Clinical Pharmacy

Entry requirements

the RPSGB or PSNI and practising in the UK; if you are in Southern Ireland you should discuss whether or not the course will meet your needs with the programme leaders. Academic entry criteria: You should have a degree in Pharmacy, such as BSc (Pharm), B Pharm or M Pharm. Applications are welcomed from pharmacists with degrees from other countries who are practising as registered pharmacists in the UK.

The course is delivered by distance learning, with only occasional attendance at university. This makes it particularly suitable for those who find it difficult to attend classes during the working week, or for whom travelling takes a great deal of time because they live in an isolated location.

Career opportunities

All of the options within the MSc in Clinical Pharmacy are suitable for practising pharmacists who wish to develop their careers and gain an additional clinical qualification. The specialist and learning skills you acquire are highly sought after in many different sectors of practice. Having an MSc is recognised by some employers (eg some hospital trusts) as a stepping stone in career progression.

Programme

The course philosophy is to provide a variety of learning activities which will enable you to meet your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements and to continually improve the quality of the clinical care delivered to patients. To ensure the course is kept up-to-date and relevant it has recently undergone some innovative changes which will provide greater flexibility and choice. The different options now available are:

• The Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Pharmacy is particularly suitable for most pharmacists working directly with patients
• The Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy (Medicines Management) is suitable for pharmacists working in either community, hospital or primary care, who wish to set up new services or become more involved in strategic medicines management
• The Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy (Independent Prescribing) is suitable for pharmacists who wish to work directly with patients and have scope within their job to use independent prescribing
• The Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy (Research Methods) is suitable for pharmacists who wish to complete their MSc, or those who wish to become more involved in formulary development or strategic medicines management
• The MSc in Clinical Pharmacy equips pharmacists with the research skills and knowledge, and gives the opportunity to carry out a research project within an area of clinical pharmacy or pharmacy practice. This course is suitable for pharmacists with an interest in a particular area they would like to research or for pharmacists who wish to expand their role into teaching and research. The course consists of combinations of six month (30 credit) modules. The first two of these modules, which are Clinical Foundations and Clinical Practice are the same for all routes. At this point you can then exit with a qualification or continue onto the diploma.

The first module of the diploma, module 3 - Advanced Clinical Practice is compulsory for all Diploma or MSc students. After this module you will need to make a choice about which route you wish to take. All of the modules (see list below) are taught by distance learning with occasional study days, except for the independent prescribing module - contact us for more details of this module.

Module 4 titles are:

• Medicines Management
• Research Methods
• Independent Prescribing - contact us for further details.

Teaching/assessment

The courses are delivered by distance learning, with occasional university attendance making them particularly suitable if you find it difficult to attend classes during the week, or travelling is difficult for you. Assessments involve written pieces of coursework plus some assessments on the study days eg presentations and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs).

Further information

Open Days

We hold regular Postgraduate/Career Development open days and recommend that you visit us to get a feel for DMU. For more information visit dmu.ac.uk/openday

Staff

We have a dedicated team of two course leaders and a course administrator. We also use a team of expert pharmacists and doctors who contribute to the development of the course material.

Fee information

The part-time home/EU fees are £700 per 30 credit module, £1050 for the 45 credit Independent Prescribing module as part of the Diploma (fees shown are for the 2009/10 academic session and may change slightly for future sessions).

Contact us

T: +44 (0)116 257 7700
E: hls@dmu.ac.uk
W: dmu.ac.uk/hls

How to apply

Please contact the Admissions Team for an application pack.

"Over the last two years of doing the clinical diploma it has changed my practice significantly. I have not only increased my clinical knowledge but it has given me new expertise like critical analysis skills, using the internet to find relevant articles and has given me a better understanding of clinical governance which in turn helped my patients. It has given me the drive not only to offer more services but to do them well; in this financial year I have completed 208 MURs for the pharmacy. None of this would have been possible if it was not for the clinical diploma. Helping my patients and achieving results like the MURs has made me enjoy my job more. The clinical diploma has given me confidence and throughout the course I have built excellent relationships with other healthcare professionals and I now feel part of the multi-disciplinary team."

Amit Dawda, previous student