Education
(bio-)pharmacy can be studied in four cities in the Netherlands: Groningen, Leiden, Utrecht and Amsterdam.
The lectures are Dutch, but most of the literature is in English. The tuition fees are €2143,-. It is possible to take out a loan from the government with almost no interest. Many students use this opportunity.
The associations per city are:
Pharmaciae Sacrum in Groninen, ,,Aesculapius” in Leiden, Unitas Pharmaceuticorum in Utrecht and Vereniging van Chemie Studenten aan de Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. The overarching association is the Koninklijke Nederlandse Pharmaceutische Studenten Vereniging.
Information per city
Right of say for students
Every city has their right to say organization:
- The studiecie, OC, OPLO and OCL have meetings with the faculty and represent the students to teachers. So they discuss topics like timetables, subjects etc. The studiecie also takes care of the book sales.
- Evaluation committees evaluate the subjects given so that it can be optimized for the next year.
- Groningen has the studentenoverleg, the STOF. Students can share their complaints and thoughts about education with this organisation.
Students also have a right of say on a national scale via the K.N.P.S.V. When setting up the healthcare plan of pharmacy, the K.N.P.S.V. is invited to have an input as representatives of the students. The K.N.P.S.V. is also invited to the annual By Invitation Only-meeting from the K.N.P.S.V. to listen to the students’ input about the future of pharmacists.
Career
Career opportunities are many for pharmacy and (bio-)pharmaceutical sciences students: 98% of graduated students find a job within 3 months.
Career possibilities:
- Research at a university: 4 year project to get a PhD
- Public pharmacy: 70% of students from Utrecht and Groningen
- Clinical pharmacy: 4 years of labor and research with specialization, possibility to a PhD
- Pharmaceutical Industry: possibilities to R&D, production, quality control and registration
Student Exchange Programme
The SEP is an initiative from the International Pharmaceutical Students Federation. It is an exchange program for students all over the world. A pharmacy student is given the opportunity to go on an internship in a (clinical) pharmacy or Industry abroad in a period of 1 to 3 months.
The SEP is a good combination of working abroad, getting to know a new language, exploring culture and learning things on a professional level while as a holiday in one.
On http://www.ipsf.org/ you can see participating countries. For more information, please contact Henrik Huizinga, commissioner of foreign affairs of the K.N.P.S.V.:
commissarisbuitenland@knpsv.nl
For more information per city about their association and education:
- Groningen: http://www.rug.nl/ en http://www.psgroningen.nl/
- Utrecht: http://www.uu.nl/ en http://www.upsv.nl/
- Leiden: http://www.leidenuniv.nl/ en http://www.aesculapius.nl/
- Amsterdam: https://vu.nl/nl en https://www.vcsvu.nl
- SEP: http://www.ipsf.org/ or mail: commissarisbuitenland@knpsv.nl