well to simplify MPharm is a undegraduate Master degree in pharmacy, which is quite different from undergraduate Bachelor degree, BPharm, although the study period is the same.

The reason why the existance of undergraduate MPharm course in msia is because, availability of twinning program with UK university.

in UK, all bachelor degree is done in 3 years, but there is no way to fit pharmacy studies into 3 years, hence they retain the course for 4 years, and squeeze in a esearch at master level in the final year, to make it equivalent of master degree.

So basically, the different is not much compare to other courses of postgraduate master degree, just that it is a straightaway 4 years undergraduate degree. So if you do MPharm degree in UK, from a reputable uni, you will learn like other postgraduate master degree too, as so to attain skills at master level.

if you asking IMU or Notts, I would suggest Notts. Why, they have been doing 2+2 for long time and are fully accredited by RPSGB. Which means the graduate of the 2+2 degree can remain in UK to work as pre-reg after graduation. As for IMU, only the 2+2 program allows their graduate to remain in UK after graduation, which the program itself is quite new.

it is definitely better, as it wont be accredited as a master degree if you dont do stuff at master level.

a Master degree is where you attain skills at master level, which is quite different from a bachelor degree. you are not much taught/trained of critical thinking skills, paper appraisal, literature reviews, more detailed presentation, and an intensive research topic in a bachelor degree. so directly or indirectly, you will pick up those skills at higher level if you are doing master degree instead of bachelor degree, and you can notice the difference between a master graduate and a bachelor degree graduate.

first, if you want to work in uk as a pharmacist, make sure your course is fully accredited by rpsgb. then the recruitment of pre-registration placement usually starts before the start of the 4th year. and usually students already got a job as pre-reg way before they graduate. and the best way to secure a pre-reg place comfortably is to work in summer placement program offered by huge company like lloyds or boots or in hospital. as long as you get a pre-reg, which isnt difficult as long as you put some effort to go interview, or dont even mind who or where you are going to work for, then sit for the exam after abt 48 weeks of pre-reg training, pass the exam, and register and pharmacist, and work opportunity is then plentiful.

if you want to come UK for this course, do consider, Cardiff, Bath, Manchester, Liverpool, Notts and Bristol maybe.

Bristol is well-known uni in uk for some engineering particularly but not pharmacy.

if you wanted to save some money, on budget, do the notts 2+2 instead.

if you want to work in UK but didnt have the budget at all. study in msia, then work for civil service for 4 years in msia, then transfer to UK, do the 1 year pre-reg and finally then you can practice as pharmacist in uk.

doesnt need a genius to get into oxford, just opportunity that you have to look for.

ABB as in what, a-level, stpm, matriculation? i dont know the other two, but ABB in a-level will do to enter mpharm in uk.

there also a lot of not so bright one in there, doing their PhD, fully funded to do some research meanwhile also evading from working life, but somehow in the end get themself a DPhil cert too.

stpm is kinda equivalent of A-level but it is the university discretion to consider of STPM.

that is general requirement for a-level.

words of advise, if you want to take pharmacy, try to apply, it is up to the uni to decide your STPM ABB is sufficient or not. you will never know if you never try.

pharmacy profession in australia is not as established as in UK. e.g. just look at the professional bodies.

---

Added on March 20, 2009, 4:03 ambath, notts, cardiff, manchester, liverpool, london school of pharmacy and strach.... are the few tops one

This post has been edited by youngkies: Mar 20 2009, 04:03 AM

its the same IIANM. the best is that, it is fully accredited by RPSGB. hence the graduate of notts 2+2 are allowed to do pre-reg in UK after graduation if you can secure a place.

and then you earn and take their money away after you graduated. with pharmacy, there is no mistake, there is shortage everywhere in the world.

just make sure you really want to do pharmacy and are able to take the huge responsibilities and stresses when you work as a pharmacist.

in UK, dispensing has been taken over by dispenser or pharmacy technician. what the pharmacist does is to clinical check the prescription and final check on what has been dispensed against the prescription, before bagging up and handling items out to patient.

this means, dispenser and technician roles have free up pharmacist, enable them to deliver plenty of other services, e.g. medicine use review, patient consultation, medicine management, smoking cessation service, etc etc, more time to interact with the patient.

and also there are plenty of management and paper works as well. not to mention people keep on coming in asking to see the pharmacist for all sort of advise.

7-10k is pretty norm for pharmacist working in community pharmacy. above 10k is depends on your role and size of the business.

are you doing pharmacy course now or what? where?

This post has been edited by youngkies: Mar 21 2009, 09:27 PM

just apply for it. you will never know.

though sometime requirement is important, but it depends on places availability too.

biology is an advantage but usually not compulsory.

to be honest, if you paying abt the same amount of money for tuition fees, why QUB in the first place.

you can do the MPharm at more reputable schools in the mainland UK for abt the same price.

you will land yourself more opportunities for summer placements, part time jobs, pre-reg opportunities and more choices when you work as pharmacist. not to mention that, the healthcare system and even the political system is slightly different between ireland and mainland UK; england, wales and scotland.

Pharmacy in QUB is fine, but it will be more beneficial if you choose to do it in mainland UK instead.

you will never know if you never try. just apply for it.

it doesnt just depends on th entry requirement, but also available places.

say 10 places are made for malaysian or international students for this year intake, but there are only 8 applicants in total, hence as long as your qualification (forecast) is not way too far below the entry requirement, you are very likely to be offered a place. but if there are 20 applicants, and the first 15 applicants held 4A's in a-level (or from forecast result), of course the likehood of those applicants below the entry requirement is way lower. so it depends on your luck too. besides, they tend to give out offers more than places they have, because not every applicants will take up the offer too.

so how do you apply for the course? via UCAS?

i had once chosen cardiff and i have never regretted it.

any one of these will do, cardiff, bath, nottingham, manchester, london school of pharmacy.

bath and nottingham are really nice campus based universities.

all are among the top pharmacy schools in uk, fighting over the no.1 since ages ago. never fall beyond top 8 of about only less that 40 pharmacy schools in uk.

love cardiff for its location, culture, city, conveniences, facilities, people, uniqueness, buildings, status, and of course among the top pharmacy school. in fact it was rated no.1 in pharmacy for the year when I graduated.

nowadays pharmacist rarely doing mixing of chemicals unless you work in research or academic field.

hospital pharmacy only do some mixing when it comes to preparing aseptic solutions, or fluids for infusion/injections.

most of the preparations, you can get it from distributors.

what is the job about, it depends on where you work in. majority pharmacist works in hospital or community, and their main roles are to:

- clinically screen the medication of patient.

- dispense the medications against a prescription

- provide heatlhcare advise and consultation

- delivering healthcare services

- making sure pharmacy is run under the strict regulations legally

- sell of medicines to various parties appropriately

though roles and responsibilites vary between country.

prescribing, is to give order/instruction on what to use as a treatment of condition.

dispensing, is to prepare and give out the item prescribed.

the doctor to diagnose the condition and prescribe the medicine, and the pharmacist is to dispense to the patient of what is prescribed by the doctor. but in malaysia, because there is no separation of roles, the doctor have the right to dispense as well.

only in msia.

simply in 3.

hospital pharmacit

community pharmacist

industrial and academia pharmacist.

what i mentioned is more to career branches.

if you are talking about academic/study categories, i would say:

body anatomy and phsiology

law, ethics and professional in pharmacy practice

chemistry and organic chemistry

drug design, formulation and research

pharmacology

biochemistry

and it varies between university.

---

Added on March 30, 2009, 1:24 amwhich is easier, it is difficult to gauge considering it depends on the interest and understanding of the person taking the subject.

i would say pharmacy could be more difficult considering it covers more subjects including pharmacology. but while i was doing the pharmacy course, i found pharmacology module need a lot of memorising and reading, and who do well in biology do have advantage in pharmacology.

broader choice of career, pharmacy will have more.

This post has been edited by youngkies: Mar 30 2009, 01:24 AM

pharmacy assistant can never be a pharmacist, unless he/she went to complete the a pharmacy degree.

and yes, only a pharmacy degree holder can be the pharmacist. although it seems pharmacy assistant can work to the extent of a pharmacist, but they dont have the responsibilities a pharmacist can hold.

btw, it is called pharmacy assistant. a assistant pharmacist is a pharmacist whom is also an assistant to some role.

NUS world ranking is higher than nottingham, in general, doesn't mean it pharmacy school is top 20 in the world.

well it is up to you where to go. but if you are looking to work as a proper pharmacist, someone that hold dispensing roles and where the profession is more recognised as healthcare professional, then UK is the place you should go.

and notts 2+2 is a good program and cheap option too.

pharmacology by rang and dale.

i would say 30:50:20 for chemistry:biology:and other stuffs (law, professional practice, formulation etc etc)

pharmacology at a glance. cant remember the author.

This post has been edited by youngkies: Apr 25 2009, 11:25 PM