Pharmacy MPharm

Pharmacy is a rewarding, well paid, secure career with opportunities to contribute to the health and well-being of the nation.

Pharmacists are experts on the discovery, development, manufacture and supply of medicines. In addition to making sure medicines are safe and helping patients get maximum benefit from them, pharmacists provide advice on staying healthy and dealing with minor ailments. Practising pharmacists are an important part of the healthcare team that also comprises doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, dietitians and others.

Traditional settings for pharmacists to practice have included in the community, in hospitals' and in the pharmaceutical industry. Exciting developments now include pharmacists working in GP practices, in A&E departments and in care homes to ensure medicines use across the healthcare system is safe and effective.

The vocational nature of the MPharm degree, combined with the permanent demand for qualified healthcare professionals both in Great Britain and abroad, means that there are exceptionally high graduate employment rates for MPharm graduates. The career and salary prospects are attractive, as are the opportunities for part-time work. Almost all pharmacy graduates undertake the one year pre-registration training programme; the majority in community practice (60%) or hospitals (about 20%), with the remainder employed in industry or postgraduate studies.

Pharmacists are expected to continue learning and developing throughout their careers, In the UK pharmacists increasingly undertake foundation training and postgraduate clinical and research qualifications, including prescribing. King's provides some of these programmes.