Pharmacy

Major subject – Pharmacy

The use of pharmaceuticals affects everyone at both the individual and societal level. Pharmacy deals with how pharmaceuticals are developed, manufactured and used as well as how they affect us. During your studies, you will delve into various themes on pharmacy, including the chemistry of pharmaceuticals and excipients, the manufacture and development of pharmaceuticals, biomedical pharmacy, biosciences, pharmaceutical treatment and social pharmacy. This will provide you with a deeper understanding of fascinating aspects of the field such as pharmaceutical properties, mechanisms of action and effects, manufacturing processes in the pharmaceuticals industry, nutrition and pathology, toxicology, therapies and biogenic medicines.

Studies in Pharmacy lead to a pharmaceutical dispenser degree (BSc in Pharmacy), which will open the door for a career in the field. Pharmacy studies also provide a natural scientific basis for students who want to continue their studies in our Master’s Degree Programme in Pharmacy, to become a Pharmacist (MSc). During subject studies, you will also build your career identity as a pharmacist. This will be further enhanced during your six-month practice period, where you will be able to practically apply your theoretical knowledge at a pharmacy or hospital pharmacy.  Elective courses allow you to further specialise within science, economics, communications or psychology. You can also choose other courses from the entire course offering of Åbo Akademi University to support your career as a pharmacist.

On doctoral level, we offer two major subjects: Pharmacy and Drug Development. You can select Pharmacy as major subject if your undergraduate degrees are in Pharmacy; otherwise, your major subject will be Drug Development. Undergraduate degrees in for instance biosciences, chemistry, engineering, health sciences, materials sciences, medicine, or physics are suitable for continuing towards a doctoral degree in Drug Development. In your doctoral course studies, you will be able to select courses related to your research focus as well as to develop your transferable skills. Especially in Drug Development, you will also deepen your knowledge in Pharmaceutical Sciences and gain an overall understanding of the drug development process to be able to position how your own research fits within this context. You can also choose other courses from Finnish universities and abroad, especially the Nordics e.g. through the Nordic Doctoral Training in Health Sciences network (NorDoc).