Pharmacy courses
Introduction to Pharmacy
Study pharmacy and you’ll do more than educate patients on their prescriptions. You’ll be a trusted member of the community guiding each and every person who walks through those pharmacy doors.
From helping babies with reflux, teens with acne and the elderly with joint pain. At every stage of life, you’ll be there.
Study a pharmacy degree or pharmacy courses online and you’ll be entering a profession that combines empathy with science from behind the counter. There’s nothing quite like it.
Discover pharmacy courses
Online pharmacy subjects and short courses
UndergraduateUSA-FOSC3017
100% online
No ATAR required. Start with a subject.
Starts 01 Apr 2024, 16 Sep 2024
UndergraduateTAS-CSA120
100% online
No ATAR required. Start with a subject.
Starts 26 Feb 2024, 22 Jul 2024
UndergraduateTAS-CSA122
Sport Doping, Performance Enhancing Drugs and their Detection
100% online
No ATAR required. Start with a subject.
Starts 26 Feb 2024, 22 Jul 2024
Online pharmacy degrees
UndergraduateTAS-PHA-DIP
Launch your career as a pharmacy assistant or technician
Gain entry into pharmacy as an assistant or technician, or enhance your employability within the primary care sector with this set of mathematics and science skills.
Online & on-campus
1 year full time or part time equivalent
No ATAR required. Start with a subject.
PostgraduateUOQ-CLP-MAS
Expand your contemporary clinical pharmacy skills to tackle any role
Focus on evidence-based, patient-centred care. You’ll explore up to date management and optimisation of pharmacotherapy. Gain skills to provide positive patient outcomes within a complex health environment. Taught by world-leading teachers.
100% online
1 year full time or part time equivalent
PostgraduateUOQ-CLP-GCE
Practice pharmacy with confidence in an evolving healthcare environment
Advance your capability within clinical pharmacy practice. You’ll work on the skills that provide positive patient outcomes. Explore where pharmacy sits in today’s complex health system. Help patients manage their medicine through illness and life stages.
100% online
PostgraduateTAS-CPH-GCE
Upskill as a registered pharmacist
Continue to develop your clinical pharmacy and research skills. Explore medication management for a wide range of illnesses, from cardiovascular disease to psychiatric disorders. Upon completion, those interested can proceed into the Graduate Diploma.
100% online
6 months full time or part time equivalent
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Pharmacy study FAQs
To study pharmacy, you’ll need to be:
- Comfortable with maths and science, particularly biology and chemistry
- Empathetic towards people, as it’s a patient-centric field
- A good communicator, with a willingness for team-work
- Highly attentive and accuracy-focused—you’ll be overseeing people’s medications, after all.
Choose to study a pharmacy course and you can expect to learn about:
- Statistics
- Chemistry for life science
- Microbiology
- immunology
- Pharmacy practice and skills
- Principles of pharmacology
- Applied physiochemical principles
- Human physiology
- Medicine formulations
- The courses available to study online through Open Universities Australia are reputable and delivered by trusted academics at leading Australian universities.
- While you will need to complete an Intern Training Program (ITP) and pass an exam to gain general registration as a pharmacist, you can absolutely begin your studies in chemistry and pharmacy studies online.
As a base-line minimum, you will need 4 years in undergraduate pharmacy study or 2-3 years in a graduate-entry program to become a pharmacist.
After this, you will need to complete a year-long internship concurrently with the Intern Training Program (ITP). Finally, you’ll have to pass an exam to gain general registration as a pharmacist.
You will also need to complete Continuing Professional Development (CDP) annually to continue your career as a pharmacist.
Interested in clinical trials instead of work as a pharmacist? You will need to add additional postgraduate study in a specialised focus area after completing your degree. This may be a graduate certificate, graduate diploma or masters degree in clinical pharmacy.
Study pharmacy and you may end up working as a:
- Hospital pharmacist
- Clinical trials pharmacist and research pharmacist
- Pharmacy technician and pharmacy assistant
Read more about a day in the life as a pharmacist.
This all depends on the particulars of what you want from a course. As many of our trusted course advisors would say, there’s no single “perfect course” for everyone. But there is the right course for you.
When comparing courses from leadings Australian universities using our marketplace, we recommend looking at the coursework itself (does it cover topics you’d like to cover?), and seeing how the university ranks for the particular field of study you’re interested in.
Unlike when you study through a traditional university, you can enrol you in most of the undergraduate subjects available through our website instantly. Enrol in the subjects you’re interested in, and as soon as your study materials arrive, you can start learning online.
As you start completing your subjects, you’ll eventually need to apply to your uni to formally enter your degree. Enrolling in subjects is a great way of becoming eligible and applying successfully. Check out the Registering in this degree section on the degree page you're interested in for more information.
Postgraduate subjects are different. Most of them are restricted, meaning you’ll have to apply for entry and be accepted before you can start studying online. You’ll find information about the application process on the postgraduate degree page that you’re interested in.
Enrolling is easy. You can enrol online or over the phone with a student advisor.
Before starting an enrolment, it’s important to read the entry requirements for your chosen course to ensure that you’re eligible to apply. If you don’t quite meet the requirements, we may be able to help you find a pathway into your course through open-entry subjects, which anyone can study.
Chat with us to find out more.
There are a lot of reasons to study your course online through us.
- You can enrol without entry requirements
We have a unique open-door policy that makes it possible for everyone to enrol in university study, no matter their academic history. If you don’t meet the entry requirements for a degree, we’ll help you get in through single undergraduate subjects and transition into a qualification from there. - You have total control over how you study
Upskill without committing to a whole degree upfront. Or enrol in a full degree, but take it a subject at a time. We’ll introduce you to flexible study options you didn’t even know about, so you can fit uni around what matters to you. - You’ll graduate with the same qualification as an on-campus student
Once you enrol through us, you’ll study online with the university that provides your degree. This means that when you complete your qualification, you’ll graduate with the same degree as on-campus students. - We’ll help you navigate the university world
Our friendly student advisors will be your guide every step of the enrolment journey. They'll help you compare universities, choose a course, provide documentation and understand your finance options.
- You can enrol without entry requirements
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