Competencies for the Indian D.Pharm Holders Explained

In the earlier post, we shared the Competencies for the Indian D. Pharm holders. 

Competencies for the Indian D.Pharm Holders

In this post, we dvelve in the details of the competencies

1. Review Prescriptions: The student should receive and handle prescriptions in a professional manner and be able to check for their completeness and correctness. Also, the prescribers should be contacted for any clarifications and corrections in the prescriptions with suggestions if any.

2. Dispense Prescription / Non-Prescription Medicines: The student should be able to dispense the various scheduled drugs / medicines as per the implications of the Drug & Cosmetics Act and Rules thereunder. Also, the non-prescription medicines (over-the-counter drugs) should be dispensed judicially to the patients as required.

3. Provide Patient Counselling / Education: The student should be able to effectively counsel / educate the patients / caretakers about the prescription / nonprescription medicines and other health related issues. Effective communication includes using both oral and written communication skills and various communication techniques

4. Hospital and Community Pharmacy Management: The student should be able to manage the drug distribution system as per the policies and guidelines of the hospital pharmacy, good community pharmacy practice and the recommendations of regulatory agencies. Also, be able to manage the procurement, inventory, and distribution of medicines in hospital / community pharmacy settings. 

5. Expertise on Medications: The student should be able to provide an expert opinion on medications to health care professionals on safe and effective medication-use, relevant policies and procedures based on available evidences

6. Proficiency on Pharmaceutical Formulations: The student should be able to describe the chemistry, characteristics, types, merits and demerits of both drugs and excipients used in pharmaceutical formulations based on her/his knowledge and scientific resources.

7. Entrepreneurship and Leadership: The student should be able to acquire the entrepreneurial skills in the dynamic professional environments. Also, be able to achieve leadership skills through teamwork and sound decision- making skills

8. Deliver Primary and Preventive Healthcare: The student should be able to contribute to various healthcare programs of the nation including disease prevention initiatives to improve public health. Also contribute to the promotion of national health policies. 

9. Professional, Ethical and Legal Practice: The student should be able to deliver professional services in accordance with legal, ethical, and professional guidelines with integrity. 

10. Continuing Professional Development: The student should be able to recognize the gaps in the knowledge and skills in the effective delivery of professional services from time to time and be self-motivated to bridge such gaps by attending continuing professional development programs. 

 Related post:

Competencies for the Indian D.Pharm Holders

Competency mapping - course in new D.Pharm syllabus

Competencies for the Indian D.Pharm Holders

The Pharmacy Council of India, under the approval from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, published revised syllabus for Diploma in Pharmacy (D.Pharm) course. 

‘Competencies for the Indian D.Pharm Holders’ based on the knowledge, skill, attitude and value that are essential for the successful practice of the profession have been derived. These competencies have  been mapped with the individual courses of the curriculum based on the expected outcomes of the individual course

Competency is defined as “A distinct composite of knowledge, skill, attitude and value that is essential to the practice of the profession in real life contexts”. 

The candidates who successfully complete the Diploma in Pharmacy (D. Pharm) program of Education Regulations 2020 (ER-2020), from the institutions approved by the Pharmacy Council of India are expected to attain the following professional competencies.

1. Review Prescriptions

2. Dispense Prescription / Non-Prescription Medicines

3. Provide Patient Counselling / Education

4. Hospital and Community Pharmacy Management

5. Expertise on Medications

6. Proficiency on drugs / pharmaceuticals

7. Entrepreneurship and Leadership

8. Deliver Primary and Preventive Healthcare

9. Professional, Ethical and Legal Practice

10. Continuing Professional Development

Related post:

Competencies for the Indian D.Pharm Holders explained

State of Pharmacy Colleges in India

Last month Pharmabiz carried a report stating that 8345 seats for B Pharm course are going vacant in Andhra Pradesh for the academic year 2013-14. In the previous year, Andhra faced the same situation of not having students for 8150 seats in the state’s 280 pharmacy colleges spread across in 28 districts. And five to ten pharmacy colleges reported zero admissions for B Pharm course during the current year. The report further says that despite a sharp rise in number of vacant seats in the state, some pharmacy colleges are adding more seats every year. If this is the status of Andhra, one can very well imagine what is happening in 2000 other pharmacy colleges in the country. Exact number of vacant seats in all pharmacy colleges in the country for the current academic year is not available. But, Andhra case is indicative of the state of affairs of pharmacy education in the country today. According to an estimate, there should be at least 30,000 B Pharm seats lying vacant in pharmacy colleges in the country in the current academic year. In Gujarat, a few pharmacy colleges already shut down early this year for want of students. Many more pharmacy colleges may face the same fate in southern and northern  states soon as they all are not able to get adequate number of students for the last two years.

One of the main reasons for the steady increase in the number of vacant seats for B Pharm course is the drop in quality of educational facilities in pharmacy colleges. Many of them do not have required lab infrastructure and competent faculty members to teach the students. Wherever the standard facilities are provided, managements have no difficulty in getting students for the pharmacy course. Moreover the students are also selecting colleges based on their track record in job placements. As per norms laid down by the Pharmacy Council of India, all pharmacy colleges need to have 10 labs with required equipments, four class rooms and 24 qualified faculty members. The fact is that most of the country’s pharmacy colleges do not have these basic facilities. Quality of faculty in pharmacy colleges has been a matter of serious concern for PCI with the increasing number of colleges over the years. Many college managements are found to be taking even fresh graduates for the teaching assignments because of increasing demand for qualified and experienced faculty. What the PCI and AICTE have done to address this matter so far is a big question. PCI has to keep track of these basic facilities in pharmacy colleges if it has to be the guardian of quality of pharmacy education in the country. Apart from this, there is a need to harmonize pharmacy education in the country with global standards so as to make it a well recognised, critical and indispensable clinical profession. For this, the current curricula for the pharmacy courses including the one for diploma course needs to be drastically changed. 

Related posts:

More Pharmacy colleges to be started in Tamilnadu in 2014

source: Pharmabiz

More Pharmacy colleges to be started in Tamilnadu in 2014

The situation of the pharmacy colleges in Tamil Nadu is hugely improving and more colleges may come up in the next academic year. No college in the state is facing any crisis with regard to admission or faculty problem or infrastructure facilities, according to information received from the association of private pharmacy colleges in the state. 

The office of the secretary of the private professional colleges association to which the pharmacy colleges association is affiliated, informed Pharmabiz that unlike other states, Tamil Nadu is providing good and quality education in pharmacy, dentistry, nursing and medicine. So, all the 39 pharmacy colleges in the state are getting sufficient number of students and the colleges are running the courses in a full-fledged manner. 

A veteran pharmacy teacher and guide, Dr V Ravichandran, director of the School of Pharmacy at Vels University in Chennai said there is no unemployed pharmacy graduate anywhere in Tamil Nadu as the colleges are producing pharmacy graduates as per the requirement of the state. There are job opportunities for B Pharm and M Pharm graduates in clinical research organizations, manufacturing companies, and in the areas of pharmacovigilance and haemovigilance programmes. The graduates of the speciality oriented course, Pharm D, will be appointed in multi speciality hospitals with special responsibility on drugs as the drugs and cosmetics act demands the role of specialist pharmacists to monitor the action and reactions of medicines. 

He said only one college in Kancheepuram district was closed down in all these years and it was because of internal feud in the management.

“In the last five years only five new colleges were started in the state, whereas in Andhra Pradesh around three hundred colleges have come up during this period. It is more than the requirement of the state and it is because of that many unemployed pharmacy graduates are looking for jobs there. The regulatory bodies should not give approvals for starting colleges without assessing actual requirements. Here, in Tamil Nadu there is scope for a few more colleges. In the last twenty years we have produced graduates as per true demand”, said Dr Ravichandran, who is also the vice president of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association. 

While commenting on the private universities conducting the pharmacy courses, he said all the five deemed universities conducting pharmacy education and awarding certificates are affiliated to Dr MGR Medical University. Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, Vels University, Chennai, SRM University, Chennai, Vinayaga Mission University, Salem and JSS University, Ootty are controlling the 39 pharmacy colleges in the state. Dr Ravichandran is a former syndicate member of Dr MGR Medical University

Biocon Academy, an initiative of Biocon Ltd.

Biotechnology company Biocon Ltd. has entered the arena of education by setting up a new centre of advanced learning for biosciences students.

The new arm, Biocon Academy, will start 16-week certificate courses in applied biosciences for engineering and science graduates from January 2014.

A large number of biotechnology graduates did not have the skills necessary to be employed in the industry. The initiative was aimed at making them employable through advanced and industry-relevant training.

Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw said the biotechnology industry grew at over 20 per cent in the last decade; each year, 40,000 biotech students pass out of 725 institutions in the country. However, 2,000 of them or barely 5 per cent are readily employable.

According to Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw, the academy has tied up with California-based Keck Graduate Institute to offer the Biocon KGI certificate programme in nine modules or study areas in biosciences based on the Keck model. Enrolments for the first batch of 25 opened on Monday. The academy will operate from Biocon’s second campus in Bommasandra and have faculty drawn from Keck, Biocon and industry. Each course costs Rs. 1.5 lakh. Biocon would offer merit scholarships and enable students to get employed with it or other leading companies, she said. Karnataka IT and BT secretary Srivatsa Krishna said the State had also initiated an advanced biotechnology institute to bridge the talent gap.

Source: The Hindu

BITS Pilani acquires its Dubai campus

BITS Pilani has acquired the infrastructure of its Dubai campus from its long term partner ETA LLC Group, ending a 12-year collaboration. Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani made the announcement adding that all the statutory requirements for acquisition had been met.

 

BITS had set up its only international branch in Dubai in 2000 in collaboration with ETA LLC Group. Under the agreement, the latter provided infrastructural facilities and administrative support while the former managed the academics.

 

“BITS Pilani brand is looking forward to strengthening its Dubai campus by expanding programme offerings, student enrolment, faculty strength, research and community outreach activities, with a view to attracting best of talents,” added Professor Ravi Kant Mittal, Director of Dubai campus.

 

Currently, the Dubai campus offers seven undergraduate programs in Engineering besides several postgraduate and doctoral programmes, with a student strength of over 1500. (No Pharmacy Courses though :( )

Academy for Clinical Excellence (ACE) to start certificate course in Pharmacovigilance

Realising the immense potential of the emerging pharmacovigilance (PV) domain in India and a lack of quality training programme catering to the needs of Indian pharmaceutical companies and the KPO/ BPOs industry in form of trained PV professionals, the Mumbai-based Academy for Clinical Excellence (ACE) will be starting a three month certificate course in pharmacovigilance, run over the weekends.

ACE is the pioneering clinical research training institute in India established in February, 2002. An initiative of Pfizer India, in partnership with Suven Life Sciences and Bombay College of Pharmacy, ACE is conceived as a one-stop-shop for the training needs of all clinical research professionals.

Looking at the ever increasing case processing activity being outsourced to India, it would be only fair to suggest that the demand for trained PV professional would be on the rise. Besides, strengthening drug safety surveillance through initiatives at all levels has become a national necessity. Considering all these factors, the part time weekend certificate course has been especially devised for working pharma and life science professionals. The course curriculum has been developed by Moin Don, well known PV expert, who would also be the course coordinator.

The course encompass safety and risk management through the entire life cycle of the drug. It would specialise in detail coverage of end-to-end case processing, including medical evaluation, MedDRA coding, narrative writing, and electronic reporting. Other highlights include training on safety databases, signal detection and risk management. Experienced experts with first hand knowledge of PV would serve as faculty and there would be an on-going evaluation conducted and final certification after successful completion of the course requirements would be issued.

The minimum eligibility for admission is a bachelors degree in medical science/alternate medicine/pharmaceutical sciences/life sicences/nursing with minimum 55 per cent aggregate marks.

For more details contact 022-26671032, 26664568 or email: acebcp@eth.net.More details are available on the website: www.aceindia.org

DBT to provide assistance to UG colleges in North East to make them 'Star Colleges'

Under its 'Star College Scheme' for improving knowledge and skills of teachers in basic life sciences and specialized techniques in the undergraduate (UG) level colleges, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) will soon provide financial assistance to the UG colleges in north eastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

Under the programme, the DBT will provide support to the UG colleges for improving knowledge and skills of teachers in basic life sciences and specialized technique, access to specialized infrastructure to students, assurance of consumables, reagents and chemicals for students, improved curriculum that enhances creativity in asking original questions and substantial hands-on experience in designing and conducting practicals by students, access to summer school for exposure to platform biotechnologies and critical thinking and access to knowledge banks with strong support of books and journals including e-journal facilities.

Committed to the values of pursuit of excellence, academic and intellectual freedom, creativity and innovation, the DBT launched the 'Star College Scheme' for improving critical thinking and 'hands on' experimental work in the cutting edge-technologies needed for modern biological studies at undergraduate (college) level in life sciences.

Major objectives of the scheme are to strengthen the academic and physical infrastructure for achieving excellence in teaching and training; to enhance the quality of the learning and teaching process to stimulate original thinking through ‘hands–on’ exposure to experimental work and participation in summer schools; to promote networking and strengthen ties with neighbouring institutions and other laboratories; to conduct specialized training programmes for faculty improvement for optimizing technical capabilities; to increase capabilities of core instrumentation resources by procuring new equipment and upgrading of existing facilities; to provide access and exposure to students to research laboratories and industries in the country; to help in devising standard curricula and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s)/kits for practicals; and to provide better library facility to students and teachers.

The colleges that successfully implement the strategy will be considered as life science 'Star Colleges'.

Under the scheme, DBT will provide one time non recurring grant up to a maximum of Rs.10 lakhs for each science department (botany, zoology, microbiology, biochemistry, physics, chemistry) and recurring grant of Rs.2 lakhs per year for consumables, Rs.1 lakh per year for contingency to cover expenses on visiting faculty, guest lectures, seminars etc. for each department will be provided initially for a period of 2 years. continuation of support for another 3 years will be based on evaluation of performance.

26th IPGA conference pushes for change in pharmacy education

The 26th Annual conference of the Indian Pharmacy Graduate's Association (IPGA) was held on April 2, 2011 in New Delhi, with the theme of 'Pharma opportunities and challenges in the new decade'. Even though the event clashed with the finals ICC World Cup, with India as one of the teams, the event was very well attended, a sign that the topic was as great a pull as the game. Dr S S Ghonkrokta, Director-Enforcement, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was the guest of honour, while Dr S M Jharwal, Chairman, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) was the chief guest for the occasion.

In his keynote address, Professor S K Kulkarni, Bombay College of Pharmacy, touched on the aspect of 'building an innovation eco-system in pharmaceutical sciences', saying that the quality of education and research done in our country needs to be looked at with concern because the goals still needed to be met. There is a shortage of specialised talent in system biology, clinical research, healthcare delivery and so on, which are disappointingly not in the regular pharmacy curriculum and need to be introduced in pharmacy education in order to rightly equip students with the knowledge base to thrive professionally. "The current lack of research infrastructure and funding (private and public), lack of inter and cross disciplinary teaching and learning, unmindful expansion of professional education are all distressing factors that exist because the right priorities are not kept in mind," said Kulkarni. "To overcome this and to establish an innovation eco-system there is a great need to firstly shun the old and unproductive mindset in the industry and overhaul educational and research approaches with vigour and imagination in order to contribute to the global knowledge bank. Secondly, we need to adopt flexible and interdisciplinary learning modes, while rightly identifying ambitious young individuals and institutions; fund, network and establish credible environment of entrepreneurs and alumni," he added.

Among the speakers present at the event, Mukta Arora, India Head-Global External R&D and Global Sourcing India Market, Eli Lilly and Company traced the evolution of the Indian Pharma industry with respect to the various niches and identified opportunities for students in the fields of manufacturing of api, CT material, drug product; research, clinical research, formulation research, in sales and marketing jobs at Indian and MNCs, community pharmacist, market research, hospital pharmacy management, drug development--adme/tox/safety, medicinal chemistry, synthetic chemistry, natural products research, large molecules-biologics, regulatory--clinical, and pharmacovigilence.

While Dr Veena Kohli, Vice President, Diagnova, RFCL, talked about the opportunities for students in the field of medical diagnostics, Dr B R Jagashetty, Drugs Controller, Karnataka, gave an insight into the vast field of regulatory affairs pertaining to pharmaceuticals. Dr Jaspreet Kaur, Head Quality Assurance and Training, Fortis Clinical Research, Faridabad, enlightened pharmacy students about career in clinical research, and Dr Varun Katyal, Assistant Professor, Empower School of Health, spoke about the more sought after fields that pharmacy students would be interested in and the right educational pathway to follow to pursue them.

The conference saw delegates from all over the country, from regulatory departments, the pharma industry, R&D, hospital, community and clinical pharmacy, academia, marketing and pharmacy students. Later in the evening, Priolkar was felicitated as the President Elect for the 63rd Indian Pharmaceutical Congress, 2011.

Pharmaceutical Education in India at Crossroads

Indian pharmaceutical sector has grown to a world class industry during the last three decades with almost 45 per cent of its production is being exported to the US, Europe and many developing countries. The growth of this industry over the years has also pushed up the demand for quality pharmacy professionals in the country. The spurt in the number of pharmacy colleges in most parts of the country in recent years is a clear indication of this growing demand. There are more than 800 pharmacy colleges in the country at present, which was around 300 just four to five years ago. Although the number of pharmacy colleges has gone up over the years, the quality of pharmacy education is not up to the mark on account of various factors. The main reason for this situation is the shortage of competent faculty in the colleges. It is fact that a large number of the 800 pharmacy colleges is being run without adequate number of pharmacy teachers and some even do not have principals. Some of the colleges are found to be lacking even the basic infrastructure such as laboratory and equipments. As these pharmacy colleges are controlled by managements having mainly commercial interests, such lapses in maintaining standards of education are common. But, what is surprising is the indifferent attitude of All India Institute of Technical Education in periodically inspecting the colleges and taking action.Now the Pharmacy Council of India is the designated authority to ensure uniform implementation of educational standards in pharmacy colleges throughout the country by approving courses of study and examination for qualifying for registration as a pharmacist. PCI had thus issued show cause notices to several pharmacy colleges in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in the past for flouting rules in running these institutions. Early this month, Pharmabiz carried a report that some of the pharmacy colleges in the country are planning to change the duration of Diploma in Pharmacy course to four years and minimum qualification for applying to the course to 10th standard from 12th with the sanction from AICTE. This is actually in contravention of the Education Regulations, 1991 (ER-91) for Diploma course in Pharmacy framed by PCI.

Now PCI has warned the colleges that in the event of any deviation from the statutory provisions with regard to admission qualification and duration of the D.Pharm course and will disqualify passed out students to be eligible for registration as a pharmacist and practise the profession under the Pharmacy Act. What is emerging from all these developments is the confusion that is being created by having dual authority in regulating pharmacy education in the country. This is not a desirable situation to have an atmosphere of uncertainty for the young pharmacists coming out of the colleges. In fact, it does not seem appropriate to have AICTE as the sanctioning authority of pharmacy colleges while PCI has to oversee the quality of pharmacy education. Central government should have thought of assigning PCI as the sole authority to regulate the pharmacy education and profession in the country.

Seminar on European patent prosecution on April 15

Academy of intellectual Property Studies (AIPS) will be organising a one-day seminar on 'European patent prosecution' on April 15 at AIPS, Mumbai. The seminar will focus on the patent claims vis-à-vis Article 19 and 34 amendments. It will focus on the amendments to Articles 19 and 34, and comment on how they influence the patent prosecution process.

Filing of patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) had to take into consideration a variety of amendments in the recent past. The seminar will discuss issues that are often raised while patenting certain specific types of subject matter in the pharmaceutical, chemical field, such as polymorphs and formulations, patenting of biotech inventions, etc. Strategic tips and techniques that can be employed to successfully prosecute patent applications at the EPO will also be provided at the event.

The speakers of this event are Mike Snodin, from the US & European Patent Attorney, Partner, Potter Clarkson LLP and Dr John Miles, Fellow of CIPA, European Patent Attorney, Partner, Potter Clarkson LLP.

AIPS is an institute that has been set up, in affiliation with the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA), It aspires to be a leader in the field of IP studies, offering a mix of training and learning programmes that will enable the participants to become IPSmart.

For further details, contact: Gita Chandrashekhar on 2874 6123/6522 1097, or e-mail:gita@aips.ac.in

KBIPER to start MBA (Pharma) for B Pharm graduates

K B Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, (KBIPER) Gandhinagar, Gujarat will start a customised MBA course, exclusively for B Pharm graduates which will help the students to be more innovative in marketing, human resource, production and finance areas.

It gives a combined knowledge of pharmacy and management and also offers a dual and single specialisation in marketing, production & operations and HR areas.

“MBA is such an evergreen course with an unlimited scope. Today this course stands as an ultimate destination for pharmacy graduates. As pharmaceutical marketing is highly regulated, this course helps in moulding pharmacy students to acquire pharma marketing skills. It is very obvious that students all over the world are very crazy about pursuing management course,” said Dr Gaurang B. Shah, principal, KBIPER.

Mallika Babu, in-charge, MBA (Pharma) said, “The positive growth in pharma industry and the need of innovative people in the industry has prompted us to begin this course, which has the right blend of marketing knowledge needed by pharmaceutical companies, or the so called the Product Management Team (PMT).”

A student after passing can get to work in PMT sales, HRM, Business Development, International Marketing, Pharma Advertising, Marketing Research, Teaching profession, Regulatory affairs, project management, etc.

“The high interdependency between Pharmaceutical Industry growth and marketing management has assured more scope and good career growth and we are sincerely planning for the upgradation of this course with more practical exposure for students and also a nice opportunity to explore in the field of Pharmaceutical Management” Shah added.

The institute has got 100 per cent placement results in top Pharmaceutical Companies like GSK, Kendle, Zydus cadila, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Torrent, Lupin labs, Jay Research Foundation, Themis lab, Alkem labs, Panchsheel organics etc. and they are looking forward for the support in future also. They arrange weekly guest lectures by eminent pharma professionals from Ranbaxy, Pfizer, Zydus, Lincoln, Quintiles etc., and also a continuous programme in this institute on every Saturday.

They have also organised workshops for MBA (Pharma) students to develop soft skills on various topics like positive attitude, mind power management, communication skills, interview skills, memory power, corporate etiquette, etc.

21 M Pharm students selected for this year’s ‘TNPSWT’ M Pharm Scholarship Awards

The Tamil Nadu Pharmaceutical Sciences Welfare Trust (TNPSWT) has selected 21 final year M Pharm students from various pharmacy colleges in Tamil Nadu for this year’s M Pharm Scholarship Awards. The awards were instituted by TNPSWT and are being given to selected M Pharm students for their on-going project work.

268 applications were received from seven different branches of pharmacy from 19 colleges. 262 synopses were sent to Dr Madhusudan Rao, Principal, University College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kakatiya University, Warangal, and his team for evaluation. Based on their best marks, students have been selected for award of scholarship.

Each branch of pharmaceutical sciences is given three scholarships with first, second and third ranks and there are seven branches. The first rank carries Rs. 8000, second rank, Rs. 7000 and Rs. 6000 for the third rank. Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmaceutical analysis, pharmacology, pharmacognosy, pharmacy practice and biotechnology are the branches in which scholarships were awarded.

K R Vimal of PSG College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore has won the first rank of scholarship for the branch, pharmaceutics. Syam Potnuru of Adhiparasakthi College of Pharmacy, Melmaruvathur, won the second rank. The third rank holder is Anindita De of JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty.

In pharmaceutical chemistry, the winner is S Jeevanantham from RVS College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore, the second rank goes to V Hemalatha of SRM College of Pharmacy, Kattankolathur and Sona Joseph from KMCH College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore bagged the third rank.

E Kumanan from Adhiparasakthi College of Pharmacy, Melmaruvathur is the first rank holder for pharmaceutical analysis and K Harsha Manjusha from JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty ranked second. M Manu from RVS College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore bagged the third rank.

In pharmacology, the first rank goes to Kalpana Eluri of PSG College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore and R Ranjith Kumar from the same college has been selected for the second rank. R Anand from KM College of Pharmacy, Madurai is the third winner.

In pharmacognosy the first rank for scholarship was given to M Mubeen of Madurai Medical College, Madurai and V Jothi Rani of Arulmigu Kalasalingam College, Srivilliputhur has been chosen for the second. Aparna Sarepaka of JSS College is the third winner.

In the branch of pharmacy practice, the first rank was given to Raj Kucherlapati VSP of JSS College of Pharmacy, Ootty, and Merin Levy Philips from SRIPMS, Coimbatore got the second award. C Karthic Kumar from JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty bagged the third rank.

In biotechnology, the first rank was given to N Karthikeyan of SRIPMS, Coimbatore and S Karthikeyan of the same college bagged the second rank. The third rank went to Mahesh Thondawada of JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty.

M.Pharm at BITS Pilani

BITS Pilani invites applications for Higher Degree Programmes for the Second Semester 2010-11 starting in January 2011

Programmes Offered at BITS, Pilani - Pilani Campus

M. Pharm.

M. Pharm.(with specialization in Pharmaceutical Chemistry/Pharmaceutics)

Short term courses at NIPER

In an effort to generate revenues with the help of private partners to run the newly established NIPERs, the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) is planning to launch some short term courses in the new NIPERs as per the detailed project report submitted by the consultant firm, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Pvt Ltd. Courses like those on intellectual property rights concerning the pharma industry, short term courses for the employees of the pharma companies, course on emerging sectors like biopharma are being planned in these institutes.

Private partners for NIPERs

The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) is mulling over different ideas to generate revenues with the help of private partners to make the new NIPERs fully functional and autonomous.

A proposal under consideration is to leave some revenue generating activities like running hostels, auditorium, guest house, recreation and sports, maintenances etc to the private partners.

A suggestion also has come for full or part running of the exclusive courses under the PPP in some NIPERs. Though the detailed project report had suggested four types of collaboration, the DoP is yet to make a final decision yet on these proposals.

The new NIPERs, set up at Hajipur in Bihar, Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, Kolkata in West Bengal and Guwahati in Assam, are currently run with the help of mentor institutes already existing in these places. The government had approved setting up of six more institutes under NIPER in 2007 initially for two years, which had since been extended up to 2011.

Number of colleges offering Pharm.D in India to increase

PCI is making efforts to increase the number of colleges offering Pharm D to 60 from this academic year in August 2010-2011.

Currently 40 colleges in Five states Pharm.D in India.
Inspections are done at 15 more colleges.

More details at the following links:
Details of Pharm.D Colleges in India
Pharm.D in Karnataka
Pharm.D in Tamilnadu
Pharm.D in Andhra Pradesh
Pharm.D in Maharastra and Madhya Pradesh

Openings for the position of Assistant Professors at NIPER

Openings for the position of Assistant Professors at NIPER (ROLLING/OPEN ADVERTISEMENT)

Pay band PB-3 Rs. 15600-39100 Academic Grade Pay of Rs. 8000/-. The initial pay in pay band is Rs. 30,000 plus AGP of Rs. 8000/-

The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPER) is an Institute of National importance established by an Act of Parliament under the aegis of Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India. The Institute is situated at S.A.S. Nagar(Mohali), Punjab adjoining Chandigarh the City Beautiful. The main thrust areas of research is Tuberculosis, Malaria, Leishmaniasis and Diabetes.

The Institute has excellent facilities for advanced education and research in pharmaceutical sciences and technology and is looking for faculty of high calibre and potential, willing to face the challenge of building this Institute into a center of excellence. The focus is on master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral programmes.

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE & AGE

Assistant Professor: Ph. D with 1st class or equivalent grade at the preceding degree in the appropriate branch with a very good academic record throughout and at least five years of teaching/research/industrial experience with published work of high quality. Age Limit is 45 years.

Applications from prospective candidates are accepted throughout the year. Based on the qualifications and need of the department concerned, the applications shall be processed at regular intervals.

M.Pharm in The Tamil Nadu DR.M.G.R. Medical University

Applications called for entrance examination for Admission To M.Pharm in Government and Self-financing colleges under THE TAMIL NADU DR.M.G.R. MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

Completed Application Forms should be submitted on or before 29-04-2010 by 5.00 p.m.

Entrance Exam: 09.05.2010 (Sunday) 10.00 A.M. to 11.30 A.M.

Place: Chennai

The Entrance Examination will be of the undergraduate level covering all subjects and will contain 125 objective type questions each with four responses (A B C D) (English medium).

Each question will carry 1 (one) Mark. No negative marking

The Merit List will be drawn by computing the Entrance Examination Marks and the marks for experience, which will be for a total maximum of 100 marks (90 marks for entrance examination + 10 marks for experience including marks for hilly areas).

Tuition Fees
Government Colleges (Rs. per annum): 5,000
Self-financing Colleges (Rs. per annum): 45,000 (For 2009 – 2010)

Special fees and other fees are to be paid at the time of admission in respective colleges.

click here to download application form and prospectus.

MS Pharmacy students planning to seek legal intervention

With the PCI firm on not approving the MS program for registration with Pharmacy council for the practice of Pharmacy, the NIPER administration has seeked the support of AICTE since PCI does not regulate the post graduate education.

With things uncertain, a large number of students who pursued/pursuing this course are in crossroads thinking about the profession to teach. Now the students are planning to take this issue to the Supreme court and ask for a legal intervention.
We got to wait and