The Pharmacy Council of India has given approval to four more colleges to start the advanced Pharma D course from this academic year by bringing the total number of colleges selected for the programme to 26, according to Dr Suresh, president of the PCI. They are KLE College of Pharmacy-Belgaum, Vinayaka Missions's College of Pharmacy-Salem, Bharti Vidyapeeth University-Pune and Shri Ramnath Singh Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Technology- Gwalior. Earlier the Council had given green signal only to 22 colleges in various parts of the country to proceed with the new programme this year.
As per the University's regulations, to which each college is affiliated, the six-year intensive course will be conducted by each college either semester wise or annual examination wise pattern.
Vels' college of Pharmacy, Chennai, run by Vel's Education Trust, is one among the eight colleges to which the Pharmacy Council has given approval to start the Doctor of Pharmacy course in Tamil Nadu. The college is all set to begin the course by the end of this month, said Dr V Ravichandran, principal of the college. As per the norms of the PCI and Dr MGR Medical University to which the college was affiliated earlier (now to Vel's University), the college has completed all the procedures to comply with the basic parameters for starting the integrated course of B Pharm and M Pharm.
The Principal, who is also the vice-president of the Tamil Nadu Pharmacy Council, said his college has a total of 41 well-qualified faculty members while the PCI mandates for only 24 for an intake of 30 students. He said for this internationally accepted programme, the minimum qualification required for admission is fixed at Plus Two pass. However, B Pharm graduates will be permitted to join from the fourth year of the course. Hoping that the new course would widen the scope for pharmacists in healthcare, Dr Ravichandran said the course has a compulsory one-year clinical training in hospitals for which the college must have either one hospital with Medical College or tie-up with a corporate hospital with 300-bedded facility.
According to highly placed sources from the Pharmacy council, this is the first time a University approved course on pharmacy like this, is starting in India. For putting up a homogenous curriculum structure, the PCI has made a uniform syllabus system. Sources said the purely clinical oriented doctoral pharmacy course is an offshoot of globalization of medical and pharmacy education as the Pharmacy Council of India has brought pharmacy education on par with the western countries.
"This innovative programme is established after a long preparation, based on few developed country's quality services and curriculum structure. It is for rendering the highest quality services to our patients in the society compared to what is going on in the western countries. In future, the upgradation of qualification of pharmacists will enable to avoid drug interaction, repetition of drug in the prescription and help for coordination with physicians," Dr Ravichandran said while speaking to Pharmabiz.
On finishing the doctoral program the pharmacists will be able to understand and appreciate the delivery of comprehensive health care and the contribution of each health profession to patient care. He will be able to know the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and the rational selection of drugs and can communicate effectively with other health professionals and patients, it is learnt.
Besides Vel's College, there are seven more colleges and Universities were given approval to start the intensive pharmacy practice and clinical pharmacy-training course. They are J S S College of Pharmacy, Ootty, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Paramedical Sciences, Coimbatore, P S G College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Poroor, SRM College of Pharmacy, Kattankulathur, Annamala University, Chidambaram and Vinayaka Mission College of Pharmacy, Salem.