Pharmacy colleges in Tamil Nadu are facing a serious problem of shortage of students for their B Pharma course. Many colleges are not getting students adequate to fill up even half of the total seat capacity, it is learnt.

Principals and teachers of pharmacy colleges here feel that the main reason for the trend is a lack of awareness among the students about the pharmacy course and its career opportunities. They say that there is a need to sensitize about the course amongst the students and parents.

All the private sector colleges in the state have excellent facilities supported by well equipped laboratories, libraries and qualified teachers. The course opens up opportunities of employment and higher studies in various levels. But the flow of students to take advantage of these courses is drying up, lament the teachers.

When Pharmabiz contacted some faculty members of pharmacy colleges, they said the B Pharm course is one of the professional courses that open up a number of vistas to the graduates on completion of the term. Lack of awareness about it has led to the feeling that it caters only for dispensary work in some hospitals or medical stores. Some initiative from government or from Pharmacy Council will, to an extent, can help the pharmacy colleges to survive, they opined.

The course is offered by 42 pharmacy colleges in Tamil Nadu including two government colleges, one in Chennai and another in Madurai. Since there are fee concessions and other financial aids by government, these two colleges do not suffer much. But, it happens to colleges in the private sector. For the last several years, majority of the 40 private pharmacy colleges in the state were unable to get up adequate students. Last year some colleges reported vacancies ranging from 20 to 70 percent of their seats. One principal of a college in southern Tamil Nadu said his college got only 6 students for B Pharm course last year even as the college keeps up all the facilities. So many colleges face the same fate.

While enumerating the reasons for the crisis, some principals said national level awareness program of the course should be conducted. The health and the education departments of the state governments and pharma industry should come forward to carry the program to edify the students as there is going to be huge requirement of qualified pharmacy professionals in future.

“The course covers a range of subjects, therefore job options are many. The sky is the limit for pharmacy graduates. They can choose careers in chemical industry to pharmacological and bio-tech research industries, but these are not popular among students in the State,” a principal of a Pharmacy college in Chennai said.

According to the academicians, the pharma and allied industries are throwing up many opportunities for those who pursue pharmacy courses. The massive growth in the pharmaceutical industry has created an increasing demand for trained pharmacists and the industry is reckoned as a fast growing sector of the economy. The jobs in the industry range from sales executives to high-end specialists in the R&D division of big pharma companies. With the growth of IT and biotechnology, the chances are expanding still faster.

Those who purse higher studies in pharmacy can go for teaching profession or try for the job of drug regulators. They can work as assistants in analytical & testing labs and in the divisions of quality control and quality assurance. Their service is required for new drug researches and in the development and formulation of medicines. In the study of bioequivalence, adverse drug reactions, reaction monitoring, assessment of drug interaction, patient interaction and in clinical researches, the pharmacist plays vital roles. Even in the marketing division, especially for exports, pharmacist’s service is very big compared to other specialists. Likewise, in a training department of a manufacturing company, the pharma experts play important roles and in documentation, preparation of data management and in consultancy services, their contribution is quite significant.

Just three years ago, there used to be a steady flow of students from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu for pharmacy courses. Subsequently, governments in these two states have realized the scope of the course and allowed private colleges to start the course. That is what has adversely affected the pharmacy colleges as a whole in Tami Nadu.

Currently in Kerala, 25 colleges are offering a degree course in pharmacy. The craze for other technical courses such as B Tech, M Tech, MCA and Life Sciences courses like Microbiology, Clinical Research, Bio-Chemistry, Bio-Informatics and Bio-Technology is also a reason for the decline in the number for students for the pharmacy course.