It can be said that the pharmacy education in India is the result of efforts of Prof. M L Schroff. He was instrumental in starting a regular B.Pharm course of three years in 1937. Today, pharmacy education has experienced a phenomenal growth with 450-degree colleges training more than 25,000 students at B.Pharm level. But the question is 'Is this development in a right perspective?'
Many experts feel that it is necessary to lay down a clear policy to better the quality of pharmacy education in the country. For this, promotion of postgraduate education and research in higher pharmacy institutions and maintenance of standards like accreditation and quality assurance are a must. Apart, it is felt that it is necessary to plan for a substantial increase in the pharmaceutical teaching community, particularly in the new emerging areas of the study, to turn India into an international acclaimed pharmaceutical centre.
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.
The institutions imparting pharmacy education are affiliated to medical university or technical university. The pharmacy degrees are awarded by faculties of science, technology or medicine and not by the faculty of pharmaceutical sciences. Standards and names for starting new pharmacy colleges and for their running are prescribed by AICTE.
Globally pharmaceutical profession is in the throes of adding more values to its services. Pharmacist in the modern times is looked upon as a caregiver, decision-maker, communicator, community leader, manager, life long learner and role model with a social commitment (Seven Star Pharmacist - preparing the future Pharmacist - Vancouver 1997).
In the new millennium, due to technological innovation and improved communication, winds of change are sweeping in every sphere of human efforts and pharmacy cannot be an exception to these new changes.
Harmonization of pharmaceutical education has to be made an agenda of top priority in India to include the latest developments that have taken place in basic, medical and pharmaceutical sciences for matching the expectations of the Indian society.
A comprehensive pharmaceutical education policy should be evolved in India for governing the pharmacy education in India.
Guidelines for drafting an ideal pharma policy
The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) should be made the only statutory body to govern pharmacy education at Diploma, Degree, PG and Research levels. The pharmacy act should be amended to give necessary powers for PCI for giving approvals for starting new pharmacy colleges. The role of AICTE should be scrapped. Dual control by two regulatory authorities will lead to confusion. The PCI should be the apex body to empower. QIP programmes should be conducted for upgrading the qualifications of pharmacy teaching faculty.
PCI should lay down a policy with clear guidelines for expansion of the highest quality of pharmacy education in the country. It should also ensure balanced regional development of pharmacy colleges in the country.
A separate recruitment board on par with UPSC for evolving on national basis, the broad norms and guidelines for recruitment of pharmacy teachers and for fixing scales of pay, service conditions etc.
The role of National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) should be enlarged and it should be given the mandate to upgrade the quality of education at other pharmaceutical schools in the country and also to offer assistance to the pharmacy profession and industry. The areas where NIPER needs to concentrate are quality of admission procedure, kind of environment for teaching and learning process, laboratory training, examination pattern, counselling and personal activities. Recently, the NIPER has taken a right initiative by starting its branches at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
Impart specialization at the graduate level to make pharmacists identified as professionals, as hospital, clinical, community or industrial pharmacists. Today both pharmaceutical and hospital sector have developed enormously. They need competent persons with strong foundations in their subjects. For example, clinical pharmacy services in hospitals need pharmacists who can advice doctors on selection of drugs, counsel patients, perform therapeutic drug monitoring etc. Similarly pharmaceutical industry needs pharmacists who can operate, maintain and supervise sophisticated machineries used in pharmaceutical production and analysis. Hence, separations and improvement of clinical and industrial subjects as specializations at the undergraduate level is required.
Globally, pharmacy education curriculum is more clinical in orientation. Pharmacy education in the developed nations is attached to hospitals. The pharmacy profession is more lucrative in other parts of the world. Hence harmonization of pharmacy education should be such that the pharmacist must be capable to face the future challenges emanating from advent of new technologies for drug invention and manufacturing. The pharmacy curriculum should equip graduates with competencies applicable in a world where national borders no longer hinder the global flow of technologies and products. It is also the ability of academic communities to attract and integrate intelligence of any nationality seamlessly.
The government should adopt one pharmacy college in every major city. They should be the model colleges with government funding and the programmes conducted should be given the right kind of trust and perspective.
A pharmacist should be exposed to such aspects in the academics that he can be in any one of the following professional categories of jobs:
a. Chemist and druggist engaged in selling of medicines.
b. Manager and administrator of pharmaceuticals services working for various regulatory authorities and pharmaceutical systems.
c. Academicians (teachers of pharmacy)
d. Specialist in research and development i.e., research of new drug molecules, biotechnological investigations etc.
e. Community and hospital pharmacists with specialized knowledge in drug usage, side effects, contra indications, incompatibilities, storage conditions of drugs, dosage regimen etc.
f. Occupational specialist (industrial pharmacist engaged in pharmaceutical technology) i.e., manufacture of various dosage forms, analysis and quality control, clinical trials, post marketing surveillance, patent applications, drug registrations.
Special emphasis should be given while designing the pharmacy curriculum to include the general aspects of communication skills, which go a long way in helping the pharmacy graduates to face the job world with confidence. Some of the attributes that a pharmacist needs to develop are: analytical capabilities, decision making including problem solving, graphical, computer skills, management skills, aptitude for life long learning, ability to master knowledge from inter-disciplinary subjects and integrative skills.
The pharmacy curriculum should be designed to give more emphasis to patient care. More topics of relevance should be included in the subjects of anatomy & physiology, biochemistry, clinical pharmacology, clinical data analysis, pathophysiology, drug information, interactions and social pharmacy.
Sufficient changes should be brought in the healthcare system of the country. Each state should create a separate pharmaceutical directorate, which can appoint a graduate pharmacist at each primary health centre and government hospital.
The present pharmacy curriculum has produced half a million qualified pharmacists but not many are trained professionals.
There should be constructive linkage between academia, pharmacy practitioners and community in generating useable information based on the rapid technological and professional changes taking place in the society.
Except for few exceptions like NIPER, the universities and other colleges of pharmacy have hardly any productive linkage with community, pharmaceutical industry and pharmacy practitioners.
Instead of including IAS, IPS and other bureaucrats in the policy formulation, pharmaceutical scientists of sound calibre should be included in the committees at the top level, which look into the implementation and monitoring of pharmaceutical research activities. There is a dire need for blocking bureaucratic and political interference in the working of the pharmacy institutions.
Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) should be initiated by Govt of India. Creating an independent board, which will gauge the quality of research in pharmacy institutions, can do this. The findings should be made public and should form the basis for governmental funding of research projects in pharmaceutical sciences.
Indian pharmacy education system ranked among top three in the world by size, is known for its poor standing in pharmaceutical research. Even the best of the Indian pharmacy institutions are yet to make their mark globally as far as pharmaceutical research is concerned. Research culture should be inculcated. Each pharmacy institution must find its own way to institutionalise the culture of research.
Academic and co-curricular activities
In future, all the pharmacy institutions should adopt a calendar of academic and other activities. Some of the novel approaches in this direction are:
1. Reputed research scientists can be invited to the host institution and they can spend a week with pharmacy students, interacting with them on a variety of topics.
2. Minimum two annual research symposiums should be organised by every institution.
3. A healthcare grid should be created interconnecting the healthcare institutions of government, corporate and super specialty hospitals, Research institutions, Pharmacy institutions and ultimately pharmacy R&D 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)