The University Dept. of Interpathy & Research Technology of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), in collaboration with Seth G S Medical College & KEM Hospital, Mumbai, is starting a two-year postgraduate degree course in Pharmaceutical Medicine (M Sc Pharma. Med) from this academic year.

M Sc Pharma. Med core curriculum is based on International Federation of Association of Pharmaceutical Physicians (IFAPP) curriculum standards. Students having degrees in MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BUMS, BHMS or any Health Science Graduate, M Sc (Bio-Chemistry, Microbiology, Botany, Zoology, Chemistry, Physiology, Pharmacology, Biotechnology), B Pharm. or higher are eligible to apply for the two year course, with four semesters. Sanctioned 60 seats are available for the course and the last date for filing applications are July 15, 2006.

According to Dr Madhukar Lahankar, registrar, MUHS, the degree shall be awarded by Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik and the students would be posted for two terms at Nashik and Pune. The course will be a comprehensive training course in pharmaceutical medicine and education would be provided by leading experienced teachers, pharmacologists from University, pharmaceutical industries, regulatory authorities, academic researchers and research organizers.

This programme consists of 12 modules and will cover subjects like fundamentals of basic sciences & clinical aspects of medicine, discovery of new medicines, pharmaceutical development, toxicity testing, legal and ethical issues, development of medicines, clinical trials & basic bioinformatics, statistics and data management, safety of medicines, regulatory affairs, information, promotion and education, economics of healthcare, medical department, development of drug from herbal sources, analytical methods for standardization of herbal drug, genomics & biotechnology and new drug delivery systems.