Over 2000 pharmacy lectures, professors and principals across the country will congregate for the 8th Annual National Convention of the Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India (APTI) to be held at Hubli on October 17 and 18, 2003.

The event is being held for the third time in Karnataka. APTI ‘s first ever convention was held at Mysore in 1995 and Bangalore in 1997. Pharmacy colleges in Karnataka are recognised nationally for the education quality. “We had to select Hubli only because the designated location at Indore for the 8th APTI did not materialise,” said Prof. BG Shivananda, secretary APTI and principal, Al-Ameen College of Pharmacy.

The theme of the event is ‘Self Regulation and Professional Standards in Pharmaceutical Education.’ The topic’s aim is highlight the fact that pharmacy teachers have to create their own benchmark in their profession and improve the standards of education, said Dr. S Gayathri Devi, professor and head, department Pharmaceutical marketing and management, Al-Ameen College of Pharmacy.

According to Dr. R S Gaud, president APTI, the theme of the event is to help the pharmacy teachers to create their own yardstick and provide the much-needed fillip to teaching standards.

The two-day event will commence with theme lecture by Dr. E Venkata Rao, retired professor, pharmacy, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh University who provide his perspective on the future requirements of pharmacy education in the country.

There will be panel discussion on the regulatory issues related to D Pharm and B Pharm tabulated by Dr. Gaud as chairman of the panel and Prof. VM Aurangabadkar, principal MGV College of Pharmacy, Nashik as co-chairman along with members of the panel -Prof RK Goyal, LM College of Pharmacy Ahmedabad and Prof. SB Bhise, principal Govt. College of Pharmacy, Aurangabad. This will be followed by a KLE oration and poster presentation.

The second day will start with the Prof. ML Schroff Memorial Lecture sponsored by the 54th IPC Pune which will cover the Quality assurance in pharmacy education by Dr. D Satyanarayana, NGSM College of Pharmacy, Mangalore who is the recipient of the Principal of the Year award along with Dr. Y Madhusudan Rao, professor, Kakatiya University as panel chairman and Dr. KPR Chowdary, Waltair, Andhra Pradesh University, who is the winner of the Pharmacy Teacher 2003 award.

There will also be a panel discussion on regulatory issues for M Pharma and PhD programmes followed by a session on Pharmacy Practise for better patient care and about the Women Teachers in Pharmacy education.

Dr. Gaud said that the convention is expected to provide an opportunity for academicians, researchers and professionals to enhance knowledge.

The venue of the event is the KLE College of Engineering and Technology which is a part of the Karnataka Lingayat Education (KLE) Society that has more than 120 education institutions located all over the State imparting courses in degrees and post graduation.