(upbeat music)
- So I'm Dr. Matt Sykes,
I'm the Program Director for Pharmaceutical Science.
So I've been working at UniSA since 2008.
And prior to that,
I've been working overseas in the pharmaceutical industry
and the universities in the United Kingdom.
Though pharmaceutical science is all about
the development and discovery of new medicines.
And I think the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted
how important it is to have
a vibrant pharmaceutical industry that is able to respond
to the challenges that the world faces.
The aim of the program is to develop the next generation
of pharmaceutical scientists and the next generation
that can develop the new medicines and vaccines
that we need to protect human health.
Full-time the Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science
is a three year program.
And we are based at either the City East
and City West campuses.
And with the part-time study modes,
if you wanna combine work and study,
that's also an option for students.
So we have a very strong industry placement program.
So in the final year of the program,
students will have the opportunity to do a minimum
of 80 hours placement.
We have a large number of placement providers
who kindly provide students with those options.
Many equivalent degrees across the country
do not have that opportunity.
So we're glad that we can do that here
at the University of South Australia.
Secondly, I would say that the synergy between pharmacy
and pharmaceutical science
is a really key part of our program.
So we're the only university in the country
that has the opportunity to do a double degree
in pharmacy and pharmaceutical science.
And finally, I would say one of the unique features
of our program is that we're not just focused on the content
that students need to learn in the underpinning sciences
of chemistry and biology,
but we also develop the so-called soft skills.
So students have a lot of opportunities
to work both individually and in groups
and doing presentations and projects.
And these enable students to develop
those employability skills that will be crucial
for when students enter the workforce.
So we receive a lot of questions from students
about the Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science.
Let me answer some of the more common ones now.
(upbeat music)
Yeah, so there are a lot of graduate destinations
for our program.
I would say that drug discovery,
development and commercialization,
kind of cover the major destination.
So let me sort of unpack what that might look like.
So I would say discovery of medicine.
So there's that research and development aspect
to the careers that students can enter into.
There's also quality control and analysis.
Obviously if people are purchasing pharmaceuticals
or getting a vaccine, they expect those products
to be high quality.
So there's always a lot of employment opportunities
in those areas and as well,
there's that regulatory aspect as well.
So the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia
for example, monitors and make sure that medicines
are well-regulated as we've seen with the COVID-19 vaccine.
So those regulatory aspects are really important as well.
And also sales and marketing is another destination,
which perhaps students don't normally think about.
So that's another option that students can go into.
Without pharmaceutical scientists,
we don't have the products on the market
that the pharmacists, the doctors
and the other health professionals can utilize
in our day-to-day practice.
So one of the things I'm really passionate about
is that the degree gives students the opportunity
to be involved in an industry that leads to new medications
in cancer, new vaccines, such as the COVID 19 vaccine.
These are all the sorts of products,
which students that progress into the industry
can hope to be involved in, in the future.
Students undertake a placement of a minimum of 80 hours,
and that could be in an industrial setting
in the pharmaceutical industry.
It could be in manufacturing, research and development,
clinical trials, which is a really area of big jobs growth,
both in South Australia and Australia at the moment.
Students that have an interest in research
could also do that in a research laboratory
or somewhere like SAHMRI,
which is another great opportunity that our students get.
Also, we have had quite a lot of students
do interstate placements and also overseas placements.
Yeah, so in the second and third year of our program,
one subject per semester,
students get the opportunity to choose a specialist course.
And those specialists courses could be grouped in an area
such as chemistry or biology or even marketing and business.
So students can have the opportunity
to choose those specialist courses,
to tailor to their specific area of interest
and walk away with what essentially is a major
in those particular disciplines.
So pharmaceutical science is a growing profession
in Australia, particularly with the COVID-19 pandemic.
I think we've seen that having a vibrant
and dynamic pharmaceutical industry
is really important to our general health
and as a pharmaceutical scientist,
you will get the opportunity to the future medicines
and vaccines and needed to keep us
and our population healthy.
And in our particular degree
we develop all of the fundamental skills,
both individually and enabling students to work in groups
and developing the key skills and attributes needed
to be employable in this industry in the future.
So if you have any more questions
about the Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science
here at UniSA, we'd be really happy to hear from you.
And we also would love to see you on campus very soon.
(upbeat music)