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I Samrat Paul , welcome all readers, viewers, researchers and aspirants to this site for upgrading knowledge and aptitude in clinically oriented Pharmacy Practice. This blog is a forum for anyone interested in the intersection of health, communication and social world.
blog is a forum for anyone interested in the intersection of health, communication, and the social world...... - See more at: http://hchlitss.blogspot.in/2013/02/medications-caregiving-and-health.html#sthash.lLdxoQcP.dpuf
blog is a forum for anyone interested in the intersection of health, communication, and the social world...... - See more at: http://hchlitss.blogspot.in/2013/02/medications-caregiving-and-health.html#sthash.lLdxoQcP.dpuf


The setup is changing in the world. Changes are occuring everywhere, in every field, in every aspect. This is a transition period for everybody, even for Pharmacy Councils of  each and every country...Uptill very recently in the past Pharmacy was industry oriented in india , only with the advent of M.Pharm Pharmacy Practice, Pharm d and Pharm d(PB) it has become clinically oriented. So to say if you cant change the rules , change the game.

There are academic doctorates(Phd) in Indian Pharmacy field but not in Pharmacy Practice stream, and now with the advent of Pharm d and Pharm d(PB) there are professional doctorates which has given rise to Clinical Pharmacists who are Counsellors; but yet academic doctorate courses in clinically oriented pharmacy practice stream still to begin in India (Phd in Pharmacy Practice specialization courses in ENT, Cardiology, Pulmonary,Psychology; Paediatric, Orthopedic, Cancer etc ), which will give origin to Consultant Clinical Pharmacists 


One must understand why and how the syllabus of this course got structured up? The PharmD syllabus is nothing but a combination of syllabus of courses like B.Pharm (industry oriented pharmacy)) and MD Pharmacology (clinically oriented pharmacy).Many hypotheses which comes to my mind are :

1. If we look into the broader picture, in western allopathy system of healthcare, the ward rounds are done in team by the clinicians ie. healthcare professionals and particularly doctors like physicians, pharmacists and nurses etc.


   Now, physicians like MBBS and specialists like MDs and DMs of departments chest,cardio,ortho, gyneac, surgery, paediatric, psychiatry, neuro, gastoentro, otolaryngo, ophthalmo, were actively participating in the ward rounds and their perspectives were gained. However perspectives from MD pharmacologist point of view were missed considerably by the healthcare team, because MD Pharmacologist were more involved in  clinical research rather than in ward rounds. And though they do practice but not in such proportions as done by MDs of other departments. This created a demand and requirement for vigilance by Pharm D professionals to fill up the gap created due to non- availability of MD Pharmacologist for ward round participations. Also MD Pharmacologists are reluctant to do jobs of a bedside pharmacist like strip-cutting, because of their busy schedule and perhaps they consider it as menial(clerical) job.
 
     Some ignorant people falsely believe that Pharm.D may develop new pattern which is running in US and other developed countries, that PHYSICIANS ARE ONLY DIAGNOSING AND PHARMACISTS ARE ONLY PRESCRIBING MEDICINES. Also they think that after doing Pharm.D, you can easily be a registered pharmacist all over the world. so you can practice as clinical pharmacist in a clinical setup anywhere in the world; which are wrong conceptions and perceptions because like USA in India also this legislative system has to come up for States and Societies - every state must have individually along with local drugs regulatory authority a  Clinical pharmacy council and  Society Registration Act.

ELIGIBILITY to Practice PHARMA CLINIC Pharmacists, who are willing to practice Clinical Pharmacy outside the Hospital setups and within their own Clinical setup PHARMA CLINIC, they should meet the following eligibility criteria: 
1. Applicant Pharmacist should be a Licensed/Registered Pharmacist by any state Pharmacy Council of India. 
2. Applicant Pharmacist should be a Registered Clinical Pharmacist (RCPh) in Clinical Pharmacy Council (CPC). 
3. a. Applicant Pharmacist should have minimum 3 months experience as a Hospital /or/ Clinical Pharmacist under supervision of MCI Registered Physician of any Hospital. [OR] b. Applicant Pharmacist should complete 2 months SAT-CP Training Program in CPC. 
 HOW TO APPLY 
Step 1: If you are not a RCPh in CPC, Register your name as Clinical Pharmacist in CPC with Application FORM-1. One time Registration Fee: Rs 2600/- only. 
Step 2: After Confirmation of Registration in CPC, Apply for Clinical Pharmacy Specialty Certification to BCPS in CPC. For General Practice apply for Consultant Clinical Pharmacist (CCP) certification by submitting your previous or current Experience Certificate [or] SAT-CP Training certificate. Who are not having Previous Experience Apply for SAT-CP Training Program with Application FORM-2B For CCP certification apply with Application FORM-2 (NOTE: For any other Specialty Clinical Pharmacy Practice apply for Specialty Certification to BCPS) For Specialty certification apply with Application FORM-3 
Step 3: After confirmation of successful Certification, Apply for PHARMA CLINIC approval with Application FORM-4 
Step 4: ENJOY YOUR PRACTICE BY SERVING THE MANKIND.


      Pharm D course will further open speciality courses in Clinically oriented pharmacy practice eg. specialised ENT pharmacist, pharmacist specialised in Cardiology, Pulmonary,Psychology; Paediatric Pharmacist, Orthopedic Pharmacist, Pharmacist specilised in Cancer etc.
  CPC certified specialist registered pharmacists may prefix these specialty certifications to their names on sign board of any professional practice premises ( including PHARMA CLINIC setup) Not need to get any approval / permission / NOC from any CMO or DM& HO to establish any setup of Pharmacy Practice ( including PHARMA CLINIC ), But Only for retail sale of drugs you required to get license from local drugs regulatory authority. If the act ( CLINICAL ESTABLISHMENTS Act 2010 ( Regulations & Registrations ) applicable to pharmacy establishments in any state - the state belonging regd pharmacists may required to register the pharmacy establishment (pharma clinic) under this act with concern "Public Pharmacist medicine".

      If you have marketing experience, it is good because you are some what habitual with brand names and other formulations. These experience will not directly useful but to some extent you will get benefitted from it. These are only reasons for Pharm.D to come into force in India.

    However, in India, there is still monopoly enjoyed by the physician in clinical setups in most nursing homes and small capacity hospitals regardless of under which sector these fall,private or government (may it be community hospitals, public healthcare hospitals, charitable hospitals,military hospitals, mission hospitals,primary care hospitals,secondary care hospitals,tertiary teaching care hospitals, tertiary referral hospitals,rehabilitation hospitals,for profit hospitals, non profit hospitals,state hospitals, regional hospitals) and alone they do the ward rounds, and rightly so because here economic budget for healthcare and health literacy is very less, constrained or restrained.Therefore a physician who spends a considerable more amount of money on his medical education is rightly empowered with more authority in a clinical setup.

2. Moreover, other education system like M.Pharm in Pharmacy Practice which was started with intention to bring a new setup of clinical pharmacovigilant biopharmaceutical pharmacokinetic system (Pharm D), due to increase in incidents of deaths due to medical errors and medication errors and due to faulty drug-dose titrations, ADRs and drug -drug interactions and further due to non-vigilance which should be considered as clinical error. But they being new in the clinical setup, confused about their role to play in this new setup and lacked the required proficiency and authority to write independent prescriptions to patients, lacked confidence. Not having the power of writing independent prescriptions (M.Pharm PP and PharmD)is correct also in my opinion due to reasons like for a given patient  there can be apart from surgical therapy,radiation therapy, physical therapy, psychotherapy; a pharmacotherapeutic approach and also a non-pharmacotherapeutic approach, therefore a physician should always remain the captain of the ship. Howsoever, to instill confidence in such professionals,a provision had been made so as doctorate degree was conferred to clinical pharmacists of pharmacy practice stream in  form of PharmD and PharmD(PB){ 6 years course} as much like MBBS{ 5 year course}, which gave them identity and recognition and respect and competence enough to do atleast ward rounds in presence of other healthcare professionals and be vigilant in the clinical setups of corporate hospitals. Also once it is decided by physician that the mode of therapy for a particular case is through Pharmacotherapy then advice of a  pharmacist can be taken.Still there are loopholes present in this education system in India such as  PCI has termed it as integerated PG course and its not clear or public are not made aware of whether its a professional doctorate( obvious) or academic doctorate or honorary doctorate, also when we come to interns of PharmD there is still no terminologies exist as CRHPs(compulsory rotatory house pharmacists) as compared to CRHSs(compulsory rotatory house surgeons) which is used for MBBS interns ; CPE(continuous pharmacy education) as compared to CME(continuous medical education).

3. Another point of view is that each and every country has a quo status quo. They are different for each and every country in terms of various factors like culture,traditions and customs followed, liberality provided, economic status, budget affordability, applicable rules and regulations,even HDI(human developement index), GSTs and GDPs (gross domestic product) sanctioned by Government. In western developed countries, along with other healthcare sectors/ paramedical course/paraclinical courses, Pharmacy is becoming more IT oriented as well as statistically oriented in its functions and approach towards the society ie. for incorporating more transparency about drug use in society. To homogenise this kind of work system and setup in allover world, a more advanced and upgraded course was brought out for students to pursue.

4. With the improvement in economic status of countries, Government is investing more finance on the budget of Healthcare/Pharmacare system for its people.

5. Individualisation of pharmacotherapeutic treatment to individuals.




6. Bringing up a new setup of  clinical pharmacovigilant analytical system.(PVPI)


7.Bringing up Homogenization, Amalgamation & Algorithamization of Allopathy system, Pharmacoeconomic surveys & Pharmacoepidemiological surveys and Pharmaceutical trials and researches, implementation and transparency and upgrading quality and standards of pharmacare, pharma products,drug information,pharmaceutical calculations,pharmaceutical formulations,dosage forms etc.






8. To make minimum qualification for a registered pharmacist to do pharmacy practice in India, Pharm-D degree rather than D.Pharm ie. to replace the state's diploma of pharmacist.

 SOME INTERETING FACTS:



Doctor of Pharmacy Education in India-Its Genesis and Prospects: A Critical Study based on the Global Vs. Indian Scenario
The post1920 period, particularly the 1940 to 1970s, witnessed many scientific developments and achievements in the area of Hospital and Clinical Pharmacy in USA and such developments helped for starting Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) in American Universities in the 1950s as an innovative program in pharmacy.
Pharm.D.is a professional doctor degree in Pharmacy and has become a global program by 2000 AD. The Pharm.Dstudents are provided with the opportunity to gain experience in patient care at hospital and community levels, in close association with other health care professionals.Universities conducting Pharm.D have to continuously enhance the curriculum with new course  offerings that reflect the pharmacist’s importance as a frontline health care provider.
The first effort to introduce Pharm.D in India was initiated in Government Medical College ; Trivandrum in 1999 when the syllabus and regulations framed with the help of some American Universities got approved by the Board of Studies and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Kerala. It was designed as a post graduate program,but could not be started for some reasons.
Later in 2008, the Pharmacy council of India (PCI) managed to introduce both six year regular PharmD and the three year post baccalaureate Pharm.D in the country through a Gazette notification of Government of India dated 16th May 2008. The norms and regulations for Pharm.D program were also prescribed and notified. 
By 2013 November, the PCI had given approval to over 140 institutions mainly in South Indian States. Only four Government institutions have so far started Pharm.D in India.
The Indian Pharm.D needs the care and active involvements of pharmacy practice professionals as well as M.D Pharmacologist professionals in its growing stages.