MPharm in Pharmacy

A pharmacist is a healthcare team member specifically concerned with drugs and medicines. Pharmacy at UCC provides the confidence, skills, and knowledge to make a difference in the pharmaceutical arena.

The four main areas of study on this five-year course are pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry; formulation design; drug action in the body and the practice of pharmacy. The course incorporates both basic sciences learning and the practice of pharmacy, as well as a number of unpaid/paid placements as outlined above.

The School of Pharmacy at UCC has state-of-the-art facilities designed to teach pharmacy to a world-class standard. These include laboratories, teaching and tutorial rooms, and a model pharmacy. Innovative technology is used in over-the-counter (OTC) ‘responding to symptoms’ tutorials. This technology uses interactive patient scenarios across many types of diseases.

Exciting changes to Pharmacy Education

Since September 2015 students who enter the UCC Pharmacy programme graduate with a Level 9 postgraduate MPharm degree. Once you have successfully completed your first four years (BPharm) you will then progress to the fifth year (MPharm). This new and exciting change in Pharmacy education in Ireland has come about because the Irish professional pharmacy regulator, Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI), requires graduates to have completed a Master's degree before entering the PSI Register and practicing as a Pharmacist.

So what does this mean for you?

Our pharmacy degree is designed to integrate both the subjects you will study and the placements you will undertake so that you can really understand and apply your knowledge of science and healthcare to drug treatments for patients.

Placements are an integral part of the programme over the five years. Placements can be carried out in community, hospital, or industry settings, as well as within regulatory organisations, but the final eight-month placement in Year 5 must be carried out in a patient-facing setting.

Who teaches this course

Our staff members have connections with the pharmaceutical industry and in UCC, we are also lucky to have locally based but global pharmaceutical industries, with whom our staff are involved in research. These connections greatly influence the teaching of pharmacy to our students.

In addition, as some of our staff are practising pharmacists, they are able to bring their work experiences directly into the lecture theatres and laboratories, which makes learning more exciting and meaningful for students.

Connected Curriculum

Our learning approach reflects our commitment to the Connected Curriculum where we emphasise the connection between students, learning, research and leadership through our vision for a Connected University. Our staff will support you in making meaningful connections within and between topics such as medicine, science, physiology and the practice of pharmacy.

Programme content

Year 1: you will take modules up to 60 credits:

• AN1075 Principles of Human Structure for Pharmacy Students (5 credits)
• BC1443 Biochemistry (10 credits)
• PF1009 Introduction to Pharmaceutical Chemistry (10 credits)
• PF1010 Physiochemical Basis of Pharmaceuticals (5 credits)
• PF1011 Pharmacy Practice I (5 credits)
• PF1012 Introduction to Pharmaceutics: Formulation Science (10 credits)
• PL1400 Introduction to Physiology for Pharmacy I (5 credits)
• PL1401 Introduction to Physiology for Pharmacy II (5 credits)
• PT1445 Foundation Pharmacology (5 credits)

Please consult the University Calendar BPharm/MPharm [CK703] page to view the modules for Years 2, 3, 4 & 5.

• Year 5 includes a research dissertation in Pharmacy worth 25 credits (PF6421).

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the BPharm/MPharm programme, students should be able to:

• Register with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI);
• Evaluate interventions to improve prescribing in practice and within the health care team;
• Practise Pharmacy competently in the primary care/secondary setting with due regard to the competencies set out in the Core Competency Framework for Pharmacists Document;
• Communicate effectively with patients and healthcare professionals for the purpose of counselling and advising on medicines and their safe usage and supply;
• Interpret and evaluate prescriptions and supply medicines in accordance with current legislation and professional codes of practice;
• Apply the physiochemical properties of drugs underpinning the design, development, and manufacturing of emerging medicines;
• Outline the physiological, biochemical, molecular and genetic basis of disease, drug therapy, and drug delivery;
• Recognise common disease states and respond appropriately to presented symptoms;
• Conduct a literature review, design a research protocol, collect and interpret data and write a dissertation.

See the College Calendar for more detailed information on the programme and the Book of Modules for a more detailed description of programme modules.

This course is an excellent broad-based degree that can take you in a number of career directions, including:

• community pharmacist
• hospital pharmacist
• industrial pharmacist
• regulatory work.
• university lecturer
• wholesaling

There are also opportunities for research in areas such as drug delivery, drug design, drug action, and the practice of pharmacy. Pharmacists can manage businesses for other people or set up their own businesses.