Pharmaceutical Quality and Good Manufacturing Practice – (M.Sc.)

Contents

The modules encompass all the diverse elements required to ensure that each batch of a medicinal product meets the quality requirements of the relevant product and manufacturer's licences. Assessment of the quality of a medicinal product involves an understanding of the pharmacology and chemistry of the product's active and other ingredients, a knowledge of how the product was manufactured, how it delivers the drug in the patient's body, and how the patient's body is expected to handle the drug by way of excretion and metabolism.

Students must also be aware of the statutory framework which is applied in the control of the manufacture and distribution of medicinal products. The courses are only available on a part-time basis. The Diploma can be converted to the MSc by completion of a research project which would normally be undertaken at the student's workplace.
Each module consists of lectures, tutorials, discussion groups and relevant visits. The cohesion of the student group rapidly develops as all participants are generally working in some aspect of quality assurance in the pharmaceutical industry. As such, the informal aspects of each module can become an important part of the knowledge-gathering process as the photo shown, taken at one of the course dinners, demonstrates.