University to offer pharmacy course
The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland yesterday approved a new four-year pharmacy degree course at University College Cork (UCC). It is the first time a university outside Dublin will provide the course.
The points required are extremely high, because of the shortage of places and the excellent career prospects. Last year, it took 550 points to get a place on Trinity College’s pharmacy course and 535 for the course at the Royal College of Surgeons.
UCC have already received 706 CAO applications for the pharmacy course. Last year, the course had been offered through the CAO system but approval was withdrawn by the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland. It said the course content, staffing and facilities were deficient. A new application from UCC has been approved.
“We’re very happy that we’re in a position to accredit them at this point. We will be working very closely with them over the four years of the course. But we are very confident that they will deliver a good quality course,” PSI registrar Ann McGee said.
UCC expects to have planning permission for a €20 million School of Pharmacy by August. The building is due to be completed by 2005, when the first crop of pharmacy students will require its laboratory facilities. UCC will provide post-graduate degrees in pharmacy through the school.
“We are extremely happy. This has been an objective of the college for a long time,” said Dean of Medicine Michael Murphy, adding the supply of pharmacy graduates would help reduce the current shortages of hospital and community pharmacists.
“Hospital pharmacy has developed to a very limited extent outside of Dublin up to now and the pharmaceutical industry is also very keen that we put on a programme.”
In the past, the shortage of pharmacy places meant that almost half of all Irish pharmacists had to train in England. Due to a derogation from EU law, Irish pharmacists trained in Britain are not allowed to own a pharmacy.
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