Following the footstep of the Kerala State Medical Services Corporation Ltd (KSMSCL), the Kerala state pharmacy council has also devised a training programme for fresh pharmacy graduates instilling the basic skills needed for managing a pharmacy in community level and hospitals.

To introduce the new scheme in a comprehensive manner, the Council has started a training institute to provide practical training to the aspiring pharmacists and orienting the pharmacy professionals. The inauguration of the training institute, State Institute for Pharmacists’ Advanced Training (SIPAT), will be held in March 2012, and he enrolment for the institute from D Pharm, B Pharm, M Pharm and Pharm D holders has already been started, said K C Ajith Kumar, president of the Council.

Recently the KSMSCL had started a training course for its newly recruited pharmacy graduates to handle the soon-to-be-launched ‘Karunya” medical shops. It was reported that the medical services corporation has found the fresh graduates inefficient to run a pharmacy, hence skilled training was fixed for them with the assistances of drugs control department, hospital pharmacies and pharmacy council. This has persuaded the pharmacy council to adopt the scheme for finding a solution to the shortage of skilled manpower in the sector.

The institute plans to train four batches of 50 candidates each year. Pharmacists for the Medical Corporation’s forthcoming chain of pharmacies will also be trained in this centre. The retired director of Amritha College of Pharmacy, Dr K G Revikumar has been made the director of the institute.

“The current situation of the pharma retail market is very competitive, so skilled and efficient pharmacist is required for every new pharmacy for good service. Only education is not sufficient to manage a drug store, the present day pharmacy graduates lack the basic skills needed for functioning. This is due to the lack of up-gradation of syllabus by Universities and lack of practical exposure to drug stores, paying counters, industries and allied streams during their education. So the training course will make them  practically efficient pharmacists,” said Dr Revikumar.

The course will cover a wide range of practical subjects in the area of drug management including warehouse management, procurement strategy, drug policies, inventory control techniques, storage related issues, drug information, patient-centred problems, etc. After the completion of the course the candidates will be able to control a pharmacy independently, he added.

For facilitating practical training at the counters, apart from medical colleges, the council has made tie up with major private hospital pharmacies and chain pharmacies across the state. The three-month course will be residential training and a nominal fee will be collected from the participants for their food and accommodation.

The director said that besides pharmacy orientation the candidates will be trained in pharma marketing, pharmacy teaching, pharma journalism and industry jobs. He said this is the first of its kind training catering to aspiring pharmacists in India by a pharmacy council. Those who complete the training course will be eligible to work under the procurement agencies of WHO and UNICEF, he said.