Pharmacology

A pharmacology degree can open up a variety of careers, ranging from research or drug development to patenting and teaching

Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Academic researcher
• Analytical chemist
• Clinical research associate
• Clinical scientist, biochemistry
• Clinical scientist, immunology
• Higher education lecturer
• Medical science liaison
• Pharmacologist
• Research scientist (life sciences)
• Research scientist (medical)
• Toxicologist

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

• Biomedical scientist
• Community pharmacist
• Medical sales representative
• Neuroscientist
• Patent attorney
• Policy officer
• Regulatory affairs officer
• Science writer
• Scientific laboratory technician
• Secondary school teacher

Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Work experience

Getting relevant work experience helps you develop a network of useful contacts and demonstrates your interest and commitment to working in pharmacology. Build up your experience as a laboratory assistant or through work shadowing in your area of interest.

Organisations such as the British Pharmacological Society (BPS) offer a small number of vacation studentships to financially support undergraduate students undertaking a pharmacology summer vacation research project.

The BPS also advertises relevant external internships and placements on its website. If you're interested in a pharmacology-related career, you could become an undergraduate member of the BPS. You will get access to its journals and e-learning and can join an online community to build your network.

Some pharmacology degree programmes offer a placement year and you may be able to find a placement in an industrial, commercial or research environment. Search the websites of pharmaceutical companies for details of sandwich placements.

Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.

Typical employers

A pharmacology degree offers prospects for research careers in academia, industry, the scientific civil service and hospitals. You can also work in the product management side of the industry or in areas such as marketing and medical information, acting as the link between pharmaceutical companies and doctors and patients.

As well as initial drug discovery, expertise in pharmacology can also be used in areas such as:

• clinical trials
• manufacturing
• regulatory affairs
• patenting
• sales and marketing
• IT
• finance
• scientific writing.

Common employers of pharmacology graduates include:

• Civil Service
• Department of Health and Social Care
• Intellectual Property Office (IPO)
• National Health Service (NHS)
• pharmaceutical and biotech companies
• universities and research institutions.

Find information on employers in healthcare, science and pharmaceuticals, engineering and manufacturing, and other job sectors.

Skills for your CV

A pharmacology degree provides an understanding of medications, their sources, chemical properties, biological effects and therapeutic uses. You explore drug interactions in biological systems, the formulation and operation of clinical trials, drug regulation and the marketing of pharmaceuticals.

You also develop key transferable skills during your degree, which include:

• research skills
• oral and written communication skills
• the ability to design, retrieve, handle and interpret complex data
• critical analytical and problem-solving abilities
• good organisational skills
• the ability to work without supervision and use your own initiative
• decision-making skills
• independent thinking
• attention to detail
• observation
• time management
• teamwork.

Further study

Further study is usually in the form of a Masters or research PhD, in which you develop advanced skills relating to complex scientific problems and enhance your ability in technical research, laboratory work and communication.

Areas of further study include:

• biochemistry
• clinical pharmacology
• endocrinology
• molecular biology
• neuroscience
• nutrition
• toxicology.

If you want to pursue graduate study in medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine, you can use your BSc in pharmacology to apply to medical schools that offer graduate-entry courses.

You could also undertake further study or training to enter other careers such as teaching, marketing, journalism or publishing. Research the area to find out how necessary further study is to your chosen career.

For more information on further study and to find a course that interests you, see Masters degrees and search postgraduate courses in pharmacology.

What do pharmacology graduates do?

The top ten roles held by pharmacology graduates include laboratory technicians (7%), biological scientists (6%), pharmacists (4%), biochemists and biomedical scientists (3%), business associate professionals (3%), nursing auxiliaries and assistants (3%), chemical scientists (3%), quality assurance and regulatory professionals (2%) and quality control and planning engineers (2%).

Find out what other graduates are doing after finishing their degrees in What do graduates do?

Graduate Outcomes survey data from HESA.