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Health Sciences
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Practice of pharmacy:
This subject examines what
pharmacists do in each of the areas of professional practice
and because this involves working with patients, their
families and others in the health service it also includes
sociological and psychological subjects as well as a study
of the health service.
In the final year, you will undertake a
research project
and will
also prepare a dissertation on an aspect of pharmacy practice
linked to a community, hospital or industry option of your choice.
The following are some examples of research projects which
students have undertaken in the past:
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Assessing the potential for drug interactions in critically
ill patients.
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Identification of the factors that impact on medication
incident reporting and learning in community pharmacy.
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Feasibility studies on the formation of carrageenan-based
nanocarriers suitable for the oral delivery of insulin.
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Investigating the transfer and scale-up of a spray drying
process.
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Chemical Investigation of Head Shop drugs.
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Does inflammation in the bowel promote the expression
of inflammatory markers in the brain?
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Use of MRI to determine cerebral blood flow changes in the
brain associated with the recreational drug MDMA “Ecstasy”.
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MicroRNAs as minimally-invasive diagnostic biomarkers for
lung cancer.
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Molecular probes for proteins which regulate cancer cell
proliferation: chemistry and biological activity of novel
indazole heterocycles.
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Design and characterisation of novel bioactive conjugate
compounds as dual targeting agents with applications for
cancer chemotherapy.
Summer research placement
programme
We encourage our students (2nd and 3rd year students) to
undertake the summer research placement programme.
This programme, including Erasmus, allows pharmacy students to
carry out their research projects abroad over the summer (12 weeks)
as part of their undergraduate degree programme. The students are
either funded by the Erasmus programme or the School.
Assessment
A combination of continuous assessment and oral and written
end-of-year examinations is used. Practical examinations are also
an important means of assessment. Senior Sophisters (fourth-
year students) submit a dissertation based on their projects.
Career opportunities
Your career prospects as a Pharmacy graduate are excellent.
Employment opportunities exist in community, hospital and
industrial pharmacy, as well as in state services such as
medicines licensing. In addition, you can opt to undertake
research, or apply for entry to one of the postgraduate
courses in hospital, industrial or community pharmacy. See
for further details.
Further information
E-mail:
Tel: +353 1 896 2809
The Pharmacy degree and
professional qualification
The Pharmacy degree alone does not entitle you to practice
as a patient-facing pharmacist.
After the four years in Trinity College students are required
to undertake a further one year training period, known
as the ‘pre-registration year’ or ‘pharmacy internship
year’. The internship year is under the auspices of the
Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) and, at present,
is delivered by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
The internship training year may be taken in a range of
pharmaceutical settings including hospital, community
and industrial environments, where you will work under
the supervision of a tutor pharmacist. The year also
comprises taught modules, continuous assessment and a
final Pre-registration Examination. Successful completion
of the internship year results in the award of a Masters in
Pharmacy (MPharm), required for registration with the PSI.
A National Forum on Pharmacy Education and Accreditation
(the National Pharmacy Forum) is working with the three
schools of pharmacy in Ireland (TCD, UCC and RCSI) and
all the major stakeholders to change the model of pharmacy
education and develop a five year integrated programme
whereby the full five years of pharmacist education
becomes the responsibility of the higher education
institutions (HEIs). Students will graduate with an MPharm
degree after a five year programme, with work-place
learning integrated into the five years.
