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Your MPharm degree

Teaching and research at the Reading School of Pharmacy is delivered by a team of dynamic academics and pharmacists who are experts in their field. 

Our academics are passionate about teaching and learning, and will support you through your MPharm to ensure you get the most out of your undergraduate degree to excel in a Pharmacy career after you graduate.

For me, teaching is a partnership with students, sharing our enthusiasm for pharmacy and the drive to succeed. I love seeing the development of students from learners to experts throughout their pharmacy degree and their foundation year. I am committed to giving students the best education, through evidence-based practice and using new teaching innovations.

Catherine Langran

Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice


Our teaching methods

We use a range of methods when teaching the MPharm undergraduate degree to help you reach your full learning potential.

Our teaching methods include lectures, seminars and workshops using an interactive approach to help you develop into an independent learner.

Case-based learning sessions

Workshop-style sessions or group work assignments, where you will work your way through patient-centred scenarios, applying your pharmacy knowledge to make recommendations about their treatment and care.

Team-based learning

You will work in a small team as you learn with and from your peers about a particular topic.  As well as furthering your knowledge of the topic being covered, you will develop your communication and team-working skills, which are essential in today’s pharmacists.

Inter-professional workshops

A series of interactive workshops in which you will learn alongside a range of other healthcare professional trainees, including nurses, speech & language therapists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. 

These sessions will help you to develop your own identity as a future pharmacist, as well as learning about the other professions and how the multi-disciplinary team can work together to provide high quality patient care.

 

I gained hands-on research experience through the University of Reading's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP). My research project findings were published to an academic journal and presented to an audience of pharmacists and academics, including the president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Eunyoung Lee

MPharm graduate

Placements

The Reading School of Pharmacy has long-established relationships with the healthcare sector, including the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford University Hospitals, Day Lewis Pharmacy and local general practices. During our placements throughout the programme, you will work with staff within community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy and general practice settings, and gain an insight into professional practice and patient-facing activities by being part of the healthcare team.

Our placements prepare you for the workplace and are key to ensuring that you meet the learning outcomes to enable you to be prescribing pharmacists of the future. We also have our annual pharmacy careers fair, which is attended by numerous employers from the healthcare sector. The careers fair is a good source of work experience and job opportunities for you.

For all of our placements, because of our geographical location, there may be some travel and accommodation costs incurred. Please also note that travel to placements may involve approximate commute times of up to one hour each way. These placements are core to the programme and will be compulsory to attend. Additional information on the requirement to have a DBS and health check (including vaccination status) will be sent out following receipt of an offer or on request by e-mailing mpharm.placements@reading.ac.uk

First-year placements

All students will be attending a community pharmacy placement, which will be your first introduction to prepare you for the workplace. You will be introduced to the community pharmacy environment and develop skills in undertaking the essential services provided by the pharmacy team.

Second-year placements

In your second year, you will undertake a placement in two of the following areas; general practice, hospital pharmacy or community pharmacy. Placements in these settings will help you to build knowledge and skills that you are developing and apply them to patient care in a healthcare environment.

Third-year placements

In your third year, you will complete a placement in two of the following areas; community or hospital pharmacy, or a general practice setting (building on your experiences in your second year and ensuring that you get at least one experience in each of these settings). You will learn alongside healthcare professionals, so you are prepared for the multi-disciplinary environment of the healthcare sector, guided by the experience of our practising pharmacists and other healthcare experts.

Fourth-year placements

In your fourth year, you will be able to continue to develop skills obtained in your previous placements by undertaking a placement in one of the following areas (with consideration of your anticipated career pathway); general practice, hospital pharmacy and community pharmacy. There may also be an opportunity to work in specialists areas such as online service providers and prison pharmacy.

Excellent links with the Royal Berkshire Hospital allowed me to put my learning into practice with real-life patients. Visits to Royal Berkshire Hospital were extremely beneficial for practising drug histories and counselling patients, experiencing what it is truly like to work as a hospital pharmacist and developing my communication skills.
Emily Jackson, recent MPharm Pharmacy graduate

Why study with us

Gain hands-on experience in our Clinical Skills Suite, benefit from our strong links with employers and be guided through your MPharm by our supportive and inspiring teaching staff.

Our research

Research within the Reading School of Pharmacy brings together experts from across the health sciences with the goal of improving how we use existing medicines and developing the new drugs of tomorrow.

Life on campus

Our main Whiteknights campus is set on 130 hectares of beautiful parkland, only a short walk or bus ride away from our London Road campus. The campus is a thriving community that includes a Students' Union, Library and places to eat.