Awarded by University of Sunderland, UK
The Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) (2+2) twinning programme offered at SEGi College is a collaboration between the Faculty of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, SEGi College Malaysia and the Sunderland Pharmacy School, University of Sunderland, UK. The Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) (2+2) programme will be taught by qualified, experienced and committed full-time local staff as well as staff from the University of Sunderland.
This degree aims to integrate clinical and scientific knowledge with communication skills providing you with the expertise to contribute effectively as a pharmacist within the future healthcare system. You will gain the scientific, clinical and professional skills you need for a stimulating, challenging and varied career in pharmacy. You will be competent to work in primary care, hospital and industrial pharmacy in Malaysia and worldwide. These skills will enable you to provide an efficient and effective service to patients, applying not only the legal and ethical aspects of pharmacy, but also the clinical knowledge and counselling skills that can be so crucial in the effective use of medication.
To achieve this, the programme is integrated to include the synthesis, analysis, formulation, presentation, action and uses of drugs combined with clinical application as well as the social aspects of delivering care. You will learn how drugs are discovered and how they are formulated for safe and effective medication. You will study the effects that drugs have on the human body, and how the human body deals with drugs. You will understand how to choose the best medicine for a patient, as well as how to communicate with patients and other healthcare professionals.
The programme starts by delivering an underpinning chemical and physiological base interwoven with pharmacy practice using problem based learning, workshops, seminars and laboratory work. Progressing through each year, the emphasis is placed on how we deliver drugs to the body and the clinical and professional practice aspects of pharmacy, while ensuring throughout that you will develop the communication skills necessary for your role as a pharmacist. You will have the opportunity to research specific areas of pharmacy in the final year, developing your skills in identifying and analysing data. Visits to primary care and hospital pharmacies are encouraged at all levels of the course.
A degree in Pharmacy prepares the graduate for a variety of job roles with opportunities available across the health-care provision. Upon graduation and registration with the Pharmacy Board of Malaysia and/or the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, a majority of pharmacists will work in the community pharmacies, hospitals, become industrial pharmacists, or studying for a higher degree, however, there are also other exciting opportunities emerging. New opportunities within pharmacy field include Disease Management, Research and Development, Pharmacogenomics, Chemotherapy Pharmacist, or Professor/Lecturer. In addition to wide variety of pharmacy professions you can choose from, there are some other perks in pharmacy including attractive salary, job flexibility and variety.
As a pharmacist, your typical duties will likely include the following:
Entry requirements are those which normally apply for international students entering the University of Sunderland’s MPharm programme in UK and which are stated in the University’s current “International Undergraduate and Postgraduate Opportunities 2010/2011”. All applications will be assessed individually.
The MPharm programme offered by the University of Sunderland has been rated excellent by the Quality Assurance Agency and covers the following study areas:
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| Pharmaceutics |
Pharmaceutics is the science of dosage form design and involves the research and development of medicines. It draws on knowledge from the physical, chemical and biological sciences and occupies a unique position in pharmacy with respect to formulation, and testing of pharmaceutical products. Pharmaceutical formulation and preformulation research involves the study of the physicochemical and biopharmaceutical characteristics of both active drugs and excipients. |
| Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry |
Pharmaceutical or Medicinal Chemistry is the scientific discipline involved with the design, synthesis and development of new drugs. Specifically Medicinal Chemistry involves the identification and isolation of potential drugs from natural sources, such as plants and marine animals, the synthesis of these products, and the eventual adoption of new chemical entities that may become suitable for therapeutic use |
| Clinical Pharmacy/Therapeutics |
Therapeutics introduces the student to physiology (how the body works) and develops an understanding of pharmacology (how drugs interact with living tissue and living organisms to produce a response or a change in function). Clinical Pharmacy is used to describe the services of a clinical pharmacist, which can include choosing the appropriate medicine for your patient, counselling them on how to take this medicine and also prescribing suitable treatments. Clinical Pharmacy involves all those services provided by pharmacists in hospitals, community pharmacies, nursing homes, home-visits, prisons and any other setting where medicines are prescribed and used. The aims of Clinical Pharmacy are to maximise drug effect, minimise risks to the patient and minimise drug expenditure. |
| Pharmacy Practice |
The student is introduced to the concepts of what is required from a pharmacist in relation to interpersonal skills and asks the student to reflect upon the pharmacist’s responsibility to care for patients and to respect patients’ needs and beliefs. Legal and ethical issues are also discussed; prescriptions interpreted and clinical checks made, while highlighting the need for continual professional development. Government interventions, wider public health issues, and the awareness of guidelines are also studied to reflect the changes which occur in drug development and disease management. In their final year, students will carry out a research project allowing choice chosen from a wide variety of topics |
