The Association of Pharmacy Teachers of India (APTI) is the academic platform for pharmacy professors. Ahead of the 8th annual convention of APTI at Hubli on October 17-, 2003, where pharmacy professors from across the country will deliberate on the theme `Self regulation in maintaining the highest standards in pharmaceutical education', Dr. R S Gaud, president, APTI, says pharmacy teachers must create their own benchmark to provide the much-needed fillip to teaching standards.
Dr. Gaud, a PhD from Devi Ahilya University Indore, believes clinical and community pharmacy is a new trend in pharmacy education.
Being associated with pharmacy education for last two decades, he has presented several papers at international forums in USA, Holland, Thailand, France and Canada. More than 85 papers have been published and he has authored seven pharmacy books and guided five PhDs. In 2000, he was selected Advisor-II in AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) Delhi and promoted as Senior Advisor in 2002. He is currently an Advisor (UG) and Chief Vigilance Officer, AICTE.
Dr Gaud has worked at the Research and Institutional Development Bureau and Quality Assurance Bureau. In his present assignment he is trying to bring in more transparency in approvals in technical education.
Dr Gaud, who was in Bangalore recently, discussed at length with Nandita Vijay of Pharmabiz.com on the current issues in pharmacy education. Excerpts:

How do you view the state of pharmacy teaching in the country today?

Quality of pharmacy education in India is a major concern. Today, though the number of institutions imparting pharmacy courses is adequate, quality is questionable. Though there are 274 degree colleges with 13,941 students, 354 diploma institutions with 18,942 students and 167 postgraduate colleges with 1,658 students, the number of accredited institutions like the National Institute of Pharmacy Education Research (NIPER) are very few.
Faculty strength and its quality is a problem. The education system is not geared for the WTO era.
Management is not proactive in providing facilities and necessary educational environment. National pay scales are not fully implemented and hence good academia is missing.
There are a few centers of excellence where students get all the facilities and are well placed after their graduation. In the next decade, pharmaceutical industries will scout for pharmacy graduates who are inclined to research. Therefore, pharmacy colleges must appoint the right faculty.

When the industry is on the threshold of a paradigm shift, what are the changes you anticipate in pharmacy education?

Community pharmacy and clinical pharmacy will dominate and India will have to accept this challenge of changing basic approach in pharmacy education. Pharmacy education would have to be attached to a separate Directorate for its proper development. There will be a shift from industry to health in educational approach. Only those institutions capable of handling professional requirements and are able to deliver quality education with a focus on industry-oriented research/health care/community pharmacy will survive. Pharmacy colleges will have to take on the challenges of quality improvement, lest they perish.

Is the current standard of pharmacy education in the country on par with international standards?

In the West, pharmacy education is patient-oriented and is responsible for Healthcare Management, while in India pharmacy education is industry-oriented. Nearly 55 per cent of the jobs are available in the industry sector while 30 per cent in education. There are only three per cent jobs in healthcare. There must be revolutionary changes in the healthcare system e.g. making laws for appointing pharmacists at each Primary Health Centre and government hospitals. There should be adequate staff in the state drugs control departments for better control of drug distribution system.

Early this year you had expressed the need for quality improvement of all the institutions coming under AICTE and the need for networking of institutions to make use of the available resources and equipment. What are the efforts in this direction?

The Council has accelerated the accreditation activities by organizing awareness workshops, offering benefits to accredited institutions. The Council has also introduced a new Performance Appraisal Scheme so that institutions which have not qualified for accreditation will be graded according to their infrastructure. This will help stakeholders in knowing the type of institution they are opting for.

How successful are the Industry-Institute Partnership Cells sponsored by AICTE?

AICTE supports quality research activities, provides grants for industry institution partnership cells, entrepreneurship development programmes, provides funds for modernization and has nationally coordinated projects with annual budgets of Rs 60 crore. Pharmacy education has been allocated funds on par with other disciplines of technical education based on the quality of the projects submitted by the faculty. The Council has also introduced two annual research awards on AICTE day and this year both awardees were from pharmacy education. However, the involvement of pharmacy institutions in these activities is limited. Management and pharmacy faculty have to be pro-active in utilizing these facilities to excel.
Faculty from the University Teaching departments and autonomous institutions are offering consultancy services to drug industries and pharmacy institutions. All India Board of Pharmacy Education constituted by AICTE is updating the curricula, which is being implemented by most of the universities. Resource sharing and faculty exchange programmes are yet to be looked into.

In what stage of implementation is the Central government's Education Regulation 2001 (ER2001), which would have scrapped diploma courses and introduced pharmacy curriculum of global standards?

There are several issues to be considered before implementing the ER 2001. The authorities concerned are looking into and only then can it be implemented. It must be implemented at the earliest and there is no alternative.

What is the status on D Pharm courses and if it is scrapped what is the impact on polytechnic institutions?

There is no need to scrap Diploma courses. The diploma holders can be employed as Pharmacy Assistants like in the US. Lateral entry may be continued for those who are interested in the updating knowledge. But till it is accepted by regulatory bodies, diploma should be continued in its present form.

There are objections from the pharmacy trade sector on abolishing D Pharm. They object to bachelor's degree as the basic qualification for pharmacy practice and are lobbying for experienced non-qualified persons to man drug stores. Is this possible?

If we study the international scenario, even small countries like Singapore and Thailand have upgraded their system. Market forces will always try to overpower the system, but looking into the national requirement and providing better facilities in the healthcare system, India cannot afford to lower the present standards. Instead it has to raise its standards else in post-WTO era, there will be chaos and other countries will get the benefit of the system.

Could you throw some light on the regulatory issues related to D Pharm and B Pharm courses?

Presently Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) and AICTE are the regulatory bodies looking into pharmacy education. AICTE is responsible for its 'birth' and 'nourishment ' while PCI is responsible for evaluating whether the education is of minimum standards of diploma level to ensure that the candidate is fit to work as a registered pharmacist for drug distribution. The AICTE tried to frame a memorandum of understanding with the PCI for diploma education but this did not materialize. However, the mandate is clear in the act that lower qualifications must not be considered during evaluation. There is a need to reduce the institutional visits by regulatory bodies.

Your comments on the theme at this year's APTI "Self regulation in maintaining the highest standards in pharmaceutical education"

Overall, the education system is based not only on infrastructure but also on the teachers. Immorality and mismanagement has taken over education. As pharmacy teachers, we have to regulate ourselves, update our knowledge, deliver excellence and inspire students by adapting values in our own personality. Time management is the other factor that we will have to bring in. Education, which we have to deliver, must be of highest standard so that our graduates should not be a liability, but should be able to deliver excellence at national and international levels.