Pharmacy and Pharmacology
By Zoe Flood
Published: 15 August 2004
What do you come out with? MPharm for pharmacy, or BSc for pharmacology, though pharmacology is often an element of a broader degree, such as biomedical science or physiology.
Why do it? You see a good professional career as a pharmacist that combines science and dealing with people, but is less of a time commitment than medicine. Or for pharmacology, you are on the science side and want to keep your options open. Or you have a thing for white coats.
What's it about? Pharmacology is the study of drugs and how they work on people, bodies and tissues. You examine single cells and how these integrate in an organ such as the liver, how disease changes the normal condition, and the effect of drugs on different conditions. Topics may include physiology cell biology, biomolecular chemistry, zoology, immunology, medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, and analytical methods.
When training to be a pharmacist you study the clinically relevant aspects of pharmacology. The pharmacist is concerned not only with the drug and how it works on the body but how to make that drug into a medicine. Aspirin is a basic drug but it becomes a medicine when it is manufactured into a stable tablet that can be kept in the bathroom cabinet for a few months and has a recommended safe dosage for use in specified circumstances. You may also study pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacognosy (extracts of medicines from plants or natural substances). Pharmacists learn how to give advice to you or me at the chemist's, but they also advise hospital doctors and GPs. It is rapidly becoming more clinically-orientated. It is a professional training so you need to study the law relating to medicines, too.
How long is a degree? The MPharm takes four years at most Schools of Pharmacy, although some offer a five-year sandwich course that integrates the pre-registration year. A BSc takes three years (or four years if you opt for a sandwich course in pharmacology at KCL, for example, or in pharmacology and physiology with industrial experience at Manchester) and four years in Scotland.
What are the students like? Bright, questioning, and hard-working. Generally more women than men in pharmacy.
How is it packaged? Pharmacy courses are modular and organised under European directives for accreditation by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Check your course is accredited - there are 16 accredited Schools of Pharmacy in the UK. All have a common core with a mix of coursework (including practicals) and exams for assessment, and include placements in, for example, hospitals. Graduates must however complete a year of pre-registration training and pass the Registration Exam set by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Pharmacology can be taken as an individual degree or as a specialisation in years two and three of a more general life-sciences degree course. Courses will generally be modular, in which case assessment will take the form of end of semester exams.
How cool is it? More solid than cool, but entrance to pharmacy is competitive.
What A-levels do you need? For pharmacy, Manchester specifies chemistry, either maths or biology, and one other academic subject. Brighton also asks for chemistry, and preferably two other sciences. For pharmacy, UCL asks for chemistry and for another science from maths, biology and physics.
What grades? For pharmacy, Manchester, Bath, Cardiff, East Anglia, Aston and the School of Pharmacy want ABB-BBB, Nottingham asks for BBB, and Brighton wants a at least a C in Chemistry, with a total of 300 points. For pharmacology, UCL and Bristol want a minimum of BBB, King's London will take BBC, Aberdeen asks for CDD and Bradford and Liverpool request a minimum of 260 points.
Will you be interviewed? Yes for pharmacy places, and for some pharmacology courses, such as at UCL.
Will it keep you off the dole? It's a dead cert for pharmacy - once students have registered. Both subjects develop skills that will always be in demand. The majority of pharmacology graduates remain in the industry, either continuing with further study or teaching, or working in forensic science, health laboratories or the pharmaceutical industry. There are also non-lab based jobs available in the latter, such as marketing, product registration, or audit of quality assurance.
What do students say? Etna Connolly, 30, Brighton, graduated 2004 in MPharm Pharmacy. "I found the course great from the very start, as every effort is made to ensure that you settle in. The teaching staff were excellent - I couldn't get over how friendly they were, by the end of the four years we were on first name terms with them. The only downfall with the modular approach is that you learn in little packets and then put each one behind you. However it does mean that you can have a number of modules under your belt when it comes to exam time, which is always reassuring. The workload is substantial but, I believe, fair, given that you do need to know an awful lot."
Fern Day, just going into final year, BSc Pharmacology at UCL. "It's quite a small department, so I've got to know everyone very quickly. The fact that very few people do straight pharmacology means that we know each other well and the atmosphere is a friendly one. I've found the course very interesting, and am looking forward to next year when we only study pharmacology - this year we've studied extra material, like immunology and biochemistry. We spent about four hours a week last year doing practicals for the experimental pharmacology unit, and I really enjoyed doing things for myself and thinking about the processes. Compared to humanities students, I do spend a lot more time in university, not only in lectures and labs, but also reading around the subjects. I obviously don't mind that though, as I'm hoping to stay on and do a PhD."
Where's best for teaching? Aston, Queen's Belfast, Cambridge, Derby, Manchester, Newcastle, Portsmouth, and West of England scored 24 out of 24; Bath, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Greenwich, Leeds, Liverpool John Moores, Nottingham, and the School of Pharmacy scored 23; King's College London, Liverpool and Sunderland scored 22. Cardiff and Strathclyde were rated ?excellent'.
Where's best for research? In pharmacology, Oxford and UCL came tops with 5*, Cambridge, Leicester and Liverpool were awarded 5, whilst Bristol received 4.
In pharmacy, Bath and Manchester were rated 5*, Institute of Cancer Research, Nottingham, School of Pharmacy, Strathclyde and Cardiff received 5, and Bradford and Queen Mary London got 4.
Where's the cutting edge? Pharmacogenomics is what everyone is talking about, exploiting what we know about the human genome to target drugs for specific individuals. Cell signalling is also a hugely exciting area: it looks at how cell surfaces play a role in drug development and delivery. Brighton looks at the correction of premature ageing in cells and at novel drug-targeting systems for arthritis. UCL does a lot of work on the transmission and inhibition of nerve impulses, whilst Manchester works on the design of anti-cancer compounds and novel diagnostic agents.
Who are the stars? Sir James Black, at King's College London and a Nobel laureate, is famed for discovering beta-blockers for heart treatment. Professor Adrian Bone at Brighton specialises in autoimmune disease. Professor David Colquhoun, at UCL, specialises in pharmacology and biophysics, Professor Trevor Smart works on the control of the nervous system and their colleague Professor Anthony Dickenson in an expert on pain transmission and modulation. At Nottingham, Dr Martyn Davies, works on drug absorption through cell interfaces.
Added value: Some universities, such as Hertfordshire, offer pharmacy students to spend a year of their course in Europe or the States. At Manchester, students can study pharmacology alongside Portuguese, or even Japanese.
