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In September 1921 Hope Constance Monica Winch arrived in Sunderland with an ambitious plan to establish the finest pharmacy department in the north-east of England. She started with just three fee-paying students and 25 ex-servicemen in a teaching space equipped with only one double-sided bench.
Now, 100 years later we have produced tens of thousands of pharmacy graduates or as we like to call them heroes, who have gone on to offer expertise, support and assistance to people in all corners of the world. You can find our graduates working in industry, hospital or community pharmacy, you may have even met one of them.
Today, pharmacy at the University of Sunderland continues to be at the heart of our growing health sciences and wellbeing provision, which now includes – among other subjects – nursing, paramedic science and medicine.
This year we will be celebrating 100 years by sharing our history, remembering our heroes and hosting events with our alumni – why don’t you come and join our celebrations!
Hope Constance Monica Winch was born in 1894. She was educated at the Clergy Daughters’ School at Casterton and in 1912 went on to spend a year at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, training as a pharmacy dispenser. Miss Winch next attended the PSGB's School of Pharmacy in London and registered as a Chemist and Druggist on 30 June 1917. She then went on to attend the next session of the Major course, registering as a Pharmaceutical Chemist on 5 April 1918. During that time, she was awarded the Pereira Medal, making her only the fifth woman to be presented with this.
In September 1921 she finally came to Sunderland and became our first full-time pharmacy lecturer, having transferred from Rutherford College in Newcastle. With approval from the Pharmaceutical Society all pharmacy teaching was then transferred from Newcastle to Sunderland.
Tragically, Hope Winch died in a climbing accident on 8 April 1944. Today her memory is honoured through a society for former students which bears her name and the awarding of the Hope Winch Memorial Prize to the most outstanding student in the first two years of the course.
All our pharmacist academics are at the forefront of current practice as they continue to work with regional trusts and pharmacy employers. This means they have direct links to employers and the most up to date clinical teaching.
"The story of Pharmacy and integrated healthcare education and training in Sunderland will continue to evolve with our graduates positively contributing to an ever-developing professional workforce.”
Head of the School, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Adrian Moore
Learn more about our Pharmacy team.
"This job really is a dream come true; I always wanted to go into hospital pharmacy."
"I chose to study at Sunderland because it is a well-established university."
"We apply what we learn in lectures to real-life scenarios."
Our pharmacy graduates are working in industry, hospital or community pharmacy in all corners of the globe:
Over the past 100 years we have produced tens of thousands of pharmacy heroes who have gone on to offer expertise, support and assistance to people in all corners of the world.
Find out about some of their careers
You may think the career paths for a pharmacy graduate are limited. High street chemists, hospitals, and the industrial pharmacy sector are common destinations, but did you know this course gives you a lot of transferable skills, so there’s a huge range of other sectors where pharmacy graduates are highly valued? Here are five careers you may never have thought about before...
Find out what else you can do with a Pharmacy degree
Hello, my name is Ying, and I am a Third Year MPharm student at the University of Sunderland. To those who are interested in knowing more about the Pharmacy course offered by our university, this is the article for you.
Find out why I chose Sunderland