Now that you’ve got the lowdown on what it’s like studying a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) at UQ, knowing the pros and cons of the degree can give you a deeper perspective on whether it is the right degree for you!
We’ve asked Finau, a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) graduate from UQ, to give his personal insight to his study experience at the University of Queensland.
Want to know more? Just keep reading on!
Why should you study a Pharmacy degree at UQ?
Top 3 Pros of a Pharmacy Degree
Top 3 Cons of a Pharmacy Degree
Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make
Things to Know Before Starting UQ Pharmacy
What Makes this Degree Different
Motivations for Studying UQ Pharmacy
Potential Career Paths
Why should you study a Pharmacy degree at UQ?
“The Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) at UQ equips graduates with the ability to critically appraise scientific literature… [this] allows them to tackle tough future medicine-related questions,” Finau first tells us.
“The pharmacy degree at UQ is unique, allowing students to personalise their journey, with an industry-orientated degree for students wanting to explore the medicine development field.”
The option for a research major is great for students who want to pursue the innovative side of the pharmaceutical industry.
All the while, the course program ensures that clinical and theoretical components are taught throughout the core units. This makes for a well-rounded learning experience, wherever your interests lie!
Top 3 Pros of a Pharmacy degree
#1: Great career prospects
“Job prospects within the pharmaceutical industry are abundant, with around 95% of full-time employment for UQ pharmacy graduates [as at 2019],” Finau says.
The health science roles are in demand more than ever. As Finau explains, “Australia’s ageing population will only solidify the demand for pharmacists in the future, thereby ensuring job security for a career in pharmacy.”
If you’re looking for a steady career future, a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) at UQ is a good bet for achieving this, whether that be in working in the industry, business or clinical. As this is an industry that is ever-expanding, there’ll also be exciting new opportunities in the future.
#2: Focus on practical skills
The course program incorporates a hands-on approach to learning pharmaceutical skills.
“Pharmacy is becoming considerably rooted in evidence-based use of medicines. A career in pharmacy will undoubtedly have new medicines and medical innovations,” says Finau.
Laboratory sessions and analytical research units in the course all set up the necessary skills for a future in pharmacy. “Mock pharmacies” in tutorial sessions, which simulate real-world environments that students might encounter, help students prepare for current pharmacy issues and situations.
#3: Great facilities
UQ Pharmacy students have access to an excellent range of new university facilities.
At UQ, the $100m Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence (PACE) is dedicated to Bachelor of Pharmacy students and is based at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.
Pharmacy students get to enjoy and experience “mock pharmacies”, which simulate real-world environments that pharmacists encounter, as well as state-of-the-art laboratories at PACE. It is also complete with its Health Sciences library, where students are provided with all the resources required to make the most of the degree.
All these facilities really help motivate students to get hands-on and further develop the practical skills taught in the course.
Top 3 Cons of a Pharmacy degree
#1: Not much interdisciplinary collaboration
“One of the cons — perhaps existing in all health professional degrees, irrespective of the university — is the minimal collaboration with students of other health professional disciplines,” Finau comments.
As Pharmacy requires a specific set of knowledge, you won’t get the chance to interact with students from other health science courses, besides during the early introductory units.
While interdisciplinary collaboration is not necessary to learning the core units, it is always enriching to your learning experience to understand other perspectives. For example, the course structure for a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) at UQ does not allow students to undertake a double degree, which limits your career prospects mainly to pharmaceutical roles.
#2: Challenging course expectations
“The Bachelor of Pharmacy is challenging, not only in terms of the content, but also requires good organisational and time management skills,” Finau says.
Especially in the last year, students must juggle between finding and attending their placement within a specified five-week timeframe, undertaking their on-campus classes and their extracurricular commitments. This is a formative experience for fourth-year students, however it is tough mentally.
“Take this as you will, a con or an opportunity to be stimulated and challenged?” he adds.
#3: Ethical balances in your career
Lastly, pharmaceutical roles will always present an ethical dilemma, as Finau explains, ”If you work in community pharmacy, which the majority of student graduates will, you may at times have difficulty reconciling the monetary/business side of pharmacy with the healthcare side.“
He goes on to recommend that “if you always remember that you deal with human beings and your decisions must be ethical in nature, you cannot go wrong“.
Any regrets?
“My greatest regret is not getting a job within the pharmacy industry until later in the degree. This would have been beneficial to allow for the development of communication skills,” Finau tells us.
Communication and practical experience is equally as valuable as knowledge from the classroom. In the early stages of your Pharmacy degree, it is great to have a head start by working in a pharmacy-related environment and forming work connections!
What do you wish you had known before starting the degree?
Networking is important to both finding work placements as well as landing a pharmacy job after graduation.
“Exposure to different pharmacy jobs not only enables students to discover their passions within the profession, but may lead to job opportunities in the future, so network wisely,” Finau says. “My advice would be to search far and wide [for your placements].”
What makes this degree different from the ones offered at other universities?
For Finau, the support at UQ and the unique research major are enriching elements of the course.
“With award-winning lecturers at the precipice of quality-teaching, the Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) at UQ provides a great opportunity to learn from some of the best Pharmacy academics. Teachers aim to provide you with answers, but more importantly with the skills and critical thinking to ask the right questions, ultimately leading to the right answers,” Finau says.
What inspired you to choose this degree?
Finau chose to study a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) for “the wide exposure the degree provides to various aspects of the pharmacy profession — whether it’d be industry, business or clinical”.
“This, coupled with state-of-the-art learning facilities, was a major factor in my choice of UQ as my first preference,” he adds.
What are the possible career paths?
The job description for pharmacists is ever-expanding and diversifying. Graduates of a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) at the University of Queensland can enter various pathways within the pharmacy profession, which include industry, clinical and research.
These options include:
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- Retail pharmacist
- Medical researcher
- Toxicologist
- Hospital/dispensary pharmacist
- Clinical trials officer
Lynn Chen is a Content Writer at Art of Smart Education and is a Communication student at UTS with a major in Creative Writing. Lynn’s articles have been published in Vertigo, The Comma, and Shut Up and Go. In her spare time, she also writes poetry.
