Pharmacy

B.Sc. (Pharm.) Honours Bachelor Degree and M.Sc. (Pharm) Master's Degree (NFQ Level 9)Optional: B.Sc. (Pharm.) Honours Bachelor Degree only (NFQ Level 8)
5 Years Full-Time
76 Places
CAO Points 613 (2023)
CAO Code TR072

Overview

What is Pharmacy?

Pharmacy is the study of all aspects of drugs, both natural and synthetic in origin, including their chemistry, their uses in medicines, and how they work within the body. Pharmacists work in a variety of settings – community pharmacies, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and within the pharmaceutical industry, to name just a few. In many respects, their role as a key healthcare professional is to help people achieve the best results from their medications.

Would you enjoy...

  • Combining science with a healthcare profession?
  • Being a healthcare leader in your community?
  • Becoming part of a community of scientists advancing knowledge to improve health and healthcare?

Pharmacy: The course for you?

While this degree is an essential requirement if you wish to practise as a community or hospital pharmacist. Pharmacy at Trinity opens up a wide variety of professional opportunities in both industry and the wider healthcare sector. A strong interest in science is important to fully enjoy the course.

Pharmacy at Trinity

Trinity is ranked in the top 30 universities in the world for Pharmacy and Pharmacology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023). The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences has world-class facilities with research space in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI), which develops Trinity’s leadership position in immunology, neuroscience and cancer. The School also has purpose-built teaching spaces in the Panoz Institute, including the Boots Unit, a technology-enhanced learning space which allows students to dispense drugs and develop communication skills.

Structured professional placements are integrated throughout the new programme and these take place in second, fourth and fifth year. A particular strength of the Trinity programme is the undergraduate research project, which may take place abroad and gives students the opportunity to develop focused laboratory or field research with one-to-one supervision.

Graduate skills and career opportunities

As an expert in the discovery, development and optimal use of medicines, many career paths are open to pharmacists. 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. 

    Your degree and what you’ll study

    The Pharmacy syllabus has been designed to provide you with an all-round education in both the basic and pharmaceutical sciences and in the practice of pharmacy itself. The five-year integrated Pharmacy programme comprises a variety of approaches to teaching pharmacy including: lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops, small-group teaching, problem-based learning, site-visits, computer-assisted learning, web discussion boards, wikis, online group assignments, communication skills, career planning, clinical case studies, inter-professional learning, laboratory and dispensing practicals, and a research project.

    The programme is delivered as a series of integrated modules, examples of which include: Natural Sources of Drugs and Substances used in Medicines; Formulation and Pharmaceutical Technology; Molecular and Chemotherapeutic Pharmacology and Clinical Therapeutics; Blood, Cardiovascular and Renal Pharmacology and Clinical Therapeutics; Neuropharmacology and Clinical Therapeutics; Physical Pharmacy, Formulation and Pharmaceutical Technology; Sterile Products and Advanced Pharmaceutical Biotechnology; Advanced Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Drug Discovery and Design; Addiction Pharmacy; Practice of Pharmacy and Integrated Pharmacy Skills; Professional Practice and Public Health; and Organisation and Management Skills.

    Modules are assessed by final examinations and continuous assessment, such as written assignments, essays, lab reports, OSCEs (objective structured clinical examinations), etc. which contribute to the overall mark in a module. There are approximately 16 hours of lectures, six hours of laboratory classes and one tutorial per week over the course of the first year. Work experience in clinical and non-clinical settings will take place over all five years of the integrated Pharmacy programme.

    Fourth and (optional) fifth years

    In the fourth and fifth year, you will undertake a research project. The following are some examples of research projects which students have undertaken in the past:

    • Medicines use and burden in people with intellectual disability.
    • New targets for old drugs: Development of novel beta-lactams with anticancer activity.
    • The development of dapsone cocrystals for pulmonary drug delivery.

    Click here for further information on modules/subject.

    Study abroad and internship opportunities

    We encourage our students (second and third year students) to undertake the summer research placement programme. This programme allows pharmacy students to carry out their research projects abroad (Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Croatia, Japan, USA.) over the summer (12 weeks) as part of their undergraduate degree programme. Students are either funded by the Erasmus programme or the School. Further information on student exchanges can be found at: www.tcd.ie/ study/study-abroad/outbound/options

    Study Pharmacy at Trinity

    Overview of the five-year integrated M.Pharm. in Pharmacy programme by Professor Gilmer (Head of School) and Dr. Sasse (Director of Teaching and Learning, Undergraduate).

    Course Details

    Awards

    B.Sc. (Pharm.) Honours Bachelor Degree and M.Sc. (Pharm) Master's Degree (NFQ Level 9)Optional: B.Sc. (Pharm.) Honours Bachelor Degree only (NFQ Level 8)

    CAO Information

    CAO Points 613 (2023) CAO Code TR072

    Number of Places

    76 Places
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    Admission Requirements

    Leaving Certificate:

    O4 or H6 in Mathematics

    H4 in Chemistry or Physics/Chemistry

    H4 in one of Physics, Biology, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Geography, Geology, Computer Science or Agricultural Science

    GCSE:

    Grade B in Mathematics

    Advanced GCE (A Level):

    Grade C in Chemistry

    Grade C in one of Physics, Biology, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Geography or Geology

    International Bacccalaureate:

    SL Grade 5 in Mathematics

    HL Grade 5 in Chemistry

    HL Grade 5 in one of Physics, Biology, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Geography, Geology, Computer Science

    Physics/chemistry may not be presented with chemistry or physics to satisfy requirements.

    Graduate Entry:

    A graduate entry route to this degree is also available. You can learn more here: www.tcd.ie/courses/undergraduate/courses/pharmacy---graduate-entry-to-pharmacy

    Advanced entry into integrated Pharmacy programme is also considered in exceptional circumstances, and only from undergraduates studying Pharmacy in other institutions within the Republic of Ireland. Necessary admission requirements must be met and students must be in good standing. Applicants may be called for interview. Advanced entry can only be facilitated into the second year of our programme.

    Entrants will have to pass Trinity's health screening requirements. You can learn more at: www.tcd.ie/students/orientation/undergraduates/health-screenings.php

    Students will also be required to undergo Garda Vetting. For further details, see: ww.tcd.ie/students/orientation/undergraduate/grada-vetting.php

    In order to qualify to register as a pharmacist with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland students must also complete a fifth year, culminating in a M.Pharm. degree. There will be a postgraduate fee associated with the fifth year on the postgraduate register in Trinity, payable by the student.

    Course Fees

    Click here for a full list of undergraduate fees.

    Apply

    To apply to this course, click on the relevant Apply Link below

    EU Applicants

    Read the information about how to apply, then apply directly to CAO.

      Non-EU Applicants

      Advanced Entry Applications

      Read the information about how to apply for Advanced Entry, then select the link below to apply.

      Get in Touch

      pharmacy@tcd.ie

      Website

      www.tcd.ie/pharmacy

      Register Your Interest

      Register your interest in studying at Ireland’s leading university, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin.

      Register Your Interest

      The School of Pharmacy at Trinity College Dublin provides a welcoming and close-knit teaching and learning environment, in which all aspects of pharmacy, both theory and practice are delivered to a degree of excellence.

      Karen Padden

      Graduate

      If you have an interest in science, a desire to learn more about how medicines and diseases work and want to be part of one of the most rapidly expanding industries in the country then this is the course for you.

      Mark Lyons

      Graduate

      Choosing Pharmacy in Trinity, a course that ensures a successful career, has been the best decision ever. I love all the placements we have undergone each year. I feel like part of a large family, thanks to the super-friendly staff and the Pharmaceutical Students’ association (DUPSA), who arrange social gatherings, wine receptions, and memorable events like the Pharmacy Ball.

      Negoescu Eduard

      Graduate