Dr Claire Hough
Claire Hough is an Associate Professor of Pharmacy, registered pharmacist, and Senior Fellow of Advance HE with extensive experience in pharmacy education, workforce development, and curriculum leadership. She is passionate about preparing future pharmacists through innovative, practice focused education that promotes excellence, professionalism, and patient-centred care.
- Faculty:
- Faculty of Health, Medicine and Social Care
- School:
- School of Medicine
- Location:
- Chelmsford
- Research Supervision:
- Yes
- Background
Claire graduated with a BSc in Pharmacy from the University of Brighton before completing a PhD in Pharmacy Practice at University College London. She later gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Education from Oxford Brookes University.
Claire began her career as a hospital pharmacist, developing expertise in patient care before expanding her experience across community pharmacy, general practice and the pharmaceutical industry. Following her clinical career, Claire moved into education and workforce development, holding roles within the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education and at Health Education England (Thames Valley), where she was the Pharmacy Training Programme Director.
Claire subsequently transitioned into academia, where she has spent a decade teaching, leading programmes and developing future pharmacists. At the University of Hertfordshire, she held several senior leadership positions, including Course Director for the Overseas Pharmacist Assessment Programme (OSPAP) and departmental Academic Quality lead, culminating in her appointment as Subject Group Lead for Pharmacy, Optometry and Dietetics in 2024. Claire is also an External Examiner for the MPharm at Kingston University.
Claire joined ARU in 2026 to lead the development and implementation of the University's new Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) programme and is the Course Director for the programme.
- Research interests
-
- Pharmacy education
- Pharmacy workforce development
- Areas of research supervision
-
- Pharmacy education and workforce development
- Pharmacy practice and pharmacy service provision
- Teaching
- Qualifications
-
- BSc Pharmacy, University of Brighton
- PG Cert in Pharmacy Practice, University College London
- PhD in Pharmacy Practice, University College London
- PG Cert in Clinical Education, Oxford Brookes University
- Senior Fellowship (SFHEA), Advance HE
- Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange
-
2025: Enhancing Research Culture research grant, University of Hertfordshire, £6,000
- Recent presentations and conferences
-
Hough, C. and Iravani, F. (2025) 'Career Aspirations of Overseas Pharmacists in the UK', poster presented at Federation of International Pharmacy Conference, Copenhagen, 31 August–3 September.
Lawal, D. and Hough, C. (2025) 'A systematic review of factors impacting student absenteeism from face-to-face university teaching on healthcare programmes', poster presented at Pharmacy Education Conference, Manchester, June.
Hough, C. and Al-Saeed, E. (2025) 'Using the pre-course period to support International postgraduate students', presented at Academic Skills Conference, University of Hertfordshire, May.
Hough, C. and Al-Saeed, E. (2024) 'Pre-course Preparation for International Postgraduate Pharmacy Students', presented at Pharmacy Education Conference, Manchester, June.
Hough, C. and Al-Saeed, E. (2024) 'The use of diagnostic assessments in pre-course preparation for overseas postgraduate students', presented at Learning and Teaching Conference, University of Hertfordshire, May.