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Veterinary Pharmacy Education Programme
2010 - 2011


There is an ever growing number of companion animals (including horses) in the community, all of which require regular prophylactic treatment in order to control and contain many naturally occurring internal and external parasites: both for animal welfare and public health reasons.

It has been estimated that at least one in four of a community pharmacy’s patients and customers has a cat or a dog and numbers continue to rise.  Correspondingly, the UK market for companion animal health products is even conservatively valued at over £180 million.  The cat population of 7.7 million now exceeds that of dogs by almost a million.  There are about 750,000 horses – mostly in urban paddocks, – about 10 million racing and show pigeons and 2 million other small animal pets, which includes a growing number of rabbits and ferrets!

Many aspects of veterinary pharmacy are analogous to main-stream human oriented pharmacy, though of course major pharmacological differences occur between animal species and must be taken into account.  Diagnosis and therapeutic treatments are the main prerogative of the veterinarian for animals under their care but disease prevention and prophylactic control is not so limited however, recent changes in the Veterinary Regulations allow pharmacists and Suitably Qualified Persons to prescribe certain veterinary medicines.

Pharmacists are in a key position to act as a link between pet and livestock owners, and other health professionals as appropriate.  Professional cooperation with veterinary surgeons and their practices is of paramount importance and is of especial benefit to the animal ‘patient’ and animal owner.   

Some areas in which the pharmacist can contribute include:

 

Veterinary Pharmacy Education Programme

The Certificate in Companion Animal & Equine Health Care  is studied mainly by web based distance learning and is well suited to overseas candidates.  Candidates take three modules (1, 2 and 3 below) based on the Course textbook and are required to complete an online workbook, produce an information file and successfully complete four assignments (guidance given).  Attendance at a study day is also required for all UK-based candidates.

The Certificate in Livestock Health Care (Modules 4 and 5 below) is based on an intensive residential week of lectures and Livestock Unit visits plus a diary and portfolio of relevant practical experience recorded in CPD format (guidance given). There is a 3-hour written examination.

Pharmacy Technicians and Veterinary Pharmacy Support Staff are eligible for the award of these two certificates. Candidates seeking SQP registration with AMTRA will be required to complete an initial base unit and take an oral examination. Please for details.

The Diploma in Veterinary Pharmacy (DVetPham) is available to pharmacists and other statutorily registered health professionals. It requires successful completion of the two certificate programmes detailed above plus 75 hours relevant practical experience recorded in CPD format, a dissertation and an oral examination. Guidance is given on dissertation writing.

Certificates of attendance are issued for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes. Facilities for satisfying ongoing CPD requirements are provided.

It is anticipated that during the 2010-2011 academic year a Masters programme will be offered in association with Harper Adams University College. Details will be posted on this site in due course.

Course content

Module 1 Companion Animals and Public Health

Module 2 Companion Animal Health Care

Module 3 Equine Health Care

Module 4 Veterinary Pharmacy

Module 5 Livestock Health and husbandry

While primarily concerned with cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry, where relevant, reference is also made to deer, goats, game birds etc.

Guidance is also given to facilitate personal study of some more minor topics, for which time does not permit inclusion in the intensive residential programme.

Time commitment

Personal study is likely to about 80 -120 hours for each module.  Most people allocate 5-10 hours a week depending on their target date for completion.

Course documentation

Course documentation will be supplied in electronic form from the website and by email as far as possible.

Course fees

Diploma  £1995 includes all costs (no extras!)
Certificate in Companion Animal & Equine Health Care  £650 includes study day costs
Certificate in Livestock Health Care    £999 includes all residential costs
Please note: there is a credit card surcharge of 3%

The fees include:

Certificate in Companion Animal & Equine Health Care – all course materials (workbook and supplementary materials), marking of assignments and workbook, attendance at study day with light lunch and refreshments. Click here for sample programme.attendance at .

Certificate in Large Animal Health Care – all course materials, marking written examination, diary and portfolio, attendance at residential week (including 5 nights full board on campus at Harper Adams University College and course dinner with wine).

Diploma – all specified above under both certificates plus examining of dissertation and oral examination. Overnight accommodation between the written and oral examinations may be required – this is not included in the course fees.

 Course Textbooks

The main textbook on which the course is based is

Kayne SB, Jepson M  (Eds) Veterinary Pharmacy London, Pharmaceutical Press 2004.
ISBN 0 85369 534 2 

The following resources will also be of use

Career opportunities

Pharmacists with the Diploma have taken up career opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry, regulatory affairs, government departments and agencies such as the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA), as well as widely in specialist veterinary pharmacy practice especially in the UK and Ireland, the Commonwealth and mainland Europe. Opportunities also exist in academia. 

The programme is relevant to pharmacists and other health professionals in whatever sphere of practice they operate and especially to those at the core of primary health care.  Increasingly, pharmacists are finding that the concerns and worries of patients and public often include and relate to food, its origins, farming practice both nationally and world-wide, public health matters and shortcomings in public and personal hygiene.  All these factors can impinge on the broader issues of inclusive good health, which naturally includes farm and feral animals, pets and the environment.

 Further details of the course programme may be obtained by e-mail from

2009/v4/SBK
©VPEP 2009

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