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Clinical Pharmacy Practice with Hospital Placement MSc

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Start Dates

21 September 2026

Duration

1 year full-time

About this course

Overview

Why choose Huddersfield for this course?

  • Develop the scientific and clinical skills for pharmacy practice, guided by the latest research and discoveries.
  • Gain hands-on clinical experience in the UK through placements, including opportunities within NHS hospital settings.
  • Build practical and digital pharmacy skills with teaching, projects, and real patient-focused learning experiences.

Are you an overseas pharmacist looking to enhance your clinical expertise and gain hands-on experience in the UK?

Our degree provides a unique blend of knowledge, training, and practical experience tailored to the most popular career pathways in the pharmacy profession. As part of the course, you’ll have a work placement in a hospital setting, such as the NHS in the UK.

We aim to prepare you for a successful career by providing:

  • Industry-Relevant Experience: You will gain significant practical experience and confidence whilst studying on this course as you will be exposed to simulated and real-life situations and patient facing roles in both the classroom and a UK hospital setting.
  • Skills Development: You will be shown how to use various IT resources in a pharmacy, and various clinical information resources used in a clinical practice.
  • Comprehensive Understanding: The course structure is designed to maximise your learning experience, with dedicated teaching time as well as hands-on project work.

This course is not a replacement of OSPAP program for overseas pharmacist. Those who wish to register and practice as a pharmacist in UK should follow the GPhC guidelines.

Who can apply?

Entry Requirements

Entry requirements for this course are normally:

  • A minimum of a second class honours degree in Pharmacy or its international equivalent
  • Current registration with the relevant regulatory authority of your country to practice as a Pharmacist in any jurisdiction
  • A letter confirming good standing from a relevant body under which you have worked, prior to your application
  • At least 3-months relevant work experience before starting the course

You will be required to undertake an Occupational Health screening, and/or Enhanced Level Disclosure and Barring Service checks upon admission to, and at certain other points during the course. If you have not completed courses of all relevant vaccinations, you will be advised to do so; which occasionally can incur a charge by your doctor. If there are any further medical reports required you may incur additional costs. The commencement of placement will be subject to your satisfactorily completion of fitness to practice declarations. Failure to complete or provide these may result in you being transferred to an alternative course during your studies.

Please note that placement providers for this course may require you to have received a number of vaccinations, unless medically exempt, and provide evidence of these. As a student on a course with a clinical or healthcare placement, we strongly recommend that you complete any courses of vaccinations required under current guidelines for your future profession. Failure to do so may result in your inability to undertake a placement in certain clinical settings, therefore impacting upon your academic progression, and may result in discontinuation of your studies or you being transferred to na alternative course during your studies.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no less than 6.0 in reading and writing, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

What will you learn?

Course Details

We offer the following modules:

This module will focus on the application of an integrated knowledge base to inform decision-making and problem-solving of issues regarding pharmaceutical care of individual patients. It will have a strong focus on problem solving and pharmaceutical care planning whilst also introducing a variety of therapeutic areas and their management. Students will develop and apply their clinical pharmacy and critical evaluation skills to a variety of patient cases and commonly encountered scenarios.

This module provides students an in-depth understanding of international practice and policies underpinning the practice of pharmacy around the world and critically appraises the differences in practices in developed world to those in low and middle-income countries. Students will also appreciate the pharmacoeconomics underlying introduction of a new drugs and treatments, pharmacovigilance, and economic evaluation of community and hospital pharmacy services. The module also provides and overview of information sources used in international pharmacy practice and in-depth appreciation of systemic reviews and meta-analysis.

The aim of this module is to provide an in-depth appreciation of all the stages from new drug identification to bringing a drug to the market and beyond, with an emphasis on biotechnology-based products. It is divided into two integrated streams, the first being drug design. You will gain a critical appreciation of drug design and methods of discovery. Drug development will include pre-clinical, clinical and post-marketing surveillance aspects. The incorporation of advanced drug delivery strategies into current practice and future directions will be covered in detail. You will be expected to integrate and apply your knowledge and skills in the development of your own formulation supported by representatives from the pharmaceutical industry, and should be able to test the quality and performance of developed formulations in the laboratory.

An introduction to precision medicine including pharmacogenomics, which will be extended to an in-depth appreciation of how genetic variations are inherited and can be applied to pharmacogenomic analysis, i.e. how genetic variations affect human drug response and how this area will become an essential component in developing new medicines. The module will also explore the application of biomarkers to stratified or personalised medicine. Both pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics influences of drugs will be covered, such as inter-patient variation in the expression of drug metabolising and activating enzymes, as well as differences in the expression of drug targets such as receptors, genes, enzymes and growth factors. Biometric analysis such as bioinformatics will be explored through the understanding of the development of the Human Genome Project (HGP) and its relevance to ‘-omic’ technologies (genomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics). In addition, different model systems that are used to identify and develop biomarkers and drug target identification will be covered. The module will use a series of lectures, workshops and tutorials to encompass these topics and areas of learning. This will involve several expert lectures including external consultants and scientists.

This module introduces students to the practice of clinical pharmacy, the role of the clinical pharmacist in society and their role as a member of the healthcare team and highlights issues related to Health and Illness. Students are introduced to the dispensing of medicines with respect to the underpinning skills, pharmaceutical legislation and ethics. Students will be introduced to the concept of self-care, differential diagnosis, consultation, prescribing skills, medicine usage reviews, medicines reconciliation, emergency care, and palliative care. Simulated experience in the dispensary will provide students a real-life model environment to become familiar with the practice of clinical pharmacy in the UK.

This module will equip students with the skills needed to carry out the role of a clinical hospital pharmacist effectively. A range of pharmacy services will be covered, including reviewing drug charts and authorisation of medication supply to inpatients, outpatients and on discharge. The preparation of sterile pharmaceutical products and the quality assurance process involved will be covered. This module has an important practical component of technical pharmacy practice skills, to equip the student for future practice and provides excellent opportunities to work in a simulated hospital environment. The module will also ensure that students understand the unique role of the pharmacist in all aspects of the preparation, authorisation and supply of all medication, particularly aseptically prepared products. Students will be taught the principles of responding to medicines information enquiries from medical personnel, patients and the public. Students will gain an understanding of critical evaluation of information resources and presenting findings in an accessible manner.

The aim of this module is to provide an in-depth appreciation and hands-on experience of professional pharmacy practice in the UK. Students are required to spend a designated time in allocated community or hospital pharmacy placements working under the supervision of professionally qualified staff, engage with the day to day pharmacy working routine and complete the necessary placement tasks to achieve the key learning outcomes. Students are also required to reflect on their experience and write a formal reflection portfolio.

Teaching and Assessment

Discover what to expect from your tutor contact time, assessment methods, and feedback process.

Interested in a placement?

Placements

You will undertake a compulsory 60-credit professional pharmacy practice placement in a hospital pharmacy over the summer term that will provide an in-depth appreciation and hands-on experience of clinical pharmacy practice in England under the supervision of professionally qualified staff. Please note that this is NOT a paid placement.

Where could this lead you?

Your Career

Previous graduates from courses in this subject area have gone on to work in a variety of roles such as Pharmacist, Research scientist (medical), Clinical research associate, Medical sales representative, Medical science liaison, Pharmacologist, Physician associate, Product/process development scientist.*

*Source: Prospects

98%
98% of our postgraduate students go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating.

* HESA Graduate Outcomes 2022/23, UK domiciled

How much will it cost?

Fees and Finance

£10,305 per year

This information is for Home students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2026/27.

Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy. 

From January 2027 the UK government is launching a new student funding system for people starting university education. Read more about the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE).

For detailed information please visit https://www.hud.ac.uk/study/fees/

£18,700 per year

This information is for international students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2026/27.

Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy. 

For detailed information please visit https://www.hud.ac.uk/international/fees-and-funding/

Scholarships and Bursaries

Discover what additional help you may be eligible for to support your University studies.

Tuition Fee Loans

Find out more about tuition fee loans available to eligible postgraduate students.

What’s included in your fee?

We want you to understand exactly what your fees will cover and what additional costs you may need to budget for when you decide to become a student with us.

If you have any questions about Fees and Finance, please email the Student Finance Team.

Explore More

Why Hud

Explore the unique opportunities and resources that make our institution a top choice for students seeking a well-rounded and future-focused education.

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More Info

Careers support

We know you’re coming to university to study on your chosen subject, meet new people and broaden your horizons. However, we also help you to focus on life after you have graduated to ensure that your hard work pays off and you achieve your ambition.

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Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you’ll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you’ll soon discover that you’re never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey.

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Teaching Excellence

Great teaching is engaging and inspiring — it helps you reach your full potential and prepares you for the future. We don’t just teach well — we excel — and we have the awards and recognition to prove it.

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Inspiring Academics

Our researchers carry out world-leading work that makes a real difference to people’s lives. Staff within the Department of Pharmacy may teach you on this course.

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Research Excellence

You’ll be taught by staff who want to support your learning and share the latest knowledge and research.

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Accommodation

Looking for student accommodation? Huddersfield has you covered. HudLets has a variety of accommodation types to choose from, no matter what your preference. HudLets is the University’s approved accommodation service, run by Huddersfield Students’ Union.

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Further Study

Many of our graduates stay at Huddersfield to complete postgraduate research degrees at Masters or PhD level.

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