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MSc Advancing Clinical Pharmacy Practice

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Why choose Herts?

Teaching Excellence: You will be taught by Clinical experts using excellent clinical simulation facilities.

Work Placement Opportunities: You will undertake Clinical Placements in local NHS Trusts.

Clinical Connections: Benefit from our strong links with local NHS healthcare organisations who provide specialist clinical teaching on the programme and provide placement opportunities.

  • Entry requirements and key information

    You must be a registered pharmacist in your home country with at least 6-months of patient facing practice in a hospital and a good bachelor’s degree in pharmacy (at least 55% GPA) or equivalent.

    You will need a secure IELTS score of 7.0 or equivalent with a minimum of 6.0 in any band. International Students should be aware that this course does not lead to registration to practice as a pharmacist in the UK.

    If you do not have the required level of English for entry, our academic English courses can help you to achieve this level.

    Anyone wanting to undertake this course must comply with the Department of Health and Social Care immunisation guidelines which, from 1 April 2022, must now include the vaccine against Covid-19. This applies to all health and social care settings regulated by the Care Quality Commission and applies to all workers including students conducting placements.

    Initial screening criteria

    Proof of registration as a pharmacist in your home country.

    Degree certificate and transcripts (good bachelor’s degree in pharmacy (at least 55% GPA) or equivalent).

    CV including your patient facing experience as the programme requires at least 6 months of patient facing experience.

    Further information with offer

    • Personal statement stating why you want to study at UH, why the UK and why this specific programme
    • Reference letter from current employment or University
    • Proof of English language - IELTS of 7.0 or equivalent with a minimum of 6.0 in any band. We do offer pre-sessional English sessions for students who get a total IELTS score less than 7. These English sessions usually run between May and July before the programme starts depending on the student's IELTS score and incur an additional charge besides the MSc's fees

    Institution code

    		 H36

    School of study

    		 School of Life and Medical Sciences

    Course length
  • Full Time, 1 Years

    • Location
  • University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield
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  • Employability

    Careers

    This programme offers excellent opportunities for continuing professional development for practicing pharmacists to enhance career opportunities. 

    Work placement

    There is an in-course work placement for international students.

About the course

The MSc Advancing Clinical Pharmacy Practice programme is a one year of full-time course that is suitable for pharmacists who have at least 6 months patient-facing post registration experience.  

The programme provides an opportunity to study a wide range of pharmacy practice, medicines management and public health related theory and to explore the professional practice of pharmacy in a clinical pharmacy setting.  

MSc Advancing Clinical Pharmacy Practice with extended placement

This pathway builds on the MSc Advancing Clinical Pharmacy Practice to allow students to demonstrate an advanced knowledge and systematic understanding of pharmaceutical care delivery in a hospital setting. This will be achieved by students undertaking 6 months of clinical rotations based in local NHS hospitals. 

Why choose this course?

The programme aims to develop advanced knowledge, skills and attributes in the professional practice of Pharmacy and ensure safe, effective and rational use of medicines. The programme will provide a wide range of opportunities to enable individuals to develop an in depth understanding of the evidence base and safety framework for healthcare and medicines management. The programme offers the opportunity for multi-professional working with others who are involved in the provision of health care. The changes in healthcare and the implications for the changing role of Pharmacists are integral to the development of this programme. Patient safety and medicines optimisation are integral to the goals of developing healthcare services and is fundamental to safe effective and rational use of medicines. 

"I joined the Advancing Clinical Pharmacy Practice (ACPP) Master’s Programme at the University of Hertfordshire as part of my career development in clinical pharmacy. I have enriched my clinical knowledge throughout the different sessions and workshops. During the programme, I found myself stretching and becoming a reflective learner. Moreover, I developed the skills that are necessary for my professional life. For instance, reading scientific papers were no longer the same as I developed a judicious eye and was continuously encouraged by the lecturers to be critical in my thinking. On a different level, I was encouraged by the lecturers to be innovative and independent in my scientific approaches. This helped me to strengthen my analytical abilities and problem solving-skills.

Being part of the ACPP programme gave me the chance to observe and interact with clinical pharmacists during the work-based hospital placement. Besides the clinical knowledge, I learned from this experience how to be a leader, organise myself and my team and how to set priorities when dealing with patient care and patient safety.

Finally, I am grateful for joining the ACPP programme at the University of Hertfordshire because it gave me the opportunity to grow and allowed me to draw my vision in terms of my future professional and academic plans."

Amal Alharbi, MSc Advanced Clinical Pharmacy Practice

What will I study?

Teaching methods are varied including lectures, seminars, workshops and practice placements with specialist clinical pharmacist teacher practitioners and lecturers who are expert in their field. Students are encouraged to develop and utilise the skills of life-long learners.

Our facilities

Our school, at the University of Hertfordshire offers world-class teaching and learning facilities, including Europe's largest medical simulation laboratory.

Take a virtual tour of our facilities at the School of Life and Medical Science.

  • Level 7
    Module Credits Compulsory/optional
    Clinical Pharmacy in Practice 45 Credits Compulsory
    Core Competencies in Pharmacy Practice 30 Credits Compulsory
    Leadership in Practice 30 Credits Compulsory
    Project (ACPP) 60 Credits Compulsory
    Work-Based Learning for Pharmacists 15 Credits Compulsory

    • Key staff

    Dr Claire Hough
    Programme Lead
    Find out more about Dr Claire Hough

    Dr Nada Shebl
    Admissions Tutor
    Find out more about Dr Nada Shebl

    Further course information

    Course fact sheets
    MSc Advancing Clinical Pharmacy Practice Download
    Programme specifications
    MSc Advancing Clinical Pharmacy Practice Download
    Additional information

    Sandwich placement or study abroad year

    n/a

    Applications open to international and EU students

    		 Yes

    Student experience

    At the University of Hertfordshire, we want to make sure your time studying with us is as stress-free and rewarding as possible. We offer a range of support services including; student wellbeing, academic support, accommodation and childcare to ensure that you make the most of your time at Herts and can focus on studying and having fun.

    Find out about how we support our students

    You can also read our student blogs to find out about life at Herts.

    Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, examinations may be replaced by an alternative form of assessment during the academic year 2021/2022. Please refer to the Programme Specification on these pages for further details.