This page contains details about the units available on our:

See the unit schedule for details on when each unit is running.

Starter units

These units provide a good introduction to clinical pharmacy in the UK, and we recommend starting here if you're entering postgraduate study for the first time or returning to study after a significant period and have not undertaken any postgraduate clinical pharmacy education with us. Consider which units are most relevant to your practice environment.

Foundation knowledge

Credits:15
Develop and apply clinical, practical, and professional knowledge to support effective medicines optimisation across clinical areas. You’ll identify and prioritise drug interactions, and by understanding how co-pathologies affect pharmacology, will intervene to optimise medicines and minimise patient risk. You’ll also interpret results, apply antibiotic stewardship principles, critically assess reporting systems to improve patient safety, and reflect on your practice to guide development.

Foundation skills

Credits:15
Develop and apply professional skills in clinical settings to support medicines optimisation. Evaluate decision-making and apply to clinical interventions. Demonstrate autonomous practice, reflecting on your limitations and refer appropriately to ensure patient safety. Improve communication with healthcare teams, document accurately, and influence others for optimal outcomes. You’ll use resilience and prioritisation to maintain high clinical standards and reflect on performance for development.

Evidence-based pharmacy practice

Credits:15
Strengthen skills in searching, accessing, and critically appraising medicines information for evidence-based decision making. You’ll build on the principles of evidence-based medicine (EBM), understanding how to classify and evaluate evidence to inform decisions and enhance your clinical reasoning and professional judgement. You’ll also critically evaluate evidence for managing conditions like atrial fibrillation (AF), stroke, and transient ischaemic attack (TIA).

Professional skills for medicine optimisation

Credits:15
Explore NHS commissioning and local healthcare policies to enhance patient care in primary care settings. You’ll develop professional relationships across teams, improve communication, and apply clinical skills in consultation, decision-making, and medicines management. Use audits and reviews to optimise patient care, support prescribing practices, and improve patient outcomes. You’ll gain the tools to monitor therapy, interpret lab results, and strengthen leadership within healthcare settings.

Units for any practice sector

These suit pharmacists in any clinical setting, e.g. community/ military pharmacy; primary/ secondary care, allowing you to develop further in a single area.

Cardiovascular therapeutics

Credits: 15
Update your knowledge of pharmacology, pathophysiology, and medicines optimisation to manage cardiovascular conditions. Analyse disease mechanisms, pharmacological treatments, and their application in therapy selection, administration, and monitoring. Use communication strategies to support patients and healthcare teams in making informed decisions. You’ll also identify key evidence, enhance services, and reflect on learnings to improve performance and patient care.

Care of the older person

Credits: 15
Update your knowledge of pharmacology, pathophysiology, and medicines optimisation to support the clinical management of older patients. Critically evaluate the pathophysiology and pharmacology of age-related conditions, applying this to complex decision-making in therapy selection, administration, and monitoring. Use effective communication to support patients and healthcare teams manage medicines and enhance services, reflecting on learnings to improve performance and care outcomes.

Gastrointestinal therapeutics

Credits: 15
Update your knowledge of pharmacology, pathophysiology, and medicines optimisation to support the clinical management of patients with gastrointestinal conditions. You’ll critically analyse the pathophysiology of various gastrointestinal disorders and apply pharmacological insights to optimise therapeutic decisions and monitoring. Support patients and healthcare teams in making informed medicine optimisation decisions and reflect on practice, identifying gaps and enhancing outcomes.

Management of minor illness

Credits: 15
Gain a broad understanding of managing minor illnesses in primary care and beyond, and explore the important role of pharmacists, including as first contact practitioners. You’ll learn to assess symptoms, apply clinical knowledge, and identify ‘red flag’ issues. Use basic physical examination skills and apply decision-making theories to manage minor illnesses effectively. You’ll also evaluate the role of pharmacists in the Over-The-Counter (OTC) process, reflecting on your practice to improve.

Endocrinology

Credits: 15
Update your pharmacology, pathophysiology, and medicines optimisation knowledge to support the clinical management of patients with endocrine disorders. Evaluate the pathophysiology and pharmacology of endocrine conditions and apply this to therapeutic decisions. Use effective communication strategies to support patients and healthcare teams in making informed medicines optimisation decisions, and reflect on learnings to identify gaps and improve care outcomes.

Managing polypharmacy and multimorbidity

Credits: 15
Update your knowledge on polypharmacy and multimorbidity to reduce adverse drug reactions and hospital admissions. Learn to assess drug interactions, identify patient risk factors, and apply screening tools to manage polypharmacy. Develop consultation skills to address ethical challenges of de-prescribing and support patient-centred care. Gain expertise in medication reviews, using clinical reasoning and leadership to optimise medicines and improve patient outcomes in complex care settings.

Pharmaceutical public health

Credits: 15
Evaluate key issues in public health pharmacy, exploring how it’s delivered and your role in it. Gain skills in providing public health-enhanced services and use relevant tools to inform public health projects. Reflect on your practice, influence local policy and improve pharmaceutical public health, particularly in areas like cardiovascular health, smoking cessation, substance misuse, sexual health, immunisation, antimicrobial resistance, and healthcare-acquired infections.

Mental health

Credits: 15
Update your knowledge of pharmacology, pathophysiology, psychosocial factors, and medicines optimisation to support patients with mental health conditions. You will critically evaluate the pathophysiology and pharmacology of key medicines, applying this knowledge to therapeutic decisions. By using effective communication, you will support patients and healthcare teams in complex prescribing decisions. You will also reflect on practice to identify gaps and improve care outcomes.

Respiratory therapeutics

Credits: 15
Update your knowledge of pharmacology, pathophysiology, and medicines optimisation to support the clinical management of patients with respiratory conditions. Critically evaluate the pathophysiology and pharmacology of respiratory disorders, applying this to therapeutic and monitoring decisions. Use effective communication strategies to support patients and healthcare teams in making informed medicines optimisation decisions and reflect on practice to identify gaps and enhance outcomes.

Units for Secondary Care

The following units require exposure through practice in a specific clinical area that is only likely to be available in a secondary care setting, without which you cannot undertake training. If you do not practice in secondary care but wish to undertake a unit in this section, please enquire directly with us.

Critical care

Credits: 15
Update your knowledge of pharmacology, pathophysiology, and medicines optimisation to support the clinical management of patients in critical care settings. Evaluate the pathophysiology and pharmacology of conditions requiring critical care, applying this to complex decisions, therapy selection, administration, and monitoring decisions. Use effective communication to help patients, carers, and healthcare teams make informed decisions. Reflect on your practice to improve performance outcomes.

Surgery

Credits: 15
Update your knowledge of pharmacology, pathophysiology, and peri-operative medicines optimisation to support the clinical management of surgical patients. Critically evaluate the pathophysiology and pharmacology of surgery-related conditions, applying this to optimise therapeutic decisions and monitoring. Use effective communication to help patients and healthcare teams make informed decisions. Reflect on your practice to identify gaps and improve perioperative care outcomes.

Neurology

Credits: 15
Update your knowledge of pharmacology, pathophysiology, and medicines optimisation to support the clinical management of patients with neurological conditions. Critically evaluate the pathophysiology and pharmacology of neurological disorders to optimise therapeutic decisions and monitoring. Use effective communication strategies to help patients, carers, and healthcare teams make informed decisions. Reflect on your practice to identify gaps and enhance patient care outcomes.

Oncology and haematology

Credits: 15
Update your knowledge of pharmacology, pathophysiology, and medicines optimisation to support the clinical management of oncology and haematology patients. Critically evaluate the pathophysiology of cancers, emergencies and treatment-associated pathologies to aid in therapeutic selection, administration, and monitoring. Use effective communication to help patients, carers, and healthcare teams make informed decisions. Reflect on your practice to identify gaps and improve patient care outcomes.

Palliative care

Credits: 15
Update your knowledge of pharmacology, pathophysiology, and medicines optimisation to support the clinical management of palliative care patients. Critically analyse the pathophysiology of conditions and complications to optimise therapeutic selection, administration, and monitoring decisions. Use effective communication to help patients, carers, and healthcare teams make informed decisions. Reflect on your practice to identify gaps and enhance care outcomes.

Advanced-style units

Several units can build on a greater wealth of experience that you may bring aligned to the four pillars of advanced practice, or build on prior study in a specific clinical pathway (e.g. critical care, mental health). These units may also provide a stepping stone to further specialisation in a specific clinical or practice area.

Advanced clinical assessment

Credits: 30
Develop the knowledge and skills required to conduct advanced clinical assessments of patients. You will analyse pathophysiology, clinical presentations and red flags, applying this to clinical reasoning. Through physical examination, you will gather diagnostic information and formulate working diagnoses in cases of clinical ambiguity. By using effective communication and critical thinking, you will support patients and healthcare teams in making complex shared decisions and managing complexity.

Supporting education & training in healthcare contexts

Credits: 15
Select and apply effective approaches to teaching and assessment to support learning in practice. Critically evaluate national and local workforce development policies and choose appropriate teaching strategies to meet diverse learning needs. You will also evaluate and implement assessment strategies, supporting through mentoring, coaching and tutoring. Demonstrate role model behaviour to develop skills in others and reflect on personal teaching approaches to continuously improve practice.

Specialist therapeutic area project

Credits: 15
Grow your knowledge of medicines optimisation in a specialist therapeutic area. You will critically analyse the treatment of relevant conditions, applying this to complex prescribing decisions and multidisciplinary working. Additionally, you will reflect on service provision to identify gaps and improve patient care. This is an excellent opportunity to develop an area of specialism: you can select your own therapeutic area or take one of the options provided by the teaching team.

Research methods

Credits: 15
Explore key research methods to plan projects that enhance clinical practice. You will review research approaches suitable for service evaluations, audits, or quality improvement initiatives. By formulating research questions and selecting appropriate methods, you will develop a research protocol relevant to your practice. You will also develop skills to plan, present, and network for interdisciplinary research, while also considering ethical and practical influences on research design.

Leadership in health

Credits: 15
Explore the role of effective leadership in management, organisational development, and improvement. Practice critical leadership approaches to achieve service objectives and evaluate them in response to local, regional, and national initiatives. Understand the emotions and politics of leadership to enhance your ability to work and communicate effectively with individuals and groups. Reflect on your leadership style and identify areas for continuous improvement.

Clinical Pharmacy Practice units

Find out more about the units available to study on our Clinical Pharmacy Practice courses.