Bachelor of Pharmacy/Bachelor of Commerce

Course code: 2630 + Course abbreviation: BPharm/BCom + Total credit points required: 294 + 6 years full-time + Managing faculty: Pharmacy

Study mode and course location

On-campus (Parkville/Clayton - F/T only)

Course description

The Bachelor of Pharmacy/Bachelor of Commerce double-degree program recognises that pharmacy has a business as well as a professional component. The course is especially relevant to those graduates considering managing or owning a pharmacy or those who find themselves in a management role in a hospital pharmacy or the pharmaceutical industry.

Students complete the Bachelor of Pharmacy in the first four years of study at the Parkville campus, and then complete the Bachelor of Commerce over two years at the Clayton campus.

Course objectives

The degree provides students with the knowledge and skills to own or manage a pharmacy or to work in the wider healthcare sector, government or the pharmaceutical industry.

Special requirements

Police checks are required for the practical experience placements in clinical and community settings in the Bachelor of Pharmacy. All students will be required to obtain and pay for a police check prior to undertaking the clinical and community placements in their course. For further information or for clarification, contact the placement program coordinator, email pep@vcp.monash.edu.au.

Course structure

Students must complete a major specialisation in one of the following disciplines taught by the Faculty of Business and Economics: accounting, finance, economics, business law and taxation, econometrics and business statistics, management or marketing, Asian development and transition, international commerce, competition regulation and public policy, information strategy and decision making, labour and employment, and human resource management. All units taken as part of the major specialisation are limited to units taught by departments of the faculty on the Clayton campus. For details of the units required for major specialisations, refer to the Bachelor of Commerce entry in the Faculty of Business and Economics section of this handbook. Other studies may be drawn from any of the disciplines taught on the Clayton campus by the Faculty of Business and Economics.

Students must also complete the degree in pharmacy from the Victorian College of Pharmacy.

All units studied must be from the Faculty of Business and Economics (Clayton) and the Victorian College of Pharmacy.

Course requirements

The degree requirements are:

(a) students must complete 32 units (192 points) from the Victorian College of Pharmacy and must satisfy the requirements for the Bachelor of Pharmacy.

(b) students must complete 17 units (102 points) from the Faculty of Business and Economics as follows:

(i) six compulsory common core units (36 points):

AFC1021/AFC1022 Accounting principles
BTC1100 Business law
ECC1000 Principles of microeconomics
ETC1000 Business and economic statistics
MGC1010 Managing people and organisations
MKC1200 Principles of marketing

(ii) at least two of the following units:

AFC1030 Introductory financial accounting
ECC1100 Principles of macroeconomics
ETC1010 Data modelling and computing
MGC1020 Organisations: contexts and strategies

First-year students normally may not take a second-year unit until at least four first-year units have been completed successfully.

(iii) a major specialisation of at least eight units (48 points) in a discipline or field of study of the faculty with at least 12 points at each of second and third-year-level (disciplines are defined by department prefixes, and fields of study are those sets of related units that may be defined in the catalogue of courses and units). All units taken as part of the major specialisation must be taught by departments of the Faculty of Business and Economics on the Clayton campus (ie the third character of the unit code is C).

(iii) a maximum of eight first-year-level units (48 points).

(iv) a minimum of four third-year-level units (24 points) must be from those offered by the Faculty of Business and Economics on Clayton campus.

Students should have their program of study approved by the course coordinator or the course coordinator’s nominee prior to commencement of the relevant year.

Professional recognition

Bachelor of Pharmacy

To qualify for registration with the Pharmacy Board of Victoria, a period of pre-registration practical training is required as an educational bridge linking the undergraduate course and the graduate’s work as a registered pharmacist. For detailed information, refer to the entry under 'Pharmacy pre-registration training' later in this section of this handbook.

Bachelor of Pharmacy graduates from the Victorian College of Pharmacy are eligible to become members of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) after a period of practical experience. RACI members are able to practise in many areas of industry as professional chemists and receive the salaries determined by the RACI.

Bachelor of Commerce

The Bachelor of Commerce is recognised as meeting academic requirements for various accounting, banking and finance professional associations.

Contact details

Telephone +61 3 9903 9635, email info@vcp.monash.edu.au or visit www.vcp.monash.edu.au.

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