The link between studies in pharmacy and professional life is strong, as relevant career skills are combined with solid subject-specific expertise in the field. The learning outcomes of the Bachelor’s and Master’s Programmes in Pharmacy have been designed to match the skills demands of employers well, giving consideration to employer needs.
The studies take into account the broad spectrum of employment opportunities in healthcare and drug development, providing you with the qualifications for a wide range of positions. The degree includes a traineeship at a community pharmacy or hospital pharmacy. Optional traineeships give you the chance to familiarise yourself with work in other pharmaceutical sectors.
The Study Track in Pharmaceutical Research prepares you particularly for drug research and doctoral studies.
As a student of pharmacy, you will be leading the way in safeguarding the principles of sustainable development and giving consideration to environmental aspects throughout the lifecycle of drugs. The Faculty of Pharmacy is invested in taking environmental aspects into account in teaching and research. Read more about the Faculty’s teaching reform process in this publication: Generation Green – Incorporation of environmental aspects into the curricula of pharmaceutical and medical education (in Finnish with an English-language summary).
The establishment of a professorship in sustainable development, the first in the world, is being planned at the Faculty. Combined with top-level research skills and an in-depth understanding of sustainable development, students gain solid practical skills in pharmacy.
An international dimension is a natural element of the studies, and student exchange is an opportunity not to be missed. The teaching community of the Faculty of Pharmacy is very international, and you will certainly get the chance to polish your English language skills.
The language of the degree offered in our international Master’s Programme in Pharmaceutical Research, Development and Safety is English.
The Faculty of Pharmacy is actively involved in conducting pedagogical research of a high standard to support learning and develop teaching. Our teachers include members of the University of Helsinki's esteemed Teachers’ Academy, and the completion of pedagogical training is appreciated. The Faculty actively collaborates with senior lecturers in university pedagogy and the Centre for University Teaching and Learning (HYPE).
Students actively participate in the development of teaching at the Faculty of Pharmacy. Notable tangible results of collaboration include entire new courses, such as the newly designed Safe Medication Use Processes in Hospital course.
In its teaching development projects, the Faculty often leads the way and serves as a model at the University. Among other things, the Faculty of Pharmacy has developed a strand-based model centred on the skills needed for completing the Bachelor of Science (Pharmacy) degree. AR and VR learning environments have been introduced along with the digital leap taken in education. Degree programmes have invested in student guidance and supervision, and we foster students’ learning and growth into experts.
The Faculty of Pharmacy invests in the diverse development of digital teaching solutions, and support for learning in a (digitally) interactive way and the reshaping of the accessibility of learning constitute important goals. In the digital leap taken by the Faculty, virtual teaching methods have been developed with an enquiring mindset, including the use of AR/VR solutions and 360° materials. The effect of new digital teaching methods on learning among pharmacy students has also been investigated at the Faculty.
Digital learning environments enable students to easily study also in facilities which would otherwise be highly inaccessible during their studies. Such facilities include clean rooms used in drug preparation, where students practise how to reconstitute drugs for administration in hospitals. Digital teaching puts the principles of sustainable development into practice, taking into consideration the safety of the environment and students while using materials without waste. A range of means used in web-based instruction and learning are extensively utilised in teaching and courses.
As drugs are developed and drug therapies are needed today and in the future, the employment outlook in the field is extremely good both in Finland and abroad.
Graduates with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in pharmacy are employed in distinguished positions in community or hospital pharmacies serving patients and customers. Master’s degree holders can even become pharmacists.
The pharmaceutical field offers diverse employment opportunities, including in demanding expert positions in the service of authorities, for example, in duties relating to drug marketing authorisations or pharmacovigilance. You can also find a job in the pharmaceutical industry or, for example, in a range of positions in pharmaceutical wholesale businesses, starting from quality assurance and drug research. Further information on employment is available on the website of the Bachelor’s and Master’s Programmes in Pharmacy.
Graduates of the international master’s programme find employment in research and expert positions, especially in drug development. Read more on the degree programme website.