Pharmacy education in India
In India, pharmacy education today is looked upon as a business opportunity by many. There is a severe shortage of qualified and competent faculty in the pharmacy colleges in the country. Also, there is a mismatch between knowledge and skills received by pharmacy graduates and the job requirements. Non-uniformity in the distribution of pharmacy colleges in the country is causing regional imbalances and inter-state migration of students. To add to the trouble, the pharmacy colleges in the rural and remote areas are not so popular. Apart, students graduated from several pharmacy colleges in the country are unable to work in a team and lacks inter disciplinary knowledge, enough practical orientation and oral and written skills.
There is a dual control of Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to lead the pharmacy education in the country.
The social status of pharmacists lacks the level of respect that it should receive. This is basically due to disharmony in pharmacy education, which practically degrades their professional value.
Usually, registration of pharmacists in developed countries is done after the graduation in pharmacy. But in India, D.Pharm is the basic qualification for registration as a pharmacist. The standard of education and training for D.Pharm is also poor in the country. Hence, the profession has lost its image.
A re-orientation in the approach and outlook of pharmacy education is required to propel the sector. Pharmacy education in the country lays more emphasis on industrial pharmacy than pharmacy practices. Today the subjects like professional pharmacy, community pharmacy and clinical pharmacy are gaining more ground. Globally pharmacy education is more clinical in orientation, while in India it is having an industrial orientation. Harmonization of pharmacy education should take place at entry level, course duration, course contents and depth of knowledge, training, curriculum, internship and registration qualification. The pharmacists today are not able to take the challenges due to advent of new technologies of drug inventions and manufacturing. Qualitative changes in this direction are needed.
In India, educational process is no longer a nation building exercise but a commercial activity for profit making. Every educational institution is trying to create a corporate image with huge extravaganza and not concentrating on the basic inputs of quality in teaching and practical orientation to students. However, there is a clamour for acquiring international image by collaborating with national and international level institutions.
Future perspectives
A pharmacy college should be an autonomous body in respect of academics evaluation, administration, finances, staff recruitment etc. However, the degree shall be awarded by the University with which it is associated for the first ten years, after which it shall be the privilege of the college to award the degree.
The management committee of the college shall include parents, faculty, students, alumni, people of pharma business and industry.
The curriculum should be a well designed and integrated one blended with vocational subjects meeting the requirements of the pharma environs of today. Internal evaluation should be given preference to 75% and all pharmacy colleges shall function on semester system. The pharmacy colleges should involve alumni for financial support for developmental purposes.
Every pharmacy college should have in-house human resource development programme on a continuing basis. The colleges will have appropriate quality assurance mechanism, grievance redressed and monitoring mechanisms etc. participatory management based on inclusion, collaboration and sharing should be there. In every pharmacy college, there should be a comprehensive scheme of student support services inclusive of counselling, personal well-being, placement, follow-up etc.
In future, drug treatment will be individual specific and tailored to individual's need through specific diagnostics. However, in spite of many lacunae in pharmacy education system tremendous development in the field of new drug discovery and research activities has taken place. In the coming years, pharmaceutical sciences should integrate it with upcoming fields like biotechnology, nanotechnology, proteomics and clinical epidemology.
Pharmacy teachers have to regulate themselves, update their knowledge deliver excellence and inspire students by adapting in moral values and time management.
(The author is principal of Veerayatan Institute of Pharmacy, Mandvi Dean Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, K.S.K.V. Kachchh University, Bhuj - Kutch, Gujarat)
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