When Cathal Gallagher from Carlingford, Co Louth, was making decisions on a career, he noticed an advertisement for a pharmacist in his local newspaper. "They were offering £32,000 per year for a 37 1/2 hour week," he recalls, "and it was in my own area." Gallagher set about investigating third-level pharmacy courses.
He took chemistry, physics, biology, maths, applied maths and English in the Leaving Cert and ended up with 530 points - just 10 points short of what he needed to get into TCD. Fortunately, he had also applied to an English college - Aston University in Birmingham - where entry requirements were 520 points, including an A in chemistry.
Gallagher is now a second-year pharmacy student at Aston. The toughest part of the course, he says, was getting in. "With Leaving Cert science subjects, you can manage the science," he says. "About 80 per cent of the course is biology and chemistry."
Looking back, he is glad he went to Aston. "There's a great diversity of lecturers," he says. "It's a small department, very cosmopolitan and very friendly."
These days pharmacy is one of the most sought after third-level courses in the country. As a result, it's among the most difficult to get on to. Admittedly it's all to do with supply and demand - TCD is the only university in Ireland offering a pharmacy programme. Hence, there are only 70 places available in any one year.
So, it's worth looking at the British scene, where a number of institutions offer courses in this field. However, be warned: entry requirements are still reasonably high. You won't get a place if your points are low but, if you narrowly fail to make the TCD grades, you may still be in with a chance in Britain.
All British pharmacy courses now run for four years and lead to a M Pharm. Entry requirements vary from college to college, so you'd need to do your homework before you make your application.
The University of Manchester, for example, no longer accepts Irish students into pharmacy since it became a four-year course. "Because Irish students do a much wider spread of subjects they don't have science subjects at sufficient depth," explains admissions officer Angela Bogg.
Fortunately, not all universities take the same view. However, Liverpool's John Moore's University requires a minimum of six Bs at higher level including chemistry and biology and one year of an undergraduate science degree programme. Being sound in chemistry is vital, stresses college marketing officer Helen Orme.
"For pharmacy, chemistry is the most important of the sciences," she says. If people are studying science at third-level with a view to getting on to the pharmacy course, they should ensure that they follow the chemistry route, stresses Orme. Pharmacists are professional scientists whose expertise covers the design, development, delivery, supply, control and use of drugs.
A word of warning for anyone who objects to animal testing. "If you have any concerns about testing drugs on animals," she says, "you shouldn't even consider pharmacy. The course content conforms with the requirements of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and students must expect to carry out tests on animals."
Minimum requirements for pharmacy at Aston University include four Bs and two As including an A in chemistry at higher level. Work experience in a pharmacy will get you brownie points.
"What is distinctive about our course," says Stuart Comfort, Aston's head of schools liaison and careers, "is the emphasis on professional skills. Students get experience in both clinical and community pharmacy." The college has a strong research record in diabetes, AIDS and cancer. Students have the opportunity to work on projects alongside the university's research teams.
According to the University of Wales, Cardiff, a typical requirement for a place on its pharmacy programme is three As in chemistry, biology, maths or physics and a grade B in English. There are 12 applications for every place on the course.
Once you have your degree under your belt you must do a pre-registration year working under supervision in both community and hospital pharmacies in either Britain or Northern Ireland. You are then eligible for membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
One downside of studying pharmacy in Britain is that, if you decide to return to Ireland to practice, you may not open a new pharmacy or work in pharmacy that is less than three years old. Unless there is a change of this rule in the future this regulation applies to the whole of your career. You may, however, buy over an existing pharmacy.
