1. Handbook
  2. Bachelor of Science
  3. Majors, Minors and Specialisations
  4. Pharmacology

Pharmacology

Bachelor of ScienceMajorYear: 2022

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Overview

Subjects in a pharmacology major introduce students to the unified study of the interaction between chemical agents and living matter. A pharmacology major will teach you how drugs work, and how drugs are used as therapies and as experimental tools for investigation of important problems in biology. Pharmacology extends and complements a range of other biomedical disciplines as well as medicinal chemistry. Graduates will gain an in depth understanding of drug actions and a broad appreciation of the scientific process of knowledge acquisition and problem solving. Thus, a pharmacology major will provide the springboard for students entering careers in many areas of biomedical research and associated industries and regulatory authorities.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this major, students should be able to:

  • Define the actions of important drugs used clinically and in research
  • Explain how the actions of new drugs are characterised and outline how drugs can be used to investigate questions of biological processes and signalling
  • Explain the process of drug discovery and development
  • Apply modern molecular approaches to solving pharmacological problems, and obtain an appreciation of their application to specific biological problems
  • Employ laboratory techniques and analytical approaches in different areas of pharmacology including the analysis and interpretation of data derived from experiments
  • Construct written and oral presentations of scientific data and critique the scientific literature.

Last updated: 3 May 2024