Pharmacology

We'll start (purely for alphabetical reasons) with pharmacology: The subject is concerned with medicinal drugs, the ways they are administered, how the body distributes and eliminates them and their actual effects. It's where chemistry meets medicine - a romance conducted entirely in white coats.

Pharmacologists study right down to single cell level and learn how they combine in an organ such as the liver or kidney, and how disease changes the normal condition, plus the effect of drugs on those different conditions. For such a narrow discipline, it can touch on a remarkably wide variety of topics, including physiology, cell biology, hio-molecular chemistry, zoology immunology, medicinal chemistry and biochemistry.

Since most drugs are used to treat or prevent disease, pharmacology has a close association with medicine and the pharmaceutical industry; which not only plays an important role in drug discovery and development, but is also a major contributor to the economy, both in the UK and worldwide.

The job prospects for graduates are good, with careers in postgraduate research, teaching, forensic science, health laboratories, or, of course, the pharmaceutical industry, where there are also non-lab-based jobs such as marketing, quality auditing or product registration.

More than 25 universities run courses in pharmacology, although some run it only in association with other courses. Some provide modules on pharmacology as part of other biological science degrees. You'll need at least two A-levels in the science subjects, and a good science background at GCSE level.

Most courses combine practical and tutorial sessions with a lecture pro-gramme. Practical and tutorial work is often based on small groups so that the teaching provides opportunities for informal discussion of particular problems.

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