Study Pharmacy Abroad!

Introduction to Pharmacy

Are you looking for job stability with an interest in the medical field? Pharmacy could just be the one for you. The study of Pharmacy involves handling drugs and medicine. As a pharmacist and a front liner, you advice a proper amount for medication dosage to patients while raising awareness on health. Throughout this course, you will learn about pharmaceutics and pharmacology, chemistry, physiology, and human biology. 

Don’t let the word Pharmacy limit your career choices. Aside from working in a pharmacy, there are many career options in other healthcare institutions like research companies, clinics, nursing homes, and pharmaceutical businesses.

As you will be advising drugs and medical dosage to patients, part of the Pharmacy course includes vocational training. This helps you to obtain pharmacy skills as well as understanding legal and ethical issues.

Fields of Pharmacy

There are six fields of pharmacy that you can choose from as your major. You can pick from these specializations:

Hospital Pharmacy

Hospitals are not just for doctors and nurses. In hospital pharmacy, you will manage medications in hospitals, clinics or nursing homes by dispensing and preparing medication. If you choose to work in the hospital environment, you’ll be tasked in making ward rounds, aid in procuring medication, and participate in testing quality of medication. As a hospital pharmacist, you can either choose to specialize in pharmacotherapy, which is the treatment of a disease with medication, or you can be an inpatient or outpatient pharmacist.

Home Care Pharmacy

You will be in charge of preparing and delivering injectables to patients in their homes. Home care pharmacy is also known as infusion pharmacy as this field only involves the dispensation of injectable medication without oral or topical medications. There are also many career options in this field. You can specialize in other areas of infusion pharmacy such as nutritional support, oncology, chemotherapy, or mental illness. 

Ambulatory Care Pharmacy

Patients in secluded areas such as the elderly often have limited access to medicine and healthcare services. In ambulatory pharmacy, you will be on the move to visit patients in rural areas. This is a mobile service that helps patients wherever they are without having them make frequent hospital visits on their own. This service is usually managed by a hospital or healthcare organization.

Community Pharmacy

Community pharmacy or retail pharmacy is very common. In fact, you would have been to one of these retail pharmacies at least once in your life. As a community pharmacist, you will dispense medication in retail stores like Guardian and Watsons. Besides providing the community with the medication they need, a community pharmacist also supervises pharmacy technicians and observes the drug inventory.

Industrial Pharmacy

You will be involved in the production of drugs and medication for pharmaceutical companies. Industrial pharmacy plays a huge role in ensuring the quality and safety of the medication produced. This means that you will participate in the process of research, quality control, production, packaging, as well as the marketing of the medication. You can also opt to represent a pharmaceutical company to spread awareness about the functions and benefits of a certain medical product.

Academic Pharmacy

You can teach Pharmacy too! Share your passion and inspire the younger generation to take on the challenge in Pharmacy as you teach this course in an educational institute. With a PhD in this field, you can teach, conduct research, and even assess the findings of clinical studies.

What are the skills needed?

You love Chemistry

While your friends are struggling with Chemistry, chemical components and equations, these seem like ABC to you. As you will have to deal with chemicals in Pharmacy, you must enjoy the subject to be able to take up the role as a pharmacist.

Empathy

If you enjoy helping people, you also need to have a strong sense of empathy. Advising and preparing medication require you to talk to patients and customers. You will understand them better as you empathize with them. Empathy also helps you to understand customers’ point of view which then aids in a better customer service.

Confidence

Anyone should be confident in their occupation. However, this is especially important to pharmacists because they will be advising a medication dosage to patients and customers. Confidence is also important to build trust between you and your patient. Remember, one mistake can potentially affect their health and well-being.

How long will I study this program?

The study duration could vary from one institute to another. However, as a general estimate, we have compiled a general estimate of the duration according to the study levels and qualifications.

  • Foundation/Diploma: 1-2 years
  • Degree: 4 years
  • Pharmacist training: 1 year
  • Registered Pharmacist

What are the entry requirements for this qualification?

  • Foundation/Diploma: Minimum 5 credits in the relevant subjects
  • Degree:
    •  STPM/A-Levels: BBB, ABC or AAC in Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Mathematics
    • SAM: ATAR 80.0, including Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Mathematics
    • CPU: Minimum average of 70% for 6 relevant subjects, including Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics/Physics
    • UEC: B4 in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Advanced Mathematics
  • Master’s: CGPA 3.0 in Bachelor’s Degree
  • Doctorate:  CGPA 3.0 in Master’s Degree. CGPA 3.70 in Bachelor’s Degree (for direct Bachelor to PhD students)

What are the job opportunities?

Pharmacy graduates have broad career prospects. You can pick a pharmacy-specific career or explore other opportunities such as:

  • Academic Pharmacist
  • Community Pharmacist
  • Hospital Pharmacist
  • Industrial Pharmacist
  • Pharmacologist
  • Toxicologist
  • Veterinary Pharmacist
  • Pharmaceutical Consultant 
  • Research Scientist (Life Sciences)

Are you interested to study this subject in Malaysia?

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