PharmD Course in India - Prospects & Constraints

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Dear Members:

In the recent years pharmacy education has grown well enough to generate highly skilled and technical manpower to man the wide spectrum of pharmaceutical activities associated with the manufacture and sale of medicines in the country. Pharma industry is on an upward growth, with an expected growth of 9 per cent at 20 billion Euro business by 2015. Currently there are 600 degree and 500 diploma institutions churning out 50,000 graduates, 35,000 diploma holders, 1000 post-graduates and about 300 doctorates every year in India.

In spite of these facts, pharmacy profession is relatively young in India and has passed through a chequered path. Today there is a paradigm shift from the existing industry oriented approach to service and patient-centered curriculum in pharmaceutical academic parlance. There is a drastic change in the approach of Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) to the problems plaguing the profession. There is also a glaring attitudinal change in the student and teachers’ perception of pharmacy profession. All these indications auger well for the profession in realizing the ultimate objective of producing a seven star pharmacist.

In India, although pharmaceutical industry has advanced over the last 25 years, the pharmacist here continues to be a backroom boy in a pharmaceutical factory or a salesman in a retail pharmacy. This image has to change and it can be done only by raising the educational standards of pharmacists. There has been no serious attempt to modify the curricula of pharmacy education in India for several years. Whereas, manufacturing standards, quality control practices, research activities and clinical practices in this industry have undergone critical changes during these years.

With these objectives in mind and with a view to raise the standards of pharmacy education in India particularly with respect to the emerging discipline of clinical pharmacy practice, Pharmacy Council of India this year started a six-year integrated PharmD course. The course is expected to produce pharmacy professionals who could actively and directly contribute in the patient healthcare system.

Looking forwar to your inputs.

With kind regards:

Dr. Geer M. Ishaq

Assistant Professor

Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences

University of Kashmir

Srinagar-190006 (J & K)

Ph: 9419970971, 9906673100

Website: http://ishaqgeer.googlepages.com

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