Program Overview

Overview of the M.Sc. in Hospital Pharmacy

The M.Sc. in Hospital Pharmacy is a two-year part-time course that has been awarded the GradIreland Postgraduate Course of the Year Award (2019) in the Health Sciences Division. It is the longest running postgraduate hospital pharmacy course in Ireland and the only broad-based hospital pharmacy course in Ireland, covering both clinical and non-clinical aspects of hospital pharmacy practice.

Course Description

The course equips pharmacists with the knowledge and skills to take on a range of advanced practice and leadership roles. It embraces an innovative, blended teaching style, with tutor-led, practice-based experiential learning, complemented by online webinars, pre-recorded lectures, and face-to-face lectures, tutorials, and workshops.

Is This Course For Me?

This M.Sc. course arms graduates with the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to take on a wide range of advanced specialist pharmacist, management, and leadership roles. Students undertake training in all aspects of hospital pharmacy, including clinical pharmacy, dispensary and drug distribution, administration and management, aseptic compounding, and medicines information.

Career Opportunities

Multi-functional graduates of this M.Sc. programme have excellent career opportunities to fill specialist and leadership roles across a wide range of both clinical and non-clinical areas in hospital practice. The wide variety of topics covered in this course open up multiple opportunities for graduates to take on a variety of roles, not only within the hospital sector but also across the wider healthcare landscape, e.g., medication safety, informatics, pharmacoeconomics, etc.

Course Structure

This is a two-year course, delivered via a blended model (mixture of face-to-face study days, online live webinars, and pre-recorded lectures), which provides flexibility for learners who are also practising hospital pharmacists. Students have access to Trinity’s online virtual learning environment (Blackboard 9.1). The M.Sc. course is conducted on a biennial basis.

• Coursework is underpinned by a comprehensive practice-based element where students rotate through a variety of specialist areas to ensure that broad, practical experience is obtained in medicines information, dispensary management, aseptic compounding, and clinical specialities.
• Students also undergo a competency-based training programme to assure competence in delivery of patient care, problem-solving, and personal competencies. This also helps students to develop the necessary skills for lifelong Continuous Professional Development (CPD).

Assessment

Assessment of the course includes:

• Continuous assessment
• Practice-based coursework
• Written assignments
• Oral presentations
• Completion of a research project and production of a paper for submission to a target journal, in either a clinical or non-clinical area, with both academic and hospital-based tutor support.

Course Content

The M.Sc. is divided into 9 modules.

• Practice of Hospital Pharmacy: A broad-based module where all course components are drawn together (core clinical skills, professional and problem-solving skills, medicines information, and dispensary functions).
• Medical Therapeutics I & II & Surgical Therapeutics: Addresses the important role of the pharmacist in medicines optimisation and in the management of the surgical patient. These modules deal with the major therapeutic areas such as cardiology, respiratory, gastroenterology, etc. and are underpinned by the practice-based hospital rotations.
• Aseptics & Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP): Provides students with a fundamental understanding of aseptic processing in hospital pharmacy.
• Medical Specialities Part I & II: Introduces students to a wide range of clinical specialities, preparing them to take on Advanced Specialist Pharmacist (ASP) roles, e.g., renal, intensive care, neurology, psychiatry, and paediatrics. The importance of immunotherapy and personalised therapeutics, and GMO medicines are also covered here.
• Health Services Management: Covers leadership, organisational and communication skills, negotiating skills, conflict management, and teamwork. Quality and risk management, national trends and policies in relation to healthcare, and legal and ethical considerations will also be covered. Pharmacoeconomics and its applications are covered here in this module.
• Research module: Covers principles of research design and methodologies and incorporates a practical statistics programme, with an emphasis on hospital pharmacy research and data analysis.

Course Details

Awards

• NFQ Level 9

Number of Places

• 15 Places

Next Intake

• January 2026

Course Director

• Niamh McMahon

Closing Date

• 31st July 2025

Admission Requirements

Eligible candidates must:

• Hold a first or second-class Honours (2.1) degree in Pharmacy
• Have a minimum of six months of experience working in hospital pharmacy practice, which may include the final year MPharm placement
• Be registered (or eligible to be registered) with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland
• Provide two references, one academic and one non-academic
• Short-listed applicants will have to attend hospital interviews to secure training positions. Successful applicants will be based in full-time employment in one of the participating hospitals for the two-year duration of the course.

English Language Requirements

All applicants to Trinity are required to provide official evidence of proficiency in the English language. Applicants to this course are required to meet Band B (Standard Entry) English language requirements.

Course Fees

The course fees can be found on the Trinity College Dublin website.

Register Your Interest

To register your interest in studying at Ireland’s leading university, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, please visit the university's website.