The Hospital Pharmacy Division of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association in a letter sought Medical Council of India to incorporate some key provisions into the ‘MCI Regulations 1999 & Amendment 2010’. This may help to generate more jobs of pharmacists in various capacities in medical colleges with the increase in the number of MBBS seats.
 
The amended MCI guidelines deal with some provisions of Central Hospital Pharmacy, Central Hospital Stores (pharmacy), Pharmaceutical Chemist and Qualified Pharmacists. Since they are very precise in nature, the guidelines need some more insertions of provisions with specific elaboration. Once these provisions are inserted, a minimum of 40 posts of pharmacists at various levels can be created in each medical college hospital, said Dr R N Gupta, Chairman, hospital pharmacy division of IPA.
 
While speaking to Pharmabiz over telephone from Ranchi, he said the provisions need to be included are relating to sections of equipment, space and staff (pharmacists) in Schedule I, II & III. When these provisions are included, they will get a perfect form with regard to handling of medicines in attached hospitals, and in imparting knowledge of drugs to medical students.
 
He said the IPA’s hospital pharmacy division has put forward some suggestions for the consideration of the MCI in respect of posts and qualifications of pharmacists in the medical colleges.
 
As per the suggestions, there should be one Chief Pharmacist whose qualification can be either Ph.D. in Pharmacy or Pharm. D or M. Pharm. Officers with designations of ‘Section in charge’ should be created and their basic qualification should be M. Pharm. In each college five to eight such posts are required. Besides, for the routine work, 20-40 pharmacy graduates must be appointed for the requirements in teaching hospitals, in Central Hospital Pharmacy and in Central Hospital Stores. These posts should be specified in the schedule I of the MCI regulations.
 
Another demand of the IPA-HPD is that M. Pharm. (Pharmacology) should be incorporated with M.Sc. qualification under Schedule II for non-clinical subjects. One Post of Pharmaceutical Chemist in Pharmacology dept (in Schedule II) must be retained, as it was deleted in Amendment, 2009.
 
The letter demands for a provision of appointment of pharmacist in each rural and urban training health centre, and it should be included in Schedule II. Provisions for at least 40 vacancies of pharmacists are to be included in Schedule II D (Staff requirement for ancillary Services 1-11 sections) because number of pharmacists has not been specified along with 500 – 600 personnel in college.
 
Equipments such as Disintegration testing apparatus, Dissolution testing apparatus,  Tablet hardness tester, Friability Tester, Seitz Filter, Sintered glass filter, Laminar flow cabinet, pH meter, Colorimeter, Polarimeter etc are needed in Pharmacy Laboratory, and HPLC, HPTLC, Polarimeter, Polorograph, GLC, Potentiometer, Karl Fisher apparatus,  FTIR are required in Pharmacology Laboratory. These have to be included under Schedule III (Equipment Requirement).

Finally, the letter to the MCI says, the built up area for Central Hospital Pharmacy should be at least 250 sq mt in place of 100 sq mt as mentioned in the Amendment Notification dated. 30th January, 2010.

Pharmacists having qualifications like PhD in Pharmacy, Pharm.D, M. Pharm, B. Pharm and D. Pharm are available in plenty for Pharmacy services and they have knowledge of drug molecule, research, manufacture, testing, drug action (pharmacology), storage, use, dispensing, distribution, regulatory affairs etc. As a counterpart to the doctor and as an intermediary between the doctor and the patient, the services of these pharmacists can be well used, Dr Gupta pointed out in the letter.
 
Dr. Gupta, who is also the Associate Professor of Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, said the  Hospital Pharmacy services are not limited to mere dispensing of drugs in hospitals but it also covers some other activities such as Drug Store Inventory Management, Hospital Formulary & Drug Procurement, Indoor & Outdoor dispensing, Clinical  Pharmacy, Patient Counselling, Quality Assurance of Medicines, Nuclear Pharmacy, Manufacture of Sterile and Non-sterile Medicines, Drug Information Centre and Pharmacovigilance.

The MCI guidelines state that maximum number of admissions in the MBBS course shall not exceed 150 annually.