing on manufacturing drugs would be more chemistry based (a good course for something like this would be medicinal chemistry).
From everything I’ve just said, pharmacy seems like a more stable option in terms of salary and finding a job. However pharmacology, may be better suited for you (as long as you are open to studying a postgraduate degree), as it provides a larger variety of jobs.

just wanted to say that just because you study mpharm does not mean that restricts you to just working as a pharmacist, you are still able to work many different roles and sectors e.g. industry, research, medical affairs etcc

Reply 6

dvuo

Original post by 19skishor

Thank you @dvuo for the detailed post. And all the best woth your admissions and exams.
Please can you share how you started preparing for interviews and any materials/ resources ?

Thanks a lot for the wishes :smile:

As any university that offers a pharmacy course (MPharm) has a required pharmacy interview, I’d recommend preparing early. The pharmacy interview is not as long or as difficult as the medicine interview, and all of my pharmacy interviews took place online (though this may change depending on the uni and the year). I am not allowed to give information regarding specific questions from interviews, however here are some general things that tend to come up:

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Why pharmacy?

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Why study at ____ university?

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Often, you may be asked to watch a video and state things from it

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Sometimes you may have to complete maths questions (never anything like calculus, usually just percentage changes, multiplication etc.)

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They like to ask about things mentioned in your personal statement. However I believe UCAS are scrapping the personal statement for your year, and using questions instead. I would assume they would ask about things you’ve mentioned in your answers.

In regards to preparing for the pharmacy interview, I would check out the GPhC website. The GPhC (General Pharmaceutical Council) is the governing body of pharmacy in the UK. Basically they’re the pharmacy headquarters in a sense. You should read the nine standards for pharmacy professionals they have set out. They’re the core principles the GPhC believe every pharmacist should possess. I would definitely research things about confidentiality and capacity for the pharmacy interview. I would also recommend doing work experience in a healthcare field (ideally in a pharmacy) but if that’s too much of a hassle you could just talk to a pharmacist if they’re not too busy.

I would say overall, don’t stress too much about pharmacy interviews as they’re not that difficult and not that long. The interviewers don’t really care if you don’t know much about being a pharmacist (as you’re not one) and are mainly there to check if you would make a suitable pharmacist in the future. They want to check that you’re professional and respectful, and that you can make smart decisions.

Best of luck with your studies :smile:

Reply 7

McGinger