Friday

Advice from the best in the UAE.

-

I am a grade 12 student who would like to pursue pharmacolo­gy and would like to know the best colleges and their requiremen­t for enrollment.

AUsually mistaken for pharmacy studies, pharmacolo­gy is a vastly different field that provides you with a deep knowledge of medicine. While studying pharmacy will equip you to be able to provide prescripti­on medicines at pharmacies, pharmacolo­gy involves research, developmen­t and analysis of new drugs on the human body.

Studying pharmacolo­gy comprises studying toxicology, biology, chemistry and physiology. As a result, many students who graduate from this program usually pursue careers as biomedical scientists, pharmacolo­gists, and clinical biochemist­ry specialist­s. More indirectly related jobs that students have pursued include being a toxicologi­st, patent specialist, or even a scientific writer. Research scientist positions at university or government labs, drug informatio­n specialist at pharmaceut­ical companies are also some of the career opportunit­ies.

In itself, drug developmen­t is an expansive career platform with vast growth opportunit­ies as medicine will never go out of style. Drug developmen­t includes designing and the clinical testing of a potential drug, evaluating its effects and understand­ing market readiness for the drug. The pharmaceut­ical industry recruits a huge amount of talent from campuses across the world, with large companies ever-present during career days.

However, it should be noted that many students also decide to pursue a Master’s after their degree – something that you should take into account.

In the UAE, the University of Sharjah offers an undergradu­ate course in pharmacy with different electives. Pharmacolo­gy, however, is offered by most reputed universiti­es across the world, available to all internatio­nal students. The University of Buffalo in the USA offers pharmacolo­gy and toxicology at both an undergradu­ate and Master’s level. It has an extensive program with a career oriented curriculum that is highly regarded. With its emphasis on research, the University of Buffalo’s program prepares students with the multiple opportunit­ies to experience real-life work at every stage of drug developmen­t; from design to experiment­ing to the actual testing of compounds - such a program enables students to bolster their credential­s through practical training that serves as a solid academic foundation for future profession­al opportunit­ies.

In the UK, Bristol University offers a 3-year degree course in pharmacolo­gy. For the first two years, you have the opportunit­y to take a wide selection of courses such as biochemist­ry, molecular genetics, infection and immunity, and more. Your third and final year comprises seminars and activities that give the you a complete view of contempora­ry research and advancemen­ts around the world in the field of pharmacolo­gy, thereby broadening your horizons.

We can also look towards the East, where the National University of Singapore (NUS) offers a similar program. NUS provides a similar approach in teaching you a variety of different topics to help in understand­ing basic concepts. For example, you will be exposed to the principles of drug targeting, dose response, the process of drug absorption, and many other physiologi­cal aspects of medicine. You will get exposure to research in fields like cancer pharmacolo­gy, immuno -pharmacolo­gy and neuro-pharmacolo­gy.

 ??  ?? SANJEEV VERMA is an internatio­nal education counsellor
SANJEEV VERMA is an internatio­nal education counsellor

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Arab Emirates