I wanna ask about master in pharmacy. What is the course about, are there and specialties in pharmacy field? I heard that ppl don go for MPharm, they said that BPharm is enough. Isit true? Pls enlighten me =) Thanks

Many pharmacy school in Malaysia do twinning program with UK universities. And there is no BPharm degree in UK anymore, that is why, those twinning program have to accredited at Master level in order to twin with the UK universities.

BPharm is more than enough if you are likely to work in Malaysia, singapore or aus.

But why not go for MPharm if you have that option. You will great experiences in project and learning at Master level, in addition what you get in the end, is a Master degree.

just to point out... at the end of the MPharm programme you do not obtain a master degree, what you get is only a undergraduate bachelor's degree. The name of the program itself is misleading. basically it is named Master Of Pharmacy (MPharm) because of the extensive details in the studies.

-edit - if you decided to go for MPharm, you can later on proceed to go for the pre-registration training in the UK and finally sit for an exam which would qualify you as a pharmacist in the UK. you cant do that for BPharm... MPharm opens up more choices for u in the future

-edit 2 - btw.. if you are thinking of going to IMU to do their MPharm programme, i strongly advise you to stay away from their 3 1/2 years MPharm programme instead go for the 4 years course (not sure if they already have one, go check) because pre-reg training in UK requires you to have a full 4 years course, if you decide to go for it.

This post has been edited by jamc: May 7 2008, 08:45 PM

Undergraduate Master degree actually because you are actually taught at Master levels, have to carried out a research project at Master level and tested for learning and key skills at Master level besides the extensive details in study. Just like some direct 4 years MEng.

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Added on May 7, 2008, 8:54 pmThe first 3 year, you will be taught at undergraduate bachelor degree level, and the final year are accredited at postgraduate master level studies in order to attain the Master degree.

You can stop (or if you achieved not-so satisfactory result) at third year and get something like BPharmSci (IIANM).

This post has been edited by youngkies: May 7 2008, 08:54 PM

better go for Bpharm in USM...they're the best in Malaysia

Whoa, thanks for all the reply. ^^

Well, i'm not a undergraduate now though, but just wondering whats the different between the master degree and bachelor, since well, pharmacy is just pharmacy. Are there any specialties or fields to specialize in?

And I'm in aussie now =D Was thinking of what to put as my 2nd -3rd choice when i tot of pharmacy, and all sorts of questions popped out. xD

From what i heard here, ppl don wanna appoint MPharm students cos they have to be paid more? >.<

aussie now studying anything?

how come you are thinking about second choice in uk? planning to run there?

I'm doing foundations and I never mentioned anything bout UK =)

ohh...is the mpharm mislead me. you didnt mention anything about uk but mpharm is for uk only.

so may i know what is your 1st coice?

bold: not in malaysia. not even UK too, because every pharmacy graduate graduated after 1997 has Master degree anyway. but master degree give you more opportunity if you are going into industrial.

the huge difference is the study key skill and the research project. the project that you will do will be at master level, researching along side the lecturer or phd / post-doc student. in the final fourth year, very little lecturers but plenty of group projects, assignment etc at master key skills.

yeah..i'm taking MPharm in IMU..just finished my first sem..but JPA sent me for 3 1/2 years program.n now there's 4 years program.just started this year.it's quite unfair though..coz we (3.5 years prog) will have to pack our semester 6,7,8 in 1 year n the 4 years prog students will do semester 5,6,7,8 in 2 years..quite stressfull isn't it?n as jamc said,those who take 3.5 years prog cannot register with pharmaceutical society in UK..as for the 1st semester course,if u did ur a-level very well,it wont be a problem to u..it'll be just like a recall of what u've learnt..but a bit disadvantage for those who didn't take bio during a-level..

well, for what i know here in aus, normally they offer the bachelor degree instead of a combined bachelor / masters.

yes master degree in Aus is postgraduate study. 4 years in Aus only get you a bachelor degree.

UK doesnt have BPharm anymore. And as for US, they dont have BPharm and MPharm either, but straight PharmD (doctor in Pharmacy) in 7 years IIANM.

so for what you all know, is it wise to take up MPharm after a BPharm degree here in aus?

if you are to work in aus, or malaysia, BPharm is enough. if you wanted to work in UK, MPharm would be advantageous, if you wanted to work in US, a doctorate degree in pharmacy would be the best to go then. different country require different preferred requirement for their profession.

BPharm is enough but won't MPharm be earning more ? ]

or juz treated the same

i think you'l be paid more, but then again, what do u study in masters? research?

just like any other postgraduate study of master degree.

rather than attending lectures, workshops most of the time and exams in the end like what you do in bachelor degree study, you will do a lot of lecturing the lecturer instead, plenty of assignments, group projects, presentations, case study, self assessment, and research at master level (making novel drugs or delivery system etc).

ah thanks youngkies =) just a quick question, are there too much pharmacists around now? or are there too little? cos i know alot of pharmacist friends, or isit just me lucky to know these bunch =D? and if u were to predict the needs for pharmacist in the next 10 years mayb, what will it be? will it be still in demand? or will it perhaps be overpopulated.

actually you can get involved in industrial, clinical, community,hospital and acdemia just to name a few. sure there will be one that suit you. just go wiki and you will find a lot more informations there.

no one can really predict what will happen in 10 years but looking at the current trend, job prospect for pharmacy is still very good.