Medical Pharmacology with a Foundation Year

Discover the science behind drugs and medicines, their effects on living systems, and the role they play in treating disease with Medical Pharmacology at Swansea University.

Throughout the course, you will study topics including toxicology, physiology, biochemistry, genetics, immunology, and drug development. You will also develop excellent analytical and project management skills as you design experiments and plan work programmes in preparation for your future career.

You will be encouraged to challenge accepted wisdom in all fields of medical and life sciences, appreciate current limitations, and future advances, of our current understanding of health and disease.

You will gain a holistic understanding of the multidisciplinary nature of pharmacology and the collaboration required to succeed in a field that increasingly combines innovation in research, patient care and commercial enterprise.

With a blend of compulsory and optional modules, aligning these with your interests, career goals, or future study.

The optional Foundation Year for this programme can give you an exciting introduction to higher education, setting you up with the skills, confidence, and knowledge that you’ll need to be successful in your undergraduate degree. It’s ideal if you need a little more support after further education or are returning to education after a gap. Following successful completion of the Foundation Year, you will progress onto Year 1 of your BSc.

Shaped by the British Pharmacological Society’s Undergraduate Curriculum, our programme bridges clinical medicine and fundamental science, and develops your core knowledge, skills, and attitudes, preparing you to join the next generation of pharmacologists.

Employability is at the heart of our course, and as you progress through the course you will receive exposure to the range of employability options available to you upon graduation. As you progress through our course, you can choose to focus on one of three employability strands:

Medical Research
Enterprise and Innovation
Medical Science in Practice

In Year 0, you will typically study areas including: Cells & Systems; Chemistry of Life; Scientific Skills: Lab to Literature; Principles of Microbiology; Data: Collection to Communication; Molecular & Cellular Biology.

In Year 1, you will typically study areas including: Academic support and professional development; Genetics, Genomics & Evolution; Introduction to Toxicology: The Dose Makes the Poison; Introductory Biochemistry; Human Physiology; Cell Biology.

In Year 2, you will typically study areas including: Pharmacology of Body Systems; Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology; Doctors, patients & the goals of medicine; Enterprise and Creativity: Entrepreneurship in Practice; Techniques in Molecular Biology; Human Immunology.

In Year 3, you will typically study areas including: Being a Medical Scientist; Advances in Pharmacology; Human Biology and the Environment; Drug Development and Regulation; Advanced Biostatistics; Genetic Toxicology; Cancer Pharmacology.

Assessments will include Laboratory practicals, written exams, oral presentations, written assignments, and clinical skills assessments. The range of assessment methods is chosen to develop and demonstrate a range of skills transferable to the modern healthcare environment including reflection, oral and written communication, confidence and competence.