Skills you'll develop on the course

Skills and personal development are also important to work effectively as a pharmacist and these will also be developed throughout the MPharm course.

• Communication - throughout your studies communication or interpersonal skills will be developed through presentations, role play with peers, academics, simulated and real patients, essays, laboratory reports and other situations.
• Team working skills - will be developed through projects, tasks and laboratory practicals.
• Problem solving - independent and team approaches to solving problems using information given will be a focus of pharmacy practice, applied therapeutics and scientific practicals.
• Research skills - are introduced early in the course and put into practice as part of your research project in the year 3. This is then built on further in the final year to provide a sound basis for use in your future careers.
• Practical skills - such as dispensing, patient testing and prescribing are dealt with as part of pharmacy practice in all years. Scientific practical skills are developed in all modules.
• Management skills - the course places high demands on motivation and will teach you the responsibilities of self-discipline, time management, financial control and quality performance, interview preparation and CV writing in many work disciplines.
• Numeracy skills - as a pharmacist it is important that you perform calculations accurately and this is reflected in the high pass standard of the pre-registration exam. Throughout your studies this skill will be developed and the same high standard will be applied to progress through the course.
• IT and Study skills - starting on day 1 and continuing through to graduation covering skills such as use of the library, independent learning, searching databases, the internet and use of common software packages.
• Self Confidence - your confidence will be developed throughout the course by the accomplishment of course-work tasks, group activities and individual problem solving. You will also achieve increased assertiveness through communication and decision making exercises and by dealing with complex situations.
• Enthusiasm and Commitment - students who can maintain their enthusiasm for their chosen subject throughout the period of study will have higher levels of motivation which will positively affect their quality of work. Therefore you will be encouraged to approach your studies with enthusiasm and commitment. The more you are able to put into your studies, the more you will get out of the learning experience.
• Individuality and Originality - the development of each student as an individual is crucial to our philosophy on this course. We aim to equip you with the tools to develop your own thinking and carry this through to a high level of skill. We aim to produce highly motivated and talented graduates
• Professionalism - pharmacy is a long established profession and the public expects individual pharmacists to behave in a professional manner. Throughout the course the standards of behaviour will be made explicit and students will be expected to display a professional attitude to their studies and social life.
• Commitment to Lifelong learning - as a registered pharmacist you will be required to undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD), throughout the course this will be engendered through reflective practice as part of a yearly portfolio where you will be expected to highlight your own learning needs and development of the skills to be able to take responsibility for your own learning.