High demand for the Complementary Programme: “Near record levels”

The number of applicants to Uppsala University’s Complementary Programme for Pharmacists with a Foreign Degree continues to rise. For the autumn semester 2026, the Swedish Council for Higher Education reports 90 applicants, of whom 81 selected the programme as their first choice. This represents an increase of 28 per cent compared with last year, and almost a doubling compared with the spring semester 2025.

“We view the increasing number of applicants very positively, as it shows that our outreach efforts for the Complementary Programme are fruitful. Among other things, we focus on providing individual guidance on how pharmacists with foreign degrees can obtain a Swedish professional licence. We have strengthened our presence at career fairs and further developed our dialogue with the Swedish Public Employment Service, and we are now once again approaching record levels from the programme’s early years,” says Parvaneh Aghazari, National programme coordinator and teacher at the Faculty of Pharmacy.

The Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ) recently reported that 78 per cent of graduates from the Complementary Programme have established themselves in the labour market three years after graduation. Of these, 92 percent work in a profession directly related to their expertise. UKÄ also notes that in 2020–2022, a total of 270 people supplemented their foreign pharmacy education in Sweden. Together, they make up 18 percent of all newly licensed Swedish pharmacists and constitute important additions to a profession in great need of licensed professionals.

“We look forward to welcoming our new students to the Programme, which celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2027. We are currently conducting our second external evaluation of the programme, and will in June receive the external review board at BMC for meetings with faculty, students and the Pharmaceutical Students’ Union. Our aim is to receive confirmation of what we do well and to gain valuable guidance on how to further improve the programme,” says Parvaneh Aghazari.

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt