Infection Management for Pharmacists - MSc | PG Dip | PG Cert
Entry for 2013 is now open.
Your clinical skills are valuable and we want to help you make the most of your potential. If you’re ready to go back into education and undertake a part-time degree, then this is a great opportunity for you to enhance your skills and boost your career.
The academic links and valuable health services research expertise of the Centre for Medication Safety and Service Quality and Public Health England, together with Hammersmith's international reputation for clinical research, offers you a potentially unparalleled range of lecturers for those attending the course.
Is this course for you? Do you:
- have an interest in antibiotic prescribing and management of infection?
- want to tackle antimicrobial resistance and improve health outcomes?
- have a degree in pharmacy and 2 years’ experience in a hospital pharmacy?
- want to meet and study with your peers across the UK?
- want to be taught by experts in infection, antimicrobial stewardship, epidemiology and industry?
At a glance ...
- Part-time
- 8 months (Oct - May)
- 3 modules
- Course code: A3BGC
- Part-time
- 16 months (Oct - Jan Year 2)
- 6 modules
- Course code: A3BGD
- Part-time
- 2 years (Start Oct)
- 6 modules and a dissertation
- Course code: A3BG24
Organised by: Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunity; Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; in conjunction with Public Health England
Course Directors: Professor Alison Holmes, Professor Ann Jacklin
Contact: Charlotte Grady
Career opportunities
The course will develop a strong cohort of practising pharmacists who will be able to apply their new found knowledge and skill to enable them to work more effectively with clinicians promoting the best use of antibiotics at their base hospitals/practices. They will be able to cascade their knowledge to better inform the practice of their other pharmacy colleagues to increase the organisational effectiveness of pharmacists. The course also provides an opportunity for networking between specialists in this area. The pharmacists who graduate from this course will be uniquely skilled to take forward the key roles required of them in addressing the urgent need to improve infection management as has been identified by the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology and the Department of Health.
After completion of the PG Certificate you will be offered the option of going on to complete a PG Diploma over the following 8 months, or complete a Masters (including a research project) over the following 16 months, in your particular field of interest. If you opt to complete the MSc, you will have the chance to complete a dissertation which will consolidate the research skills that you have learnt throughout the course. Throughout your dissertation you will be supported by the Course Tutors, who have a wealth of experience in research.
Entry requirements
Minimum of a first degree in Pharmacy (BSc, BPharm, MPharm) and at least 2 years postgraduate experience in hospital pharmacy, an NHS pharmacy advisory role or in the pharmaceutical industry.
You should have an interest in antibiotic prescribing practice and the management of infection and must have written support from both your local consultant in Microbiology or Infectious Diseases and chief pharmacist (or management if non-NHS).
Course fees
2012 Entry Fees
- Postgraduate Certificate - £2250
- Postgraduate Diploma - £3510 (an additional £1260 after completion of the PG Cert)
- MSc - £4500 (an additional £2250 after completion of the PG Cert)
2013 Entry Fees
- Postgraduate Certificate - £4500
- Postgraduate Diploma - £7020 (an additional £2520 after completion of the PG Cert)
- MSc - £9000 (an additional £4500 after completion of the PG Cert)
View the registry website for the most up to date course fees
Scholarships
The Faculty of Medicine is offering one-year Master’s degree scholarships covering partial or full tuition fees, to start in October 2013.
- Application deadline 20 June 2013
- Offers made by 10 August 2013
Applications are invited from talented candidates from Imperial College London, the UK and worldwide. There are no restrictions on nationality. One scholarship will be ring fenced for an Allied Health Professional employed by the NHS.
For more information, please click on this link.
Katie Hatton (MSc IMP 2010-2012 graduate)
Graduates in MSc in Infection Management for Pharmacists
Katie Hatton graduated from MSc in 2012 and has since gone on to win the poster prize at the 8th HIS/FIS conference. When asked about her views on the course she said:
Just over two years ago I embarked on the MSc Infection Management for Pharmacists at Imperial College London. I was aware of the general outline of the course, but had not considered in detail how fortunate we would be to receive lectures from such enthusiastic, expert professionals in their fields. In the first year, after coming to Hammersmith on the Tuesdays for lectures, I returned to work on Wednesday motivated and enthusiastic to make changes or implement something we had been discussing on the Tuesday. The course facilitated the development of my own personal knowledge and skills to support and improve antibiotic stewardship at my local hospital.
The research project which I undertook in the second year allowed me to develop in depth skills and experience in population pharmacokinetic modelling which has resulted in a change in gentamicin dosing in the burns unit at my local hospital. Since finishing the MSc I have moved trusts, and my role now involves working in the Emergency Department. I feel confident to drive forward the antibiotic stewardship agenda within the department and the MSc has given me the skills to do this.
To see more information on our graduates, please refer to our Alumni page.
