Knowledge updation and practical exposure are the two essential ingredients for empowering a pharmacist so that he can truly evolve in his profession, according to a panel of experts from the pharmacy colleges in the country.
On the one hand, it is necessary to introduce a new legislation to hire pharmacists in the related job opportunities right from the government to the private sector, on the other, he should be provided the required skills sets, said Dr. Mahesh D. Burande, President, Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India and Principal, CAYMET's Siddhant College of Pharmacy, Sudumbare, Pune.
The government should ensure that adequate employment opportunities are made available and strategic investments made at each stage to create lucrative and promising job avenues. Now with the advent of Pharm D, government should put in necessary legislations in place for the compulsory presence of a qualified pharmacist across its government hospitals and primary health centres. This would make a big difference to the qualified pharmacy candidates in the country, said Dr. Burande.
Only the latest syllabus along with adequate work exposure will enable a pharmacist to grow to the next level of growth, said DA Gundu Rao, president, Karnataka State Pharmacy Council who added that knowledge is the biggest empowerment for the pharmacist.
A relevant syllabi is vital to remain updated in a fast changing world. If a pharmacist is armed with the technical know-how and practical exposure, he could be of great help to the society with his expertise.
The lacuna in the current scenario is that there is a lack of awareness on the importance of a pharmacy education and the possible job opportunities. If the government takes on the onus to recognize the indispensability of pharmacist in the healthcare space and in the regulatory service, India will be able to achieve its goals of its project Pharma Vision 2020, a project to make the country one of the top five global pharma innovation hubs by the year 2020, said Dr. Burande.
Today, Indian pharmacists are lacking in one major front which is in the area of skill upgradation. A pharmacist role is not mere dispensation of drugs but he needs to be a dependable source of guidance to a patient .Now to begin with, the need of the hour is to update the Diploma in Pharmacy (D Pharm) syllabus. There has been no change in syllabus since 1992 and this is a sad state of the education system. Now PCI though its Education Regulation Committee coming under the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has now finalized the D Pharm syllabus which will transform the education for the entry level diploma holders in pharmacy. The new syllabus is expected to be enforced from the coming academic year, July 2014.
The committee headed by Dr. FV Manvi, dean and professor of Pharmaceutics, Department of Pharmaceutics, KLE University’s College of Pharmacy, Belgaum has gone in for major revamp and curriculum update to ensure that the candidates are in sync with the latest developments, along with inclusion of Ayush systems of medicine. In addition two new subjects Social Pharmacy and Phamaco-Therapeutics are included and seen as vital topics in terms of understanding the clinical applications of biochemistry and pathology. This would definitely empower the pharmacists. A relevant and field-oriented syllabus with a reasonable salary would transform the pharmacist image. It would help lead him to a quality growth path of professionalism. It would see the emergence of cross-functional career opportunities for a diploma pharmacy entrant who in a few years could manage a team of pharmacists in a large pharmacy outlet format. Compared to the western world, pharmacists are not given adequate importance in India. Even his presence is ignored at a pharmacy outlet, pointed out Rao.
With the practical and theoretical exposure to blood pressure checks, carrying out simple pathology lab tests, the pharmacy profession will gain significance ground. It has been disheartening to note that even in the government of India’s Health Policy 2002, there was no mention a pharmacist instead nurses were given more importance. This indicated that efforts were needed to be made to ensure that diploma holder or a graduate in pharmacy needed to find a place in the Indian healthcare space. The empowerment of knowledge for the pharmacist was seen to be best way. Now with the revised syllabus and with the first batch of the Pharm D graduates passing out in 2014, we are confident the profession is on its way to gaining limelight, he added.
Chiming in Dr. D Sreedhar, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacy Management, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal University, said Pharmacists should be empowered and should be made as active members of the healthcare system. Indian government should intervene and empower pharmacists. They should be empowered to screen or test some common disorders and also in patient counselling. They can also be involved in giving vaccine shots and prescribe medicines related to smoking cessation. However, while doing so they should always maintain decorum and propriety of the profession and should uphold the code of ethics. Healthcare system in India needs to be streamlined and sensible reforms should be brought without compromising on patient care.
Prof. Dr. S. Mohan, Principal & Director, PES College of Pharmacy, Bengaluru said that the true potential of a pharmacist on par with western countries is being realized now, with the advent of Pharm D programme. The various dimensions of pharmacy practice like adverse drug reporting and monitoring, drug utilization review, drug information , patient counselling and pharmacovigilance were never the part of pharmacy profession in India .
The main thrust has always been on dispensing ,manufacturing, marketing and any developmental and research activities. All of these were industry-oriented. From the point of view of employment, the major sector was industry only, and at the government level analytical and enforcement were the two areas of job openings, he added.
When it comes to the point of empowerment, in all these existing portfolios, there has been encroachment by not qualified or non-specialized candidates due to lack of clear cut guidelines for employment. For example, especially in pharma industry, almost anybody can get employed in various departments without having a basic qualification. Even at the government level, science graduates other than pharmacy could enter into the profession. Now the true empowerment will come only with the specific enforcement of rules across all the sectors, making pharmacy as the basic qualification. Otherwise, the very purpose of specialized education and training in the field of pharmacy loses its purpose, noted Prof. Mohan.
When it comes to enforcement of law , there is a lack of strict compliance from both the stake holders i.e., the department enforcing the law and persons practising the profession. Strict adherence to the law from both the groups will result in quality services being delivered to the society .Hence, the empowerment can come from unambiguous implementation of the rules and regulations and strict enforcement of punishment. The new dimension of pharmacy profession in India is the pharmacy practice being projected through commencement of the Pharm D programme. This will be able to achieve desired objectives, provided proper employment opportunities are ensured by bringing in suitable legislation and passing appropriate laws, said the Principal & Director, PES College of Pharmacy.
The government may enforce through proper rules and regulations, the appointment of one pharmacist (Pharm D qualified) in every hospital based on the bed strength .The government in order to ensure quality health services in all hospitals and nursing homes may fix the ratio of one qualified pharmacist for every 100-bed strength, besides insisting for one qualified pharmacist in every primary health centre, said Prof. Mohan.
Dr. Burande recommends six Ps to empower a pharmacist .These are positive attitude, passion to contribute, product knowledge, pharma company experience spanning from raw materials to finished products, patents, prescription review to identify drug reactions, practical exposure to new advances covering drug delivery devices. The role of the pharmacist is to protect, nurture, save and extend life of patients.
Pharmacy profession in India has come a long way from almost non-existent in 19th century to the present state. Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), a statutory body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare strengthened the profession of pharmacy. To meet the demands of the country on the practice side, it has introduced Doctor of Pharmacy or Pharm D, a six year programme. They are set to make a difference in medicines management and prepared for working hand in hand with other allied professions. Pharm D programme is basically initiated to empower pharmacists’. However, it is been totally misunderstood as a ‘threat to physicians’, said Dr. Sreedhar.