Pharmacy
| From | To | UK Fee * | International Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Sep 2012 | 31 Aug 2013 | £8,500 | £9,000 |
* Exceptions may apply. Please see Fees and Finance for further information.
Introduction
Visit the Sunderland Pharmacy School website
Rated excellent by the Quality Assurance Agency.
This degree aims to integrate clinical and scientific knowledge with clinical skills providing you with the expertise to contribute effectively as a pharmacist within the UK Healthcare System. The programme is fully integrated and concentrates on the pharmaceutical care of patients.
You will gain the scientific, clinical and professional skills you need for a stimulating, challenging and varied career in modern day pharmacy. You will be competent to work in community, primary care, hospital and industrial pharmacy in the UK. These skills will enable you to provide an efficient and effective service to patients, applying not only the legal and ethical aspects of pharmacy, but also the clinical knowledge and communication skills that can be so crucial in the effective use of medication.
Pharmacists are experts in the use of medicines, the programme is designed to provide you with a unique set of knowledge and skills which can be used in the clinical setting but can also be applied to research careers in chemistry, pharmacology and pharmaceutics. The strength of a Pharmacy degree is that it gives you many opportunities for future career paths.
To achieve this, the programme is fully integrated to ensure that all material you encounter has a clear application in the practice of pharmacy. Subjects will include drug synthesis, analysis, formulation, action and uses of drugs combined with clinical therapeutics as well as the social and behavioural aspects of delivering care. You will learn how drugs are discovered and how they are formulated as safe and effective medication.
You will study the effects that drugs and endogenous substances have on the human body, and how the human body deals with drugs. You will understand how to choose the best medicine for a patient, as well as how to communicate with patients and other health care professionals. We will also give you a thorough grounding in fundamental clinical examination skills.
Pharmacists are increasingly working in a prescribing role in practice and we feel it is important that the postgraduate qualifications required to do this are underpinned in your undergraduate studies. On completion of the programme you will be able to conduct a basic physical examination of most of the major body systems.
The programme builds from Level 1, delivering an underpinning chemical, pharmaceutical and physiological base interwoven with how this applies to the practice of pharmacy practice. Material will be delivered in workshops, seminars and laboratory work. We will also provide you with regular small group integration sessions where the material covered to date is considered in the context of practice based scenarios.
These sessions will be designed to show you the importance and relevance of the first principles of pharmaceutical science to patient care as well as encouraging you to develop clinical judgment skills.
Progressing through each year, the emphasis is placed on a particular body system such as the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal or central nervous systems or clinical specialty such as oncology. We will then guide you through the management of disease in each of these areas whilst taking the opportunity to demonstrate aspects of drugs design, formulation and pharmaceutical care in context of the patient.
Throughout the programme we will help you to develop the communication skills necessary for your role as a pharmacist. You will learn formal models of clinical consultation and have the chance to practice with fellow students, volunteers, academics and actual patients.
Visits to community and hospital pharmacies are provided at all levels of the programme and are integrated into individual modules. This is a very important aspect of the programme in terms of helping you to develop context for the academic knowledge you have gained and also to further improve your ability to communicate effectively and with confidence in your ability. Placements can include integrated learning with other health care undergraduates such as doctors, nurses and physiotherapists.
You will have the opportunity to research specific areas of pharmacy in the third year, developing your skills in identifying and analysing data. This project will be supervised by one of our academics who will have a specific interest and expertise in your chosen area.
You will have the choice to work in a hospital or primary care environment or to tackle a pharmaceutical science project where you will investigate a problem in our newly developed state-of-the-art laboratory facilities.
After successfully completing this four-year degree programme, you will be able to undertake the compulsory one-year postgraduate period of pre-registration training, usually in a community pharmacy or a hospital or a combination of both. It is possible to complete your pre-registration training in an industrial setting, usually in combination with a hospital to ensure that you gain sufficient clinical experience.
NB: That successful completion of this degree programme does not entitle you to practice as a pharmacist in the UK.
You must then complete the one year pre-registration training and pass the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) Pre-registration exam to become eligible for registration.
Course Content
Course Programme
Topics Include:
Level 1
Comprehensive overview of the fundamental pharmaceutical sciences including:
- Functional Group Chemistry
- Biological Macromolecules
- Analysis, and Quality Control
- Diagnostic Tests
- Macromolecules
- Normal Human Physiology
- Normal Cell Signalling and Endogenous Ligand Binding
- The Process of Rational Drug Choice
- Small Scale Formulation
- Introduction to Microbiology
- Aseptic Procedures
- Aspects of Drug Delivery and Quality Assurance
Level 1 will include the orientation of all of the above to pharmaceutical care and will include:
- Consultation Skills
- Introduction to Physical Examination
- Simple patient observations, blood pressure, temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, use of examination equipment such as a stethoscope and sphygmanometer
- Introduction to the Law relating to Pharmacy
- Introduction to the NHS
Following Level 1 all material in Levels 2, 3 and 4 will be focussed around therapeutic areas, these modules will be integrated and will include aspects of medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutics, therapeutics and clinical management/examination. Level 2 will include the major section of law relating to pharmacy and the dispensing examination.
Level 2
Will focus on the following areas:
- Cardiovascular Therapeutics
- Gastrointestinal Therapeutics
- Respiratory Therapeutics
Level 3
Will focus on the following areas:
- Central Nervous System Therapeutics
- Endocrine Therapeutics
- The Project will be in Level 3
Level 4
Will focus on the following areas:
- Oncology and Infectious Disease
- Preparing for Practice - completely integrated module of study using clinical cases to demonstrate learning outcomes
The large areas of study indicated above will include other smaller aspects of therapeutics where subject material is related. Certain diseases of the eye will be included with cardiovascular therapeutics, infective skin and ENT conditions will be included at Level 4 with the Oncology and infectious disease material.
You will normally study 120 credits worth of material each year. On the MPharm programme this equates to two 60 credit modules for the first two years and Level 4. Level 3 changes in structure with one 60 credit, one 40 credit and one 20 credit module.
Entry Requirements
Our typical offer is 300 points from three A Level passes which must include Chemistry and one other science subject at Grade B or above excluding General Studies.
We also require at least three passes at GCSE grade C or above which must include Mathematics and English Language.
Access Programme: Ideally you would have been taking an Access course in Chemistry, Biology and Quantitative Methods. You must obtain Distinctions in all subjects of the Access course. We will accept Physical Science if this has been studied with Chemistry.
Scottish Advanced Highers: You are required to have gained 300 points from the Advanced Scottish Higher; this must include a B in Chemistry and another science related subject. We cannot make an offer based on your Scottish Higher it must be at Advanced Level.
Irish Leaving Certificate: 300 points - B1 must be in Chemistry, plus other related subjects. Please seek advice if unsure. Should also have Mathematics and English language at grade C or above in junior certificate
Fitness to Practice
Pharmacy is a registered health care profession for which the ability to practice safely and effectively is essential, so all pharmacy students will be subjected to Fitness to Practice procedures.
This means you are required to complete two self-declaration forms, one about your health and the other about your conduct. For UK students you will also be required to obtain a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check and for overseas students, a Certificate of Good Conduct from your home police force is necessary.
A Fitness to Practice information pack containing the relevant documents will be sent to you by the University of Sunderland once you hold a conditional firm offer with us. These forms are then reviewed alongside your application, and you must meet both the academic and fitness to practice requirements before you will be given an unconditional offer. These checks enable us to make safer recruitment decisions by identifying candidates who may be unsuitable for certain activities including the pharmacy work experience placements.
At the end of Level 1 all overseas students will then be required to obtain a Criminal Records Check which will then replace the Certificate of Good Conduct.
Fees and Finance
The fees for this course are as specified in the table at the top of the page.
Please note that different fees apply to students studying for "Equivalent or Lower Qualifications" (ELQs). For more information about ELQs, please see the page Information for applicants who already have an HE Qualification.
For information about University scholarships and bursaries please see the page Fees and Finance.
Teaching and Assessment
Teaching is conducted through an integrated programme of lectures, laboratory classes, seminars and tutorials and will include problem base learning, podcasting, video seminars and other resources such as the University intranet.
Assessment can be by examinations, time constrained tests (some web-based), assignments, multiple choice tests, essays, reports and presentations.
There is continuous assessment of coursework and end of year examinations.
Students, on average attend 25 hours per week, the remaining time (non-contact time) to be used for directed and independent study, completion of assigned work and background reading.
Work Experience
Links with the practice of pharmacy in community, hospital and industry are featured in the programme. Integration with other health care professions is also seen as beneficial in gaining a rounded perspective of collaborative working within the NHS.
This is achieved by lectures and seminars delivered by professionals working in the main branches of pharmacy as well as teacher practitioners working jointly at the University and in their place of work. Visits to hospital and community pharmacy are organised and many projects in the final year of the programme are in collaboration with primary care, secondary care and industrial pharmacists. Students can have the opportunity to gain inter-professional learning alongside medical students.
Students are encouraged to undertake vacational work and are given assistance and advice when applying for their pre-registration placement.
Career Opportunities
This degree programme prepares the graduate for the many roles which are expected of a pharmacist in the New NHS. Opportunities are available in hospital, community, primary care and industrial pharmacy in Great Britain and abroad.
At present career opportunities are good, with virtually no unemployment of qualified pharmacists. Financial reward compares favourably with most other professions. Approximately 70% of graduates work in community pharmacy, with the majority of the remainder joining secondary care or primary care, and some becoming industrial pharmacists, academics and/or studying for a higher degree.
Community Pharmacy: Pharmacists are responsible for the provision of a pharmaceutical service to patients in the community, including: dispensing prescriptions, dealing with minor ailments, advising on the use of medicines, advising and working with other health professionals. The role of the pharmacist in community is changing rapidly with the development of non-medical prescribing and the focus on safe, effective and rational use of medicines in the community. Pharmacists have a significant role in promoting awareness of public health in ensuring that the population is healthier.
Primary Care: Pharmacists have traditionally worked separately from general practitioners (GP), the development of Prescribing Advisor roles has meant that many pharmacists work in General Practice surgeries either employed by the GP or the Primary Care Trust. This is a very important role with Medicines Management Pharmacists being responsible for prescribing budgets and the development of prescribing directives. Pharmacists working in Primary Care have traditionally come from the hospital service but this is currently changing to take advantage of the expertise of community trained pharmacists.
Secondary care: hospital pharmacists are expert in the preparation, supply and use of medicines and are involved with ward rounds, managing clinics, providing drug information, prescribing and other highly specialised areas.
Industrial pharmacists: are involved with Research and Development, Manufacture, Quality Assurance, Marketing, Sales, Drug Information and Product Registration.
Research can be undertaken in many aspects of Pharmacy and Sunderland Pharmacy School offers excellent facilities and a wide range of research expertise.
Facilities
We have invested £7.5 million in Phase 1 of the new Sciences Complex which opened in September 2010. This provides high quality teaching and learning facilities and social learning spaces for staff and students.
The building also includes multi-disciplinary science laboratories including new equipment for drug discovery, pharmaceuticals and health related sciences.
In 2011 a new integrated industry-standard Analytical Services Lab and scientific imaging suite will open. As well as the new Lab there will also be an attractive landscaped public realm space as part of a new university square.
*World Class Web/Design Tools*
The University of Sunderland has made a significant investment in providing students with access to the latest releases of Adobe products.
Selected PCs within the Murray Library and St Peter's have been pre-loaded with the Creative Suite 4 Adobe Design Premium Suite for your exclusive use. CS4 Creative includes key products such as Indesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver as well as Photoshop and a range of many others. Further information is available from http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/creativesuite/design/
For information regarding locations of PC or Macs within your own faculty that have access to Adobe products please contact your Faculty IT Support for further information.
If you are interested in purchasing Adobe products for your own PC/Mac Adobe offer significant savings for Student purchases via any of its approved re sellers. To use the University's Adobe supplier please visit http://www.student-software.co.uk/ for more information.