Pharmacy

All applicants successful at interview will need to undergo occupational health screening as part of the enrolment process. Completion of the occupational health check (including evidence of immunisations) is a mandatory requirement of the course. Failure to complete the occupational health check means you will be unable to continue on the course. Any student who fails the health screening (including not having the required vaccinations) may not be prevented from studying pharmacy but it will limit the manner in which they can study and their ability to practise as a pharmacist.

You will be taught by experienced practising pharmacists as well as research-active scientists. Each year we hold interprofessional education sessions, as well as patient public engagement sessions, where you'll get to meet real patients and talk to them about their health.  

The University recognises the main purposes of assessment as a statement of achievement and of potential. Assessment is continuous and uses formative and summative methods. Formative assessment encourages the development of personal self-awareness and self-evaluation empowering you to change to improve your work.

Formative feedback is central to your development from a dependent to independent worker, and this lies at the heart of the course philosophy. Self-assessment begins during Year 1 of the course and will be developed throughout the course. It includes keeping a course-long portfolio, as you gather evidence to support your reflections of your progress as a learner.

You’ll focus on six key attributes of an MPharm graduate; analysing your performance and developing action plans to improve weakness and build on strengths. This demonstrates your progression as a prospective pharmacy professional.

The nature of formative assessment varies between modules. In some it’s short tests or essays, in others there is informal feedback via seminars, workshops or discussion of experiment results during laboratory sessions.

The summative assessment of modules tests your achievement of the module outcomes. Some assessments are on a group basis, including peer assessment.

Examinations will take place within each year of the course and will test your ability to apply your knowledge and experience to make informed decisions.

Within the final year you will sit an examination, the GPhC’s registration assessment. It will help you to become familiar with the type of questions you’ll need to answer following your pre-registration training.

In addition, in each year of the MPharm course, there is a pharmaceutical calculations assessment, which is a pass/fail element with a pass mark of 70%. This higher pass mark mirrors the GPhC's requirements for the calculations assessment in the registration assessment (Part 1), which is set at 70% to ensure candidates are appropriately numerate to practise as a pharmacist. The calculations strategy for the MPharm course is based on the tenet of increasing calculation complexity as the course progresses, ranging from straightforward mathematical manipulations in Year 1 to questions requiring multiple steps and in the style of the GPhC registration assessment in Year 4. A consistent pass mark of 70% in the pharmaceutical calculations assessments throughout the course ensures competence at each level and ensures patient safety is not compromised.

The academic staff that teach you are all highly qualified and specialists in their areas. All staff are engaged in research and/or scholarly activity which enriches your experiences with research-led and research-informed teaching. Many of the staff within the School are practising Pharmacists who bring their practice-based expertise to ensure that the development and delivery of the course reflects and extends current practice.

Our MPharm programme has strong links with local and national pharmacy companies, including Boots the Chemists, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, East Lancashire Hospitals, Wockhardt and HM Prison Manchester. Placements are offered at various points throughout the programme.

We hold a Careers Fair each year so you can talk to employers about summer placement opportunities, as well as discovering what pre-registration and pharmacist careers are available.

Through structured placements in each year, you will gain an appreciation of the different sectors that pharmacists work in, and their role in these different teams.

You’ll participate in inter-professional engagement sessions, working alongside medical, dentistry, nursing, physiotherapy, healthcare science, physician associates, and social care students.

You’ll study aspects of medicine development and use, from how medicines are formulated to how they work on the body to treat diseases.

As part of the course you will have the opportunity to hear about the experiences of service users, carers, patients and public members via our community engagement and service user support groups (Comensus).