Pharmacist in Great Britain

[DrNightingale]

Hi,

So I have been doing a lot of research concerning pharmacy. I am graduating this year with a B.A. from UC Berkeley in English Literature. My original plan was to take 1 year - 2 years meeting pre-requisites for a pharmacy school here in the U.S. But my dream has always been to live in England. So I was wondering if I get a PharmD in the U.S., will it be accepted in the U.K.? Will I be able to practice pharmacy there?

Also, I couldn't help but notice some threads give an extremely low salary estimate for a pharmacist working in the U.K. How accurate is this?

And finally, I was also looking at the option of going to school in England for pharmacy. If I receive my degree there, will it be effective here in the U.S.? .. just in case I ever change my mind and decide to come back here.

Thanks ahead of time.

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[cosanostra]

Hey,

We seem to be on the same track. I've dreamed of practicing as a pharmacist in the UK for quite a long time. It might take some hard work and dedication, but certainly it is possible.

You will need to be registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. www.rpsgb.org

You should also look into the OSPAP information/application packet. You can see a google cache of this at http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cach...regpack.pdf+uk+ospap&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

Don't forget that the lower numbers you see in Pounds Sterling reflects the exchange rate between the GBP and USD. 2 usd is approximately equivalent to 1 GBP. That being said, the cost of living is higher than the USA, and 1 GBP will buy about as much as 2 USD will here in the USA. If something in the USA costs 2 dollars US, it will most likely cost 2 pounds sterling. You pay more in the UK, but it is managable.

In the UK, the standard of living is different. Possible opportunities might be with the NHS, the United Kingdom's socialized healthcare system.

Hope that helps!

 

[cosanostra]

In order to work in Great Britain as a pharmacist, you must also qualify under the UK's tier system. This tier system proceeded the Highly Skilled Migrant Program. The tier system uses a point-based system to determine if you are eligible for an employment visa in the UK. http://www.workpermit.com/uk/hsmp_calculator.htm

Hope that helps!

LCN

 

[DrNightingale]

By extremely low numbers that I saw, I was speaking of 20,000 pounds which would be around $40,000. By the time I finish schooling, I'll be in HEAVY debt so I was looking forward to a nice, comfortable salary of $80,000-100,000 range (40,000-50,000 pounds). Is this not the entry salary in the UK?

Also, I noticed they can practice pharmacy there with just a B.S., I was wondering if there are any perks in getting a Master's or a PhD in Pharmacology over there then. Perhaps the salary estimate was for an individual holding the B.S.? Maybe it's higher for those in possession of a post-graduate degree? I really have no idea, I'm just starting to look into this so please be patient with me.

 

[cosanostra]

I know that the degree required to practice pharmacy from a UK school is the MPharm, or master of pharmacy. The British education system is quite different than the US education system, meaning that it is quite a bit mroe rigerous--probably because it is better

I know that the royal pharmaceutical society of Great Britain cites the average entry-level salary at 20-30,000 GBP/year. I believe this is entry-level, without specialization. This could depend on where exactly in the UK you are planning to work. If you want affordability, check out Wales or Scotland. The further southeast you go, the more the cost of living rises because of the close proximity to London.

Now, if you specialize in something--such as nuclear pharmacy, oncology pharmacy, you can expect to earn something around 40,000 GBP/year.

Generally, the lower-end salaries apply to pharmacists who have just graduated, those who are not certified, and who are working for NHS (England's socialized medicine). If you go into a specialization--like nuclear pharmacy-- your salary can increase dramatically.

Maybe your best bet would be to get a job at a company here in the US that has satellite offices in the UK. That way you would automatically have a work permit without having to go through the trouble of finding a company willing to sponsor you. Cardinal Health is an option. It really depends on what you want to do.

 

[alenadoma]

I love England and I'd love to practice pharmacy there. I spent some time volunteering at a hospital pharmacy in England this past summer, and the job is pretty similar to the US pharmacists. Unless you plan on living in the UK for the rest of your life, I would do what the previous poster suggested and find a satellite location in the UK - that way you could porbably use your PharmD instead of having to start all over and get the MPharm.
Good luck to you

 

[cosanostra]

Alenadoma: How could somebody go about getting a volunteer position in a UK hospital? Does this apply to pharmacy technicians?

 

[DrNightingale]

So even though PharmD is a doctorate, Britain still requires for you to have the MPharm? This means that the PharmD is useless in Britain?

 

[xscpx]

So even though PharmD is a doctorate, Britain still requires for you to have the MPharm? This means that the PharmD is useless in Britain?

the PharmD is not a doctorate, its a US professional degree. You may be better off going to school in England. The MPharm is not really a masters degree. It's an undergrad degree. It's more like our bachelors, but the UK school system is lightyears ahead of us and an undergrad degree there is like a grad degree here. You only need the 4 years for the MPharm to practice pharmacy in England. Going to school there will make licensing easier, not to mention you will be better educated.

 

[alenadoma]

Alenadoma: How could somebody go about getting a volunteer position in a UK hospital? Does this apply to pharmacy technicians?

Oh it took a lot of work. I had to keep calling and calling to show them that I was interested. I knew where we'd be staying, so I searched for hospitals in that area. After that, I called the hospitals to see if they accept students. You have to get to the right person - usually there will be an education person in the pharmacy department. I made all of the arrangements with that person, and it worked out well!

 

[Hels2007]

As far as I can remember from a couple years ago, when I was looking into it, if you have a US degree, you would need a year of additional training before being eligible to take the exam which would allow you to practice pharmacy in the UK. Which is fair enough, as the biggest difference country to country is not the drug names, but the laws and regulations, and the resulting responsibilities of the pharmacists. And they can be dramatically different country to country...