The pharmacy education in the country is a total disconnect between learning, training, and healthcare needs of the society, said Prof. SK Kulkarni, director, Bombay College of Pharmacy, Mumbai and former pro-vice chancellor and emeritus professor of Pharmacology, Punjab University.

The profession of pharmacists goes well beyond mere drug dispensing to participate at all levels of the public health system. A mere B Pharm candidate or even an M Pharm who are trained in the concepts of  pharmacovigilance, pharmacoeconomics and pharmacoepidemiology have not maximised the know-how of these subject specialisations. The candidates are not seen in the Indian public health environment which opens up responsible and lucrative job openings.

The focus on pharmacy practice and community pharmacy will create a new image of pharmacists as competent health professionals, engaged in sensitizing the community and government and others on vital issues. Therefore an introspection on the reasons for the failure of Indian pharmacists compared to global counterparts needs to be taken. A roadmap needs to be chalked out to ensure a transformation in the profession of the pharmacist, he added.

Unlike doctors, dentists and nurses, pharmacists are not considered as service cadre. General perception is that they are medicine traders. Moreover, the  pharmacists are not seen in any uniform or white aprons either at chemist outlets or in hospitals. The faculty at pharmacy colleges do not interact with doctors. Pharmacists are not part of the decision making process to select the  right medicines or in committees working on costing of drugs purchase. The current curricula is broadly industry oriented and has not changed in 80 years including the diploma course which was revised during the Education Regulation of 1991. “Now the roadmap for the future is to shun the old and unproductive mindset and overhaul education, training and research approaches. There is need to harmonize pharmaceutical education with global standards where it is a recognised, critical and indispensable clinical profession. We need to update the current from product to patient-oriented,” he added.

Further, an imperative addition to all pharmacy curricula should be social accountability. The FIP Deans Forum, 2011 had also advocated the same and it is high time Indian pharmacy education is revised on similar lines. A pharmacist needs to be trained to be assigned roles in public health where he needs to display his expertise to monitor adverse events, drug compliance, drug-drug and drug-herb interactions and safety or pharmacovigilance.

The current pharmacy education should arm the student with tools of pharmacoeconomics where he could advise on the cost-effective management of medication in an ever-growing expensive healthcare space. Pharmacoepidemiology exposure could help him to constantly interact with health workers. He could be a part of a pandemic disease outbreak and partner with non-government organisations, said Prof. Kulkarni.

The new syllabus should focus on community health education, planning, policy development and evaluation of services. If the syllabus is revised and the curriculum is updated then the public perception and governmental approach in pharmacist’s role as member of healthcare team will provide the much-needed job opportunities, stated Prof. Kulkarni.