Course overview
Bios
Introducing Bios, our £36.9m facility for science and clinical subjects. It houses four floors of high-quality facilities, including cutting-edge super labs, immersive simulation suites, and replicas of both home and hospital settings.
Our MPharm course provides you with the new skills and professional capabilities of tomorrow's pharmacists.
This course includes an integrated masters - you study three years at undergraduate level and one year at postgraduate level.
Teesside University is working towards accreditation of this programme with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). The programme will be provisionally accredited until the accreditation process is complete.
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 145 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
Course delivery
You learn through lectures, seminars, laboratory sessions, placements, and independent study. The importance of science underpinning clinical practice is explored, and how to interpret scientific data to inform clinical decision-making skills. Through seminars and pharmacy skills sessions, you have the opportunity to learn and practice clinical skills that map to the pharmacist prescribing competency framework, developing your confidence and proficiency in a safe environment. You develop knowledge, networks and respect for other healthcare professions through patient-focused interprofessional learning sessions.
Spiral curriculum
Each year includes one 120-credit module, divided into six body systems. The body systems are revisited each year, with elements of increasing clinical complexity. This structure allows you to consider the patient journey, from a state of good health, through to patients who have co-morbidities with different needs, including medicines optimisation and palliative care.
Learning in practice
You attend 145 learning in practice days over the 4-year course. These vary from days spent interacting with service users/carers at Teesside University, to placements wider afield in a range of different pharmacy settings. The learning in practice days are designed for you to understand the diversity of roles within the pharmacy profession, further developing and practicing the skills required to be a future-facing pharmacist, and prepare for your foundation training year.
Health coaching
You will also be enrolled onto a health coaching qualification, equipping you with the knowledge to educate your patients on self-managing their health and wellbeing using non-pharmacological methods. Adding health coaching to the MPharm curriculum provides you with the skills to think holistically about your patients, consider appropriate preventative behaviours and the sustainability of the healthcare system. An understanding of lifestyle medicine and social prescribing is embedded throughout the course.
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 include:
- multiple-choice exams
- pharmaceutical calculations
- e-portfolio
- objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE)
- oral/poster presentations delivered individually or in a group
- 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.
GCE and VCE Advanced Level
120 points (BBB) from three A-levels (or equivalent) including Chemistry and one other science (Biology, Maths, Physics, or Psychology).
BTEC QCF Extended Diploma
Applied Science with four Chemistry units at distinction.
Access to Higher Education Diploma
In either Medicine or applied Science with a minimum of 120 UCAS points; this must include a minimum of 12 credits in Chemistry or Biology at Distinction.
International Baccalaureate
Higher Level subjects in Chemistry, Biology, and Maths with grades 6, 5, 5.
Advanced Scottish Highers
Including Chemistry and four other science and maths Highers with grades A or B.
Irish Leaving Certificate
120 points from five Highers/Honours subjects including 24 points from Chemistry and one other science (Biology, Maths, physics or Psychology).
For further detailed entry requirements for this course please visit www.ucas.com.
The selection process includes shortlisting of your application which, if successful, will result in you being invited for an interview.
Shortlisting criteria
Your application will be measured against the following criteria:
• you are able to complete all sections of the application form fully and correctly
• you have achieved or are predicted to achieve the appropriate academic entry requirements
• your personal statement is supportive of your chosen course and demonstrates an understanding of a pharmacist's role
• you have satisfactory references.
The interview is hosted by a pharmacy academic and a service user/carer, with applicants completing tasks to demonstrate essential characteristics for enrolment in the MPharm programme.
Interview criteria
At interview you will be measured against the following criteria:
• a mathematical challenge, allowing you to demonstrate your ability to manipulate numbers accurately
• a short literacy challenge to show your comprehension, analysis and 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 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.
International applicants
If English is not your first language, you should have an IELTS (or equivalent) score of at least 7.0, with a minimum of 6.5 in each band.
• If you are successful at shortlisting you will be invited to attend an interview (online).
• If you cannot attend an interview as stated, you will be unable to proceed with your application.
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.
Select your country:
Useful information
Visit our international pages for useful information for non-UK students and applicants.
