The pharmacy profession in India has attained new horizons and heights in the present scenario. Various governing factors may be accountable for this tremendous trend of growth but one commonly ignored factor is the emergence of various allied courses related to pharmacy profession directly or indirectly. Such courses may be exemplified as Certificates, Diplomas and Post Graduate Diplomas in pharma marketing, hospital administration, quality control, quality assurance, Intellectual property rights, clinical trials etc. There is an immense need to identify and fix the role of such allied courses as far as pharmacy profession is concerned.
The present era has witnessed an educational revolution supplemented with high technological advancements. Competition has become an inevitable ingredient to attain success in educational field. The pharmacy profession is also not devoid of it. The competitive nature of successful pharmacy career has laid down the foundation of various allied courses related to the field of pharmacy. Fresh pharmacy gradates and post graduate students are getting attracted by such allied courses like Certificates, Diplomas and post graduate Diplomas in pharmaceutical marketing, hospital administration, quality control (QC), quality assurance (QA), Intellectual property rights (IPR), clinical trials etc. The rationale behind such courses may be to inculcate distinct and special skills and knowledge into the pharmacy aspirants so that they may enhance the development of professional attributes in them and thereby ensuring a bright and a successful pharmacy career.
Contents of allied courses
The allied courses mentioned above become a more significant with the introduction of various new courses and specializations at post graduation level. These courses help pharmacy professionals engaged in different professional streams of pharmacy viz. pharmaceutics, pharmacology, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmaceutical marketing, quality assurance, quality control etc to accomplish the assigned project in an effective and efficient manner. The contents of the curriculum has been designed in such a way that after qualifying them successfully the pharmacy professionals find themselves able to establish them "unique" having special knowledge and skills in the respective fields. Most of the allied courses are done through correspondence; distance learning mode and therefore in-depth subject knowledge is made available on the relevant topics to the candidates. The study material is self-explanatory inmost of the cases and in some cases, lecture methodology is adopted. Such mode of education along with the job provides ample opportunities to the pharmacy professionals to get success.
Merits and demerits of allied courses
Merits
● Raising the technical skill level and nurturing the professional acumen of pharmacy professionals.
● Helpful in getting promotion, though it may be short term.
● Helpful in providing the in-depth subject knowledge in certain specialized matters.
● Enhance the confidence level of candidates.
● Courses can be completed along with the job as most of the courses are conducted through correspondence / distance learning mode.
Demerits
● Some courses have not been recognized by good universities and competent authorities resulting in the confusion among aspirants as private bodies run majority of such courses.
● There is a possibility that the students may opt a wrong and unsuitable choice resulting in the wastage of time and money.
● The employing authorities may refuse to recognize the significance of the concerned allied courses.
Future trends
The pace with which these allied courses are spreading their wings assures their bright future. The fact to be kept in mind is that the institutes providing such courses should get themselves affiliated to legally recognized competent authorities so that standard and quality of education may be raised and maintained. In future, efforts should be directed to engage well-experienced, learned pharmacy professionals to further spread and impart such kind of education to aspirants.
Conclusion
Upcoming pharmacy professionals now have better alternatives and choices available in the form of mentioned allied courses with them to improve professional acumen and attitude. A judicious selection of the right course may prove crucial in shaping their career. The present article invites the views of intelligent thinkers and well-wishers related to the field of pharmacy on this significant issue. The authors suggest that there is an immense need to identify and fix the role of such allied courses as far as pharmacy profession is concerned.
(V.K. Sharma is with D. J. College of Pharmacy, Niwari Road, Modinagar-201 204, U.P. and Kamal Dua, UVS Sara, M. V. Ramana are with VIT, Vellore, Tamil Nadu).