With the Indian pharmaceutical industry growing to maturity, hatching up sufficient manpower has become a tough task for the country. Fortunately, in this wake a number of educational institutes have opened up new courses and campuses in North India to fill this gap.

On its part, the government has also entered the scene by setting up four more National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) and is all set to establish two more in the country. If industry reports are to be believed, some private companies in North India are also weighing options to open new NIPER-like institutes. Thus, overall, the education scenario in northern parts of India looks promising for the industry.

The planning commission, which identified clinical trials as one of the most booming areas, has projected acute shortage of clinical research personnel. According to the panel, about 30,000-50,000 personnel are needed to meet the growing demand. Institute of Clinical Research India (ICRI) has been a pioneer to land in the area. The ICRI has now gone further all the way to introduce a new course - an MBA programme in healthcare management.

Likewise, Symogen has emerged a pioneer in introducing training programme in yet another promising segment - pharmacovigilance. After completion of two batches, now the company is launching its third batch in Delhi from September.

The premier institutions like Delhi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research (DIPSAR), Global Institute of Intellectual Property (GIIP), APIC Institute of HealthCare Studies and Indian Institute of Pharmaceutical Marketing (IIPM) are also in the foray, doing their bit to catch up with the trends.

Symogen -Pharmacovigilance edge
Pharmacovigilance is one of the crucial areas to reflect the maturity of the pharmaceutical industry. The Delhi-based Symogen India is the only institution in the country to offer a certificate course in pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology with a view to train students and be part of the national pharmacovigilance programme in an effective way.

With the increasing number of drugs on one part and competition turning sharp on the other part, the authorities have task cut out on the pharmacovigilance programme. But the sector is faced with shortage of skilled people and in such a situation as this the importance of a course like this becomes evident.

Symogen has successfully conducted two certificate courses and the course for the third batch will begin from September 6 in its Delhi campus. The first batch was in Delhi, while the second was held in Mumbai. "The course has been a wonderful success and the third batch is all set to begin in a short span of time," according to Symogen managing director Dr Pipasha Biswas, who has a long experience in the field.

"This course is conducted on part-time basis for four months. Mini workshops will be conducted as part of the teaching process to include practical examples to specific modules," he added.

Doctors/physicians of all disciplines, post graduates in pharmacy and bio-sciences (both MSc and PhD) and junior professionals in the pharmaceutical and IT industry, clinical research organisations, BPOs, academia and regulatory agencies can join the course, company country head Vijay Matta said.

Leading specialists in medical and pharmaceutical industry, reputed academicians and trained and qualified pharmacovigilance experts from India and abroad (UK, Sweden, USA, Thailand, and other countries) form the faculty of Symogen.

Symogen is a UK-based company with expertise in all aspects of pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology. The company is also planning to support the National Pharmacovigilance Programme, apart from developing a National level Indian Safety Database for Adverse Drug Reactions along with Chennai-based Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Symogen has expertise in areas like regulatory affairs and strategy, investigator brochure, toxicological studies, BA/BE studies, clinical trials phases II and III, pharmacovigilance and audits (in association with Symogen UK).

ICRI - Powering clinical trial education
As the pioneers of clinical research studies, Institute of Clinical Research India has already established its name in the field with six campuses, including one in Delhi.

In association with European clinical trial leader Cranfield University, ICRI conducts programmes on clinical trial education. It offers M.Sc in clinical research programme at its campus.

The course offers option for specialisation in hospital operation management or medical tourism in the second year. It has tied up with Academy of Hospital Administration for jointly conducting hospital operations management and healthcare industry related courses. For medical tourism, the ICRI has an agreement with Singapore Health, which will provide course modules and faculty, according to its chairman S R Dugal.

"The country is lacking enough manpower both in the areas of medical tourism and hospital operations, as India is fast becoming a hot destination for medical tourists and corporate culture is turning out to be a must norm for the hospitals to handle them," said Dr M Srivastava who has taken over as the head of the new health division.

The course would be held at its campuses in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kochi and Bangalore. In all, about 250 students would be admitted for the programme,
Mr Dugal noted.