Whether it’s teaching, researching, practicing or a mix of all three, academic pharmacists enjoy exciting careers in universities, research institutes and other organisations throughout the world. Academic pharmacists educate, train, assess and develop pharmacy students, pre-registration trainees, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.

You will use and apply your pharmacy knowledge and expertise to teach the next generation of pharmacists and others through a variety of teaching methods. Working alongside the wider educational team, you will update the degree programme and develop learning material to reflect changes in education and practice. Academics also offer general support to students and are often viewed as role models and mentors.

Teacher practitioners have a split role, spending on average around 60% of their time working in hospital, community or industrial pharmacy and 40% of the time as a lecturer.

Academic pharmacists are also thought of as researchers, as the role usually involves conducting some form of research, e.g. in a science based area of practice, drug design or pharmacy services. You will collect evidence, analyse it and use this data to make improvements to medicines and patient’s health.

There are several routes to becoming a research pharmacist. You will need to complete a bachelor's degree in pharmacy or a closely related discipline, such as a Master's in Clinical Research (MClinRes).

Pharmacists are able to apply for Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowships. Which are funded training opportunities for pharmacists who have a year’s clinical practice experience and have undertaken research training that will enable them to progress to a PhD.

Pharmacists who work in universities carry out research that has a big impact on peoples lives. Find out what Prof Theo Raynor from Leeds does to improve the written information patients get with their medicines.