Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours)
The School of Pharmacy at The University of Queensland offers a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) as its undergraduate degree, preparing you for a career in industry, community and hospital pharmacy or government.
The preparation starts from your first year as you build a strong knowledge base, including chemistry, biology, physiology, anatomy and the workings of the pharmacy profession.
Career paths
The contemporary role of the pharmacist in society is to ensure that patients receive optimal medication therapy.
The role of the pharmacist is constantly growing, and their place within the healthcare team is vital to ensure quality use of medicines in a range of settings.
As the demand for skilled professionals increases, UQ Pharmacy graduates consistantly enjoy an employment rate of 100% (for those who choose to seek employment within the industry).
There are three main areas of practice for registered pharmacists, these are:
Community Pharmacy
In community practice pharmacists are involved in many areas, including:
Dispensing prescriptions:
- Providing information to the patient about their prescribed medications and dosage. For example, how and when to use the medication, what side effects may occur and how to deal with them
- Monitoring role - checking for appropriate dosage, drug interactions, adverse reactions, contra-indications, and compliance with prescribed therapy
- Providing medication information to other health care professionals
Primary health care:
- Assist members of the community with the identification and treatment of both major and minor ailments
Health promotion:
- Being accessible to the public as a source of advice on the prevention of illness and the promotion of good health
Clinical (Hospital) Pharmacy
Membership of a professional health care team
- preparing and supplying medication for outpatients and patients in the wards
- compounding and quality assessment of specialised dosage forms for use in the hospital environment
Clinical Practice
- Pharmacists who practise their profession in the wards are directly involved in ensuring optimal medication therapy for patients by devising regimens specific to individual patients and monitoring patient's progress.
- Drug Information and Poisons Centres are staffed by pharmacists whose task is to provide information to other health care professionals to assist with therapeutic decision making.
Consultant Pharmacy
Consultant pharmacists are accredited to perform medication reviews in people's homes (Home Medicin Reviews - HMRs) or in aged care facilities (Residential Medication Management Reviews - RMMRs) in collaboration with General Practitioners. The role of the accredited pharmacists is to advise patients and their general practitioners on how to optimise medication management.
Industrial Pharmacy
Pharmacists in industry are involved in:
- manufacturing products
- quality control
- marketing of pharmaceutical and medical products
- testing, research and development of new or improved products
Major in Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics
The UQ Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) degree includes an optional major which is completed in the fourth year of study.
The program allows students to undertake a research project under the guidance of an experienced researcher. Projects may be in any area of research that is currently being conducted within the School of Pharmacy.
Students conduct a review of the literature, learn how to design their experiments, conduct their research, and write up their results in the form of a research paper. Students also present their research plans and findings to academics in the School of Pharmacy. Entry into the major is according to GPA and project availability.
Credit transfers (domestic)
For Credit transfer arrangements for international Students, please visit:
www.uq.edu.au/pharmacy/international-credit-transfers
If you have undertaken the same or equivalent courses in another program you can apply for credit towards the Bachelor of Pharmacy.
To apply, you will need to download an application form available from the “myAdvisor” website:www.uq.edu.au/myadvisor/forms/enrolment/credit-exemptions.pdf
Once completed, the form must be submitted to the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences (Building 24, UQ St Lucia) and the Faculty will then process your application and note this on your Studies Report in mySI-net please allow up to four weeks for this process).
Please submit the form as soon as possible after receiving your offer.
How to apply
Domestic applicants
How to apply guidelines for Australian and New Zealand undergraduate applicants.
International applicants
For assistance and guidelines on applying to UQ Pharmacy as an international student, visit the UQ International website.
Students requiring extra study before University entry should visit the UQ Foundation year website.