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Postgraduate Certificate in Psychiatric Therapeutics by Distance Learning

Key information

Duration of programme: 12 months (distance learning)
Start date: January
Distance learning available: Yes
Intake: N/A

Fees:
UK/EU students - Please contact the School
International students - Please contact the School

Bursaries are awarded to members of the United Kingdom Psychiatric Pharmacy Group (UKP Postgraduate) according to the need and merit on application to the Committee of the UKP Postgraduate.

Application & contact:
Apply for this course online

Penny Delaney
Programmes Administrator
Psychiatric Pharmacy Course Office
Phone:  0121 204 3928
Email: p.j.delaney@aston.ac.uk 
Life and Health Sciences laboratory
Six modules, two of which are introductory with the following four covering the major therapeutic areas of psychiatry:
  • An Introduction to Psychiatry
  • Underlying Principles
  • Schizophrenia
  • The Affective Disorders
  • Anxiety and Sleep Disorders
  • The Dementias and Related Disorders. 

Jump to:

Entry requirements

  • An appropriate first Degree from a UK university or an equivalent qualification which provides evidence of your work with patients with psychiatric illnesses. 
  • International students must possess an English IELTS score of 7 across all bands

Learning, teaching & assessment

The following learning methods will be used:
  • Study of authored text material, directed reading and self assessed exercises                     
  • Formative exercises and assignments                   
  • Additional reading    
  • Application within professional practice  
Assessment is by assignments and multi-response question papers, plus a final, open-book examination.

Professional accreditation

The United Kingdom Psychiatric Pharmacy Group (UKPPG) supports the programme which is additionally accredited by the College of Mental Health Pharmacists (CMHP).

Career opportunities

This programme is the first stage for pharmacists in becoming a specialist mental health pharmacist.

It is also under taken by mental health nurses to increase their knowledge base especially those practicing or intending to practice as non-medical prescribers.

General practitioners and psychiatrists as well as graduates working in the pharmaceutical industry have also been past students.

 

Personal development

The following skills will be developed:
  • Independent study
  • Effective written communication
  • Retrieval, application, assessment and organisation of information
  • Time management

Facilities & equipment

Authored text and the Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry are supplied as course resources.
Access to the internet is essential.

Teaching staff

  • Celia Feetam has worked in psychiatry as a clinical pharmacist for 34 years both in the NHS as well as in the independent sector. She is a member of and immediate past President of the College of Mental Health Pharmacists. (CMHP) She also works as a consultant and advisor to the NHS, the Department of Health and the pharmaceutical industry. She has lectured and published extensively on the subject of psychiatric pharmacy and psychiatric therapeutics.
  • Priti Ved B.Pharm MRPharmS Dip.Psych.Pharm is a clinical psychiatric pharmacist working in Coventry. She works as a member of the course team as an external marker.