Course overview
Our MPharm course aligns with the new Standards for Education – released by the professional regulator, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) in 2021 – and is built to provide you with the new skills and professional capabilities of tomorrow's pharmacy professionals.
This course includes an integrated masters - you study three years at undergraduate level and one year at postgraduate level.
Teesside University currently holds provisional accreditation from the GPhC to provide this programme. Whilst under provisional accreditation, student pharmacists recruited on to the programme are not guaranteed entry to the GPhC Register.
You study full-time for four years at our Middlesbrough campus, with access to outstanding learning facilities and a vibrant, diverse team of academics to support your learning.
Top reasons to study this course:
- Practice placements: apply your theory in practice with nearly 150 days of learning in practice, allowing you to experience the many roles played by pharmacists in today’s vibrant and evolving healthcare landscape.
- Prescribing skills: from Year 1 you prepare yourself as a prescriber of the future, developing competence and confidence in your clinical decision-making skills. You are guided and supported by independent prescribing pharmacists within your academic team, and during your placements.
- Industry-standard facilities: benefit from our state-of-the-art, purpose-built facilities to support practical and professional training.
- Experienced teaching team: learn from our experienced and dedicated teaching team, who draw on expertise from clinical practice across a wide variety of pharmacy sectors with a strong focus on evidence-based practice. You gain a novel, professional and authentic learning experience.
- Dual qualification: as well as the MPharm, you also gain a recognised Health Coaching Certificate, enhancing your experience and qualifications and providing you with a unique approach to your practice as a pharmacist.
- Excellent networks across the region: benefit from the support of our stakeholder engagement groups within NHS Foundation Trusts, community pharmacy, GP pharmacy, primary care, health and justice, industry and more.
When enrolled on the course, you can register with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association. On graduation, you need to complete a further year of study as a Foundation Year Trainee pharmacist and pass your GPhC registration assessment to register as a prescribing pharmacist.
You must travel for some placements, and you are responsible for any travel costs incurred. You can apply for our Placement Support Fund if you are experiencing financial difficulties attending your placement. More about our Placement Support Fund
* Subject to University approval
Course details
Course structure
Year 1 core modules
You broadly develop your knowledge in anatomy, physiology, formulation science and pharmaceutical chemistry in the context of the discovery, synthesis, formulation and stability of drugs and medicines. You learn the concepts governing professionalism as a pharmacist and health coach, and understand behaviour change concepts aligning to preventative medicine, and the methodological approaches to research. You understand the process of academic writing, including referencing and the construction of an argument based upon best available evidence. You develop clinical examination skills and are familiarised with current pharmacist roles and the context of the multi-disciplinary team.
This is a 120-credit module.
Year 2 core modules
Management of Common Conditions
You build on your learning and apply your knowledge to new areas. For example, aetiology, epidemiology, pathology, and therapeutics, management of single disease states, and developing skills to predict the effects of altering a formulation on the final medicinal product. You also learn the role of patient data in care and prescribing decision-making processes, including blood parameters, genomic profiling, patient beliefs, and applied understanding of the use of research within healthcare, with both quantitative and qualitative methods of enquiry.
This is a 120-credit module.
Year 3 core modules
Management of Chronic and Emergency Conditions
You begin honing your clinical decision-making skills. For example, evidence-based decision-making in chronic and emergency cases, advanced drug discovery, including up-to date technologies and clinical trials, use of research methods within academic work, using critical appraisal skills to determine relevance of literature specific to areas of investigation, and demonstrating use of research evidence within clinical decision-making.
This is a 120-credit module.
Year 4 core modules
Management of Clinical Complexity
By Year 4, you have mastered data gathering, interpretation to guide care pathway decision-making, and have had significant experience working to support your patient populations. You continue to build on this with evidence-based decision-making in complex clinical scenarios, use of critical analysis to reach maximal outcome in person-centred care approach, and demonstrable research skills in a specific area of pharmacy (practice, audit, public health, science).
This is a 120-credit module.
Modules offered may vary.
How you learn
You learn through traditional lectures, seminars, tutorials and laboratory sessions.
The importance of science underpinning your clinical practice is explored and how to interpret scientific data to inform your clinical decision-making skills. You develop knowledge, networks and respect for other healthcare professions through patient-focused, problem and case-based learning within multi-disciplinary teams.
You spend significant time learning in practice with registered pharmacist supervisors, translating theory into the practical skills needed for your future career.
The programme is intensive, but rewarding and fulfilling. You have face-to-face contact time with staff and peers but are also required to complete self-directed study to ensure you meet your learning outcomes.
How you are assessed
You are assessed throughout using diagnostic (to understand your level of knowledge), formative (to gain feedback on your performance without affecting your academic marks) and summative (formal assessment where your performance counts towards your final degree) methods.
Assessment models replicate techniques used to assess qualified pharmacists. This helps you develop confidence and reduces the pressure that newly graduated pharmacists may feel in unfamiliar assessment styles.
Assessments may include:
- unseen exams with written and/or multiple-choice
- pharmaceutical calculations
- pharmacy law
- learning in practice – attendance and completing reflective e-portfolio
- objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE)
- patient reports
- oral/poster presentations delivered individually or in a group
- annual reflective work within the e-portfolio
- research – aligning with educational standards, you complete some research activity across all four years of the programme. Year 1 focuses on behaviour change skills and techniques learned as part of your Health Coaching skills. Years 2-4 provide you with traditional research proposal development skills, understanding scrutiny of research materials, data analysis, presentation and funding opportunities.
Our Disability Services team provide an inclusive and empowering learning environment and have specialist staff to support disabled students access any additional tailored resources needed. If you have a specific learning difficulty, mental health condition, autism, sensory impairment, chronic health condition or any other disability please contact a Disability Services as early as possible.
Find out more about our disability services
Find out more about financial support
Find out more about our course related costs
Entry requirements
Entry requirements
You must have a minimum of BBB (or equivalent) at A-Level, including chemistry and one other science (from biology, maths, physics or psychology). You must also have a minimum of two GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above including English language and maths.
All applications are screened against minimum application criteria (to be confirmed and published on the website) and those meeting the standards will be invited to interview, in person or online. You are encouraged to join us on campus at an open day to meet our academic team and view the outstanding facilities that provide you with your learning environment throughout your course.
The interview is hosted by a pharmacy academic and a patient, with applicants completing several tasks to demonstrate essential characteristics for enrolment in the MPharm programme.
Tasks may include:
- some mathematical challenges, allowing you to demonstrate your ability to manipulate numbers accurately
- a short writing piece to show your comprehension, analysis and written communication skills
- an explanation of why you have chosen pharmacy as a career, drawing on your personal experiences and conversations with pharmacists to demonstrate your understanding of the profession
- your understanding of the NHS values for recruitment and how your personal beliefs align with these values
- a situational judgement test allowing you to assess how you might approach a particular clinical scenario, and justify your chosen action pathway
- an opportunity to discuss your favourite element of your scientific studies to date.
Successful applicants will then begin the pre-enrolment process and must apply for a DBS check. An Enhanced DBS is required, with active encouragement for enrolment onto the update service linked to DBS.
If you are successful in both shortlisting and interview you will receive an offer which is subject to the following:
- evidence of achievement of the required academic qualifications
- a successful work-based risk assessment which will reflect the appropriate HEOPS recommendations. Find out more about all of the HEOPS standards
- an enhanced criminal history (DBS) check may be required for certain modules or placements which involve working with children and/or adults at risk. The DBS check is funded by the School of Health & Life Sciences so you do not need to pay for this process
- satisfactory references.
Please note until 1 to 4 have been successfully completed the offer of a place on the course remains conditional.
For general information please see our overview of entry requirements
International applicants can find out what qualifications they need by visiting Your Country
Employability
Career opportunities
The career landscape for qualified pharmacists has been undergoing significant change. Traditional opportunities were seen in high-street chemists or hospital pharmacies with ward-facing duties, but pharmacists are now employed in a wide variety of roles.
You are introduced to pharmacists across many careers to ensure you develop yourself and your skill set for the roles that appeal to you most. You develop a portfolio career and balance your life-work responsibilities.
Careers include:
- general practice pharmacist – within a GP surgery
- lab research through product testing in clinical trials
- marketing and licensing, sales, public relations, and legal
- consultant pharmacist – within a hospital with your own patients, clinics and prescribing capacity
- government – chief pharmaceutical officer and advisors to ministers for health
- private practice – developing your own business to provide wellbeing advice, prescriptions and clinical assessments
- primary care network pharmacist – ‘hospital at home’ care, visiting patients at home and carrying out point of care tests to ensure their physical parameters are mapped to the correct medication regimens
- health and justice pharmacist – within the prison sector to provide support to some of the most health-challenged patients in the country.
Information for international applicants
Qualifications
International applicants - find out what qualifications you need by selecting your country below.
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Useful information
Visit our international pages for useful information for non-UK students and applicants.
