The Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) programme aims to nurture competent graduates with a solid knowledge of pharmacy as well as the ability to apply the core knowledge and skills for effective, humane and ethical delivery of pharmaceutical care. They will contribute both to the profession of pharmacy and to the overall health of the patient body by adopting the highest standard of professional practice.

Programme Features:

Clinical Pharmacy
With the support of Queen Mary Hospital, students studying at HKU enjoy early clinical exposure and benefit from the interprofessional collaboration of pharmacists and clinicians through bedside teaching and outpatient clinics.

New Learning Approaches
As an area of strength of the Medical Faculty, the problem-based learning (“PBL”) approach has been adopted to encourage interdisciplinary inquiry and foster life-long learning skills. Besides, students have various opportunities to acquire patient counselling and communication skills step-by-step with a gradual increase in the degree of mastery and in the complexity of the situations encountered.

Local and Overseas Exposure
The new enrichment module enables students to be involved in a local community service project of their choice. The module provides them with the chance to engage in activities which benefit different social groups that are in need, preparing them for their roles as future healthcare professionals.

In addition to local experience, all of our pharmacy students have the opportunity to participate in an international exchange programme. Strong links have been established with the pharmacy departments of different universities and hospitals around the world, including University College London (UK), King’s College London (UK), University of Rouen (France), University of Sydney (Australia), Sojo University (Japan), University of Illinois at Chicago (USA) and many others.

Placement, Clerkship and Research Project
As part of the curriculum, each pharmacy student will have the chance to gain working experience in different pharmacy settings during term time. Students rotate between hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy and pharmaceutical industry for at least one week in each setting during the final year of study. In addition, students have the opportunity to carry out a research project in a specialised area of their choice, under the supervision of our academic staff. 

Opportunities for Interprofessional Learning
The programme offers students with invaluable opportunities for interprofessional learning throughout the 4-year curriculum, including a health research project, patient care project and interprofessional team-based learning with students from Medicine, Nursing and Chinese Medicine programmes. These interprofessional learning activities utilise the expertise of students from different backgrounds and foster cooperation between different healthcare professionals of the future. 

The programme also equips future pharmacists with the knowledge of Chinese Medicine as well as Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM), which are commonly used by patients in conjunction with Western medicines.

As healthcare rapidly evolves, the role of professionals in pharmacy is becoming more diverse. With the development of complex new therapies such as advanced therapy products, it is foreseen that novel transdisciplinary roles will emerge, requiring skilled candidates with concept of medication knowledge, healthcare system, drug development and more.

The Master of Advanced Pharmacy programme aims to equip our students for essential roles in medication management and to support the evolving needs of the healthcare system and patients. This programme provides postgraduate training that students can customize to their professional needs in pharmacy practice, which may be in hospital, community, the pharmaceutical industry, or innovative transdisciplinary roles.

The Master of Advanced Pharmacy programme will have 3 structured streams: Clinical Practice, Community Health, and Pharmaceutical Medicine. Candidates who wish to individualize their exposure to the types of course and do not satisfy the requirements of any of the 3 streams shall be regarded as Generalists.

Clinical Pharmacy is the principle practice of pharmacists in developed countries, the benefit on patients' health and outcome measures of having a clinical pharmacy service both within the hospital and community settings have been well documented. It has been recognised that there is a need to develop specialist clinical pharmacy services in Hong Kong and this Master programme will provide students with both the initiative to improve our current practice and the confidence to do this effectively.

Upon completion, students will have acquired more advanced skills in applying clinical knowledge in all areas of practice and be able to formulate effective holistic pharmaceutical care-plans for patients. Students would have developed strong awareness on medication safety and skills to critically appraise current clinical evidences in order to apply this knowledge to their evidence based practices. Furthermore, a deeper understanding of their chosen specialised clinical area would be acquired by students, preparing them to discuss current health policies/services in the specialised field, and be innovative in making practical suggestions for various health services. A strong emphasis would be placed on the importance of continuous professional learning to enable students to keep their knowledge and skills up to date in order to maintain high quality pharmaceutical care in their practice.

The MPhil degree is a postgraduate programme that focuses on research work.  The programme is available in all faculties and schools/departments, allowing candidates to select their field of study from a wide spectrum of subjects and specialise their research in distinct fields on offer. Students can register on either a full-time (2-year) or part-time (3-year) basis.  The programme offers an introductory experience to research studies and is suitable for those who wish to later pursue a PhD degree or become professionals in their specialised area.

MPhil students will receive ongoing advice and guidance from a dedicated academic or a team of academics in conducting research and thesis writing.  The programme also provides students with solid academic training and diverse educational experiences.  Coursework has been incorporated into the curriculum, introducing students to research techniques and also discipline-specific knowledge.  Students may take part in different workshops, conferences, and competitions to further develop their research skills and perspectives.  The award of the MPhil degree is based on satisfactorily completing courses, submitting a thesis that displays some originality and demonstrates a sound understanding of the field of study and the appropriate research methods, and satisfying the examiners in an oral examination, unless waived, (and any other examination if required) in matters relevant to the subject of the thesis.

Selected full-time MPhil students who have attained good academic qualifications will be provided financial assistance in the form of Postgraduate Scholarships.  Various scholarships and conference/travel support are also available to enrich students’ learning experience and promote professional and personal development.

The PhD degree is a highly recognised advanced research postgraduate programme.  It is available in both full-time and part-time mode.  Candidates can select their field of study from a wide spectrum of subjects as the programme is available in all faculties and schools/departments.  The PhD programme is intellectually demanding, requiring strong analytical skills, critical thinking ability, and language proficiency for undertaking independent research to produce original ideas with significant impact.  It aims to cultivate competent researchers who would like to develop their career in research, academia, and other professional areas.  The 4-year PhD programme is available for candidates who have obtained a good bachelor’s degree with honours and/or a taught master’s degree, while the 3-year PhD programme is offered to those with a research master’s degree.

PhD study focuses on conducting independent research, under the supervision of a dedicated academic or a team of academics, leading to the final submission of a thesis.  In addition, the 4-year PhD programme has a compulsory coursework component, which encompasses advanced specialist knowledge and language and research skills to enhance students’ abilities in different stages of their research studies and prepare them for research work and thesis writing.  The award of the PhD degree is based on satisfactorily completing courses, where prescribed, submitting a thesis that should be an original contribution to knowledge and worthy of publication, and satisfying the examiners in an oral examination (and any other examination if required) in matters relevant to the subject of the thesis.

Selected full-time PhD students who have attained good academic qualifications will be provided financial assistance in the form of Postgraduate Scholarships.  Various scholarships, fellowships, and conference/travel support are also available to enrich students’ learning experience and promote professional and personal development.