Medical Pharmacology with a Foundation Year

Learn about the science behind drugs and medicines, their effects on living systems, and their role in treating disease on our Medical Pharmacology course.

The foundation year of this four-year course will introduce you to the key concepts and knowledge you need to progress to the MSci in Medical Pharmacology.

You will cover a diverse range of topics, including toxicology, chemistry, genetics, reproductive biology, physiology, immunology, pharmacogenomics, neuroscience, and drug development. Progressing to the full MSci programme, you will gain a thorough grounding in the science underpinning drug and medicine development, learning about the science behind drugs and medicines, their effects on living systems, and their role in treating disease.

Our course is delivered via a mix of compulsory and optional modules, giving you the scope to tailor your studies to your interests, career goals, or plans for post-graduate study.

The Medical Pharmacology course curriculum has been developed following the guidance of the British Pharmacological Society. Our Programme Director, Professor Lisa Wallace, is a former British Pharmacological Society Vice President for Academic Development and currently serves as a General Trustee.

You will benefit from access to the state-of-the-art research and teaching facilities at the Medical School, including our research laboratories.

This degree is part of our ‘Medical Science in Practice’ Pathway to Medicine programme. Provided you meet the minimum entry requirements for Graduate Entry Medicine, and have successfully completed the Pathway, you will be guaranteed an interview for our flagship Graduate Entry Medicine MBBCh course.

Our academic staff are active in a diverse range of research fields, offering an unrivalled mix of academic excellence and cutting-edge practice.

In addition to your formal studies, we hold regular research talks with Swansea University staff and guest expert speakers from other universities, industry, the NHS and research institutions.

Medical Pharmacology has been identified as a critical undergraduate degree, required to fill the current workforce and skills gaps in medicine and pharmaceutical development.

You will be joining a university that's ranked 9th in the UK for Pharmacology and Pharmacy (Complete University Guide 2025)

In Year 0, you will typically study areas including: Foundation Biological Chemistry, Metabolism and Homeostasis, The Human Cell, Foundation Skills Development, Introduction to Molecular Biology, Fundamentals of Microbiology & Disease, Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry. In Year 1, you will typically study areas including: Genetics, Genomics & Evolution, Cell Biology, Introduction to Toxicology: The Dose Makes the Poison, Human Physiology In Year 2, you will typically study areas including: Metabolic Regulation: Enzymes & Signal Transduction, Communicating Medical Sciences, Introduction to Pharmacology: Dynamics and Kinetics, Pharmacogenomics: Genes on Drugs, Biostatistics, Human Immunology and others. 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, Nanotoxicology, The Sweet Sickness: Advances in Diabetes and Related Disorders, Machine Learning in Healthcare, Cancer Pharmacology, The Neuroscience of Learning, Memory and Cognition and others.