Pharmacy - Advanced Pharmacy Practice - Online

The MSc Advanced Pharmacy Practice aims to develop competencies as defined in the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Advanced Pharmacy Framework (APF): expert professional practice; collaborative working relationships; leadership; management; education, training and development; research and evaluation.

You will be admitted onto the MSc programme through Accreditation of Prior/Certified Learning having met the learning outcomes of the following modules from programmes successfully completed at NICPLD:

• Foundation Pharmacist Programme
• Pharmacotherapeutics for Pharmacist Independent Prescribers
• Medicine Optimisation for Pharmacist Independent Prescribers

In semester one you will complete the 20-credit Advanced Practice Development module. Semester two will begin with the 10-credit Research Methodologies for Advanced Pharmacy Practice module, which will result in a project proposal being submitted mid-semester, following which you will undertake a Research Project in Advanced Pharmacy Practice in semester two and three.

The course is a part-time distance learning programme delivered as a combination of online lectures, webinars and self-directed learning.

For further course details please see "Course Web Page".

Year one
• Foundation Pharmacist Programme

Year two
• Pharmacotherapeutics for Pharmacist Independent Prescribers
• Medicine Optimisation for Pharmacist Independent Prescribers

Year three
• Advanced Pharmacy Practice Development
• Research Methodologies for Advanced Pharmacy Practice

Year four
• Research Project in Advanced Pharmacy Practice

Standard entry conditions
To apply to our postgraduate taught programmes, you must meet the University’s General Entrance Requirements and any course-specific requirements.

Entry Requirements
Applicants must:
(a) have successfully completed an RPS-accredited foundation programme, and
(b) have successfully completed a GPhC-accredited independent prescribing programme; and
(c) must be employed as a pharmacist.

In exceptional circumstances, as an alternative to (a) and/or (b), where an individual has substantial and significant experiential learning, a portfolio of written evidence demonstrating the meeting of graduate qualities (including subject-specific outcomes, as determined by the Course Committee) may be considered as an alternative entrance route. Evidence used to demonstrate graduate qualities may not be used for exemption against modules within the programme.

An opportunity for accreditation of prior learning (APL) is available - please contact the Northern Ireland Centre for Pharmacy Learning Development (NICPLD) at NICPLD-Post-Reg@qub.ac.uk for more information.

Students will need support from their employer to undertake the work-based practice activities, and to develop a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate that they have achieved the capabilities and outcomes of the RPS Core Advanced Pharmacist Curriculum.

The initial application process, and the funding application process, for this workforce development programme, is managed by NICPLD. Please see https://www.nicpld.org/courses/advance/ for more details.

Your Application
Application is through the University's online application system (see "Application Weblink").

This course is taught online so you can study where you want, when you want.

Start Date: September 2024

Career options
Pharmacists are experts in medicines and play an integral role in the wider healthcare team. The MSc in Advanced Pharmacy practice will support pharmacists to develop their careers and step up as ideal candidates to the senior roles within the NHS that are crucial to providing leadership and determine the quality of care delivered to patients in all healthcare settings.

There is now a wide, diverse range of roles within the NHS and prospects for professional development for pharmacists have increased within the framework for progression set out by the NHS "agenda for change " which follows a clearly defined structure where pharmacists can specialise in a particular area of practice or advance to become chief pharmaceutical officers or directors of services.

Experienced GP pharmacists have negotiated increased remuneration following developing evidence of competence and skill and some of secured GP partnerships.

The MSC in Advanced pharmacy practice will enable career progression for pharmacists from all areas of the profession, broadening their horizons and ambitions.