Overview

The Pharmacy programme is an MPharm degree (Master of Pharmacy) (NFQ level 9). The Pharmacy regulator (the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, PSI) now requires graduates to have completed a Masters degree of Pharmacy before entering the PSI Register and practising as a Pharmacist. Students studying Pharmacy complete an integrated BPharm/MPharm programme over 5 years of study. Once students have passed the first four years (BPharm) they can progress to the fifth year (MPharm).

Regulations for the BPharm/MPharm (Hons) Degree

The programme is defined in terms of modules, which are measured in terms of credits. A module may correspond to 5 credits or multiples of 5 credits. One year of a degree programme consists of modules to a total value of 60 credits in years 1 to 4. The final year is a level 9 qualification (MPharm) and will consist of modules to a total value of 90 credits.

First Year - Pharmacy

See BPharm for details

Second Year - Pharmacy

See BPharm for details

Third Year - Pharmacy

See BPharm for details

Fourth Year - Pharmacy

See BPharm for details

Fifth Year - Pharmacy

Students who obtain their BPharm above are invited to progress to the fifth year MPharm programme.

No student may register for the Fifth Year programme of study until the Fourth University Examination has been passed. To be admitted to the MPharm Degree Examination, a student must therefore have satisfactorily attended modules to the value of 90 credits.

Programme Requirements

For information about modules, module choice, options and credit weightings, please go to Programme Requirements. 

Programme Requirements

¹

Students electing to take this optional module must secure a work placement relevant to the discipline, to be undertaken outside of term-time (minimum two weeks (70 hours)) subject to the approval of the School of Pharmacy. 

²

Not included for progression to subsequent year and is not counted toward the final degree award. The result obtained will be recorded on the student's transcript.

³

Modules will be completed while on placement.

Examinations

Full details and regulations governing Examinations for each programme will be contained in the Marks and Standards Book and for each module in the Book of Modules.

Programme Learning Outcomes

Programme Learning Outcomes for MPharm (Hons) Degree (NFQ 9, Major Award)

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to:

• Register with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland on the Register of Pharmacists;
• Evaluate interventions to improve prescribing in practice and within the health care team;
• Practise Pharmacy competently in the primary care/secondary setting with due regard to the competencies set out in the Core Competency Framework for Pharmacists document;
• Communicate effectively with patients and healthcare professionals for the purpose of counselling and advising on medicines and their safe usage and supply;
• Interpret and evaluate prescriptions and supply medicines in accordance with current legislation and professional codes of practice;
• Apply the physiochemical properties of drugs underpinning the design, development and manufacture of emerging medicines;
• Outline the physiological, biochemical, molecular and genetic basis of disease, drug therapy and drug delivery;
• Recognise common disease states and respond appropriately to presented symptoms;
• Conduct a literature review and research project, design a research protocol, collect and interpret data and write a dissertation.