Bachelor of Pharmacy and Possible Areas of Employment

Bachelor of Pharmacy is one of the most competitive courses in Kenya, and the cut-off points for the course are equally high. It’s a five year course in which one will learn the science behind the development of drugs, or biochemistry to be precise, how to diagnose diseases, give the correct dosage for a disease and how the medications affect the human body. Other units that one is likely to study include microbiology, community health amongst other units.

The cluster subjects for the course are Math/Physics, Biology, Chemistry and English/Kiswahili. To be assured of getting the course, one will need straight A's in the above subjects as well as an overall grade of an A Plain or a very strong A-(79 or 80 points). The weighted cluster points for the Bachelor of Pharmacy degree course has been hovering around 47 e.g in 2011(Check KCSE 2010).

Pharmacy graduates (Pharmacists) work in a variety of areas. They work in public and private hospitals, helping patients to buy the correct drugs,
in pharmaceutical companies, helping in the development and innovation of drugs, right from the development in the laboratories to the clinical trials. Such drug companies include GlaxoSmithKline, betahealthcare, Pfizer etc. The starting salaries of the pharmacy graduates vary widely, but it is one of the most rewarding careers in Kenya and abroad.

The fee structure for the government sponsored-JAB students ranges between kshs.27,000 and kshs.55,000 per academic year which is the statutory fees passed in parliament as law. The fee for the parallel students is about kshs.400,000 per academic year, but may vary slightly from one University to another.

The course is offered at the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, and Mount Kenya University amongst other Universities.

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