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Pharm D

The document discusses the evolution of the pharmacy profession from compounding medicines in the 19th century to becoming recognized as doctors today. It outlines the introduction of the Pharm D in India in 2008 to allow pharmacists to work more prominently in healthcare. However, acceptance of clinical pharmacists by physicians is still low in India. For Pharm D graduates to be respected, they must demonstrate medical knowledge, patient care skills, interprofessional collaboration, and professionalism. Universities could better prepare students through experiential learning programs and connecting them with industry alumni networks. With supportive policies and an optimistic view, Pharm D can contribute significantly to India's healthcare system.

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Bhavatharini Arun
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173 views

Pharm D

The document discusses the evolution of the pharmacy profession from compounding medicines in the 19th century to becoming recognized as doctors today. It outlines the introduction of the Pharm D in India in 2008 to allow pharmacists to work more prominently in healthcare. However, acceptance of clinical pharmacists by physicians is still low in India. For Pharm D graduates to be respected, they must demonstrate medical knowledge, patient care skills, interprofessional collaboration, and professionalism. Universities could better prepare students through experiential learning programs and connecting them with industry alumni networks. With supportive policies and an optimistic view, Pharm D can contribute significantly to India's healthcare system.

Uploaded by

Bhavatharini Arun
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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With nearly two centuries of origin, from sprouting out separately from the field of

medicine in 19th century as compounders, to being recognised as doctors currently,


the field of pharmacy has witnessed a remarkable evolution in the past decades
across the globe.
Industrial revolution has contributed majorly for the boom in pharmaceutical
industries and a decline in extemporaneous preparations. So the profession
witnessed a drift from compounding to manufacturing pharmaceutical products and
dispensing. In the recent years, profession of pharmacy in the western world has
drifted from product oriented to patient oriented. Although the pharmacy grounds in
India is still more focussed just about the supply of medicines and displays a very
poor effort on patient care.
Pharm D is indubitably an attempt for a revolution in the healthcare sector,
introduced by the PCI back in 2008 with the objective of giving an opportunity to the
pharmacists to work more prominently in Indian health care system.
Pharm D is typically a patient-centred curriculum; therefore, patients will be benefited
the most. The patients would be able to know all the information about their disease,
drugs and lifestyle modifications for the disease in future which would definitely
increase prognosis of the patients.
In India a significantly huge gap that exists in terms of the number of doctors
available to the population of the country, government data shows that there is just
one allopathic government doctor available for around 11,082 people across the
country, a figure more than 10 times the recommended ratio of 1:1000. The figures
were revealed in the National Health Profile, 2018, released by the Central Bureau of
Health Intelligence — the health intelligence wing of the Directorate General of
Health Services under the Health Ministry compared to the doctor patient ratio of 2.3
:1000 in the united states.
The clinical pharmacy services by the pharm D graduates may remarkably contribute
to minimize the work-load of physicians as well as decrease the load on the Indian
health-care system.
Thus from the above statistics practically a country like India would require more
number of clinical pharmacists working with the other healthcare professionals
Perhaps it is an irony “not so pleasant scope in India, plan for USA and UK”,
is the first thing a pharm D student in India hears though there are sufficient clinical
pharmacists working with the other health care professionals in the united states.
So, what is holding us back? How long is it going to take for our recognition?
1. Acceptance among other medical professionals:
"A 'compounder' whether a b.pharm/m.pharm/Pharm D. never became a doctor"-
by Dr.Sushma anil,a member of QPMPA
This is one of the vital issues to be addressed in our country. A professional rapport
between the pharmacist and the physicians and other medical professionals is of
prime importance. Unfortunately, the acceptance level of clinical pharmacists by the
physicians is pretty low in our country and yet a few physicians are still unaware of
the course and the concept of pharm D itself. Insecurity among physicians may
possibly be one of the causes of rejection. This can be repressed by tutoring the
medical professionals on what Pharm D actually is and shedding light on how the
clinical pharmacists can reduce their work burden. It should be made clear that they
are the master of diagnosis and they can never be replaced. A clinical pharmacist
shall refrain only to his duties and be vested with the role of conducting patient’s
medication history review, medication order review, patient counselling, adverse
drug reaction monitoring, therapeutic drug monitoring, ward rounds and providing
drug information centre etc.
Besides, efforts by the government PCI and MCI to make arrangements for a
mandatory Pharm D course in every teaching hospital will certainly lead to a better
understanding of the medical professionals about the share of clinical pharmacists in
the healthcare system as they have an opportunity to learn and practice together.
These can majorly contribute to a better and a pleasant healthcare setting and a
gracious acceptance by other healthcare providers.

2. Are we (the pharm d graduates) well equipped to carry out the profession?
Pharm D candidates have to generate the need of clinical pharmacy services in
the society and prove its importance. The essential requirements from a good
Pharm D graduate include:

Provide patient care. Includes:

 Provide patient-centered care


 Promote health and wellness
 Provide population-based care

Apply medical and therapeutic knowledge to pharmacy practice. Includes:

 Develop, integrate, and apply knowledge from the foundational sciences


(Scientist)
 Evaluate the scientific literature
 Explain drug action
 Solve therapeutic problems
 Advance population health and patient-centered care

Demonstrate a comprehensive approach to practice and care. Includes:

 Problem Solving (Problem Solver)


 Educator (Educator)
 Patient Advocacy (Advocate)
 Interprofessional collaboration (Collaborator)
 Cultural sensitivity (Includer)
 Communication (Communicator)

Demonstrate professional behavior. Includes:


 Exhibit behaviors and values that are consistent with the trust given to the
profession (Professional)
 Professionalism in interactions with patients
 Professionalism in interactions with other healthcare providers
 Professionalism in interactions with society

Manage and Use the Resources of the Health-Care System. Includes:

 Optimize safety and efficacy of medication use systems (Manager)


 Human resources
 Financial resources
 Technological resources
 Physical resources

Engage in Personal and Professional Development. Includes:

 Self-awareness (Self-aware)
 Leadership (Leader)
 Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Innovator)

So, it is important that we acquire good knowledge of all the aspects mentioned
above to be a respectable graduate. Fortunately, or unfortunately there are no
special eligibility criteria or entrance exams to qualify for the Pharm D degree
except passing all the subjects in grade 12 and the same applies to practice post
pharm D. All though a Pharmacist Licensure Examination that measures a
candidate's knowledge of the practice of pharmacy may improve the standards of
the graduates.
3. Curriculum, pedagogy and contribution from the universities:
PCI has designed an excellent curriculum for the doctor of pharmacy in India.
Nevertheless, a mandatory and a gradual inculcation of pharmacy practice and
professionalism, case conferences and scholarly project works right from the
early years of the course may attribute to a very strong foundation of knowledge
to the students in contrast to the current Indian curriculum where they are
initiated only in the 4th and 5th year of the course.
Pedagogy like drug card collection by students in each year to master the drugs,
inclusion of technology and developing software, pharmacy practice experience
program beginning the first year of study that gives students immediate and
progressively challenging clinical experience, Extensive alumni network of
pharmacists in the region, arranged by the universities can provide valuable
career support to graduates entering the pharmaceutical profession.
4. Pessimistic notion of the job opportunities in the country :

 Apart from directly working with the other healthcare professionals at a hospital
setting pharm D students have ample amount of opportunities to excel in the field
and contribute effectively to the Indian healthcare system by working under Clinical
Research, Pharmacovigilance, Research & Development, Medical Writing, Product
Managers, Regulatory affairs, Community pharmacy ,Governmental agencies,
pharmacometrics etc. So it is essential that every student is made aware of the vast
career opportunities instead of being dispirited stating that the scopes are crippled in
the nation.

Though Pharm D was introduced way back in 1950 in the United States it took
numerous years for the complete establishment of the course. With brief years of
introduction of the course in India, If the country’s government renders an helping
hand, just like how the national policies knitted by the government led to an
exponential growth of Indian pharma industries, proudly standing as the largest
producer of generic drugs today, the pharm D concept will also boom by shifting the
policy’s emphasis towards public health and patient care by designing public health
policies and common insurance programs. And most vitally, with an optimistic view
of the course and the right path with motivation we will surely succeed in instituting a
demarcated place for the Pharm D students in the Indian health care system.

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