Master of Pharmaceutical Science

Angela was enrolled in the Master of Pharmaceutical Science degree. At the time of writing, she was 38 years old, married with two children, 10 and 8 years of age. To undertake this course, with the support of her husband, she left Sydney and relocated the children and herself to Hobart. Her husband, due to work commitments, stayed in Sydney and visited often.

She obtained her undergraduate Bachelor of Applied Science Degree in Applied Chemistry after high school and immediately started working as an analytical chemist for a large multinational manufacturer of Household and Personal Care Products. After 12 months she moved into the Technical Services Department of that company as a Product Development Chemist and remained in this role for 8 years. At the end of this time she was offered, and accepted, a position as Quality Assurance Manager for the same company's contract manufactured products division.

After more than 10 years with the company she decided it was time for a change and accepted a position with a large multinational fragrance and flavour manufacturer as the Technical Co-ordinator for their fragrance division. In mid 2000, due to regionalisation of the company's technical expertise into Singapore, she was made redundant.

Globalisation and regionalisation of manufacturing, Research and Development and technical expertise over the last few years in many companies, especially those in the Household and Personal Products industry in which lies her specific experience, has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the number of jobs available within Australia. As a consequence, she found herself unemployed in a changed job market.

During her search of the job market it became increasingly clear that the areas of employment that have the best potential for her were the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry, both of which are growing in Australia. Although having a degree in chemistry, and a work history of almost 15 years, she had no specific experience in either of these industries. Of the two, the industry of most appeal and also more in keeping with her areas of expertise was the pharmaceutical industry.

After lengthy discussions with her husband, friends and a few associates she decided that study in the field could provide the extra 'bit' that she needed to get a break in the pharmaceutical industry. She began to look at courses on offer at tertiary institutions in Sydney, initially, and then around the country.

The Masters of Pharmaceutical Science at UTas was the only course of it's kind that she could find and is perfectly suited to candidates with a background in the sciences to gain knowledge in pharmaceutical science but who don't wish to become pharmacists.

Her children studied at school near to the University and enjoyed their time in Hobart. She managed to juggle being a sole parent, for the most part, and studying. Having almost completed her thesis The Influence of Cyclodextrins on the Solubility of Sumatriptan from Solid Matrix Tablets she has found the subject content very interesting and the academic and administrative staff extremely helpful.

Before finishing her thesis, Angela was offered a position with an Australian pharmaceutical company, which she accepted. She submitted her MPharmSci thesis and graduated at the end of 2005.

In August 2007 she will begin working for the industry organisation for the OTC and Complementary medicines market which is called Australian Self Medication Industry or ASMI. She will be their Regulatory Manager.

ASMI is the peak industry body for the Australian self-care industry including consumer healthcare products ranging from over-the-counter medicines (OTC) to complementary medicines. ASMI provides an authoritative voice for the consumer healthcare products industry as the acknowledged point of consultation for government, regulators, consumer organisations, professional organisations and other stakeholders.

ASMI also serves as an information hub, providing the industry with the latest domestic and international developments affecting the self-care industry in technical, regulatory, social and legal arenas.

If you are interested in the MPharmSc, for more information go to: http://www.pharmacy.utas.edu.au/mpharmsc.html