Six-year tedious course for graduation, is it all worth it for Pharmacists in India?
Eleven years ago, in 2008, the government of India introduced a professional doctorate degree in Pharmacy, Pharma D. In 2012, the six-year professional course was officially recognized as a graduate degree in the country and those with completed Pharma D degree were made eligible to enroll for Ph.D.
One of the major reason the course was introduced in the country to improve the clinical pharmacy services. Also it is the only pharmacy service which is in direct contact with patient health care system.
Apparently, when we look at developed countries like United States and others the practice that goes into the healthcare system of their country is that a patient is only diagnosed by a doctor or physician and they are then referred to pharmacist with the diagnosis report who prescribe the medicine to the patients.
On the contrary, in India, doctors who are not qualified and knowledgeable enough to prescribe medicine, not only diagnose the patient but also prescribe the required medicine, thus leaving a loophole in the healthcare system of the country. Going by the practices of countries like US and after getting their Pharma D graduation after studying for six long years, it should be the pharmacists who should prescribe patients the medicine after initial diagnosis by the doctors and physicians.
On what can be touted as the injustice being done with the Pharma D students and graduates, the whole six-year course is brought down to only reading prescription and giving prescribed medicine at their medical shops. One of the major questions that arises here is whether one has to undergo six years of studies, tedious course, several practical and theoretical examinations to only sit in a shop and read prescription?
Another question that needs to be addressed is whether this is a part of bigger conspiracy wherein the corporate drug making companies are using Doctors to prescribe medicine of their respective brand? If so then is it not another loophole in the country’s healthcare system that needs to be immediately and ethically addressed?
I would surely not argue on the syllabus being covered in both the courses – MBBS and Pharma D, but would certainly argue on the recognition being given to the time and effort put in by a Pharma D student. It is for the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the Pharmacy Council of India and the All India Council for Technical Education, to discuss and come up with a practical solution for this injustice being done to students.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position http://english.varthabharati.in
Author Asim Jawad can be reached on his e-mail address: asimjawad@hotmail.com
Story edited by Vartha Bharati English sub-editor: Ismail Zaorez
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SIR in Gujarat: More than 17 lakh deceased voters found on electoral rolls
Ahmedabad (PTI): The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Gujarat has revealed that more than 17 lakh deceased voters were still included in the existing voter list across the state, a release by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has stated.
According to the release issued on Thursday, the SIR exercise started in Gujarat on November 4 with booth-level officers (BLOs) distributing enumeration forms in their designated areas.
The campaign will continue till December 11.
"In the last one month, enumeration forms have been distributed to more than five crore voters registered in the 2025 electoral roll. In most of the 33 districts, 100 per cent of the distribution has been completed. Work on digitising the returned forms is currently underway. So far, the digitisation work has been completed in 12 out of 182 assembly constituencies," it said.
These include Dhanera and Tharad of Banaskantha district, Limkheda and Dahod (ST) of Dahod district, Bayad of Aravalli district, Dhoraji, Jasdan and Gondal of Rajkot district, Keshod of Junagadh district, Mehmadabad of Kheda district, Khambhat of Anand district and Jalalpore of Navsari district.
Dang district is at the forefront in this work with 94.35 per cent digitisation of the counting forms, said the release.
"During this exercise, it was revealed that 17 lakh deceased voters were still included in the electoral roll across the state. More than 6.14 lakh voters were found absent from their addresses. It has been noticed that more than 30 lakh voters have permanently migrated," the release said.
BLOs found more than 3.25 lakh voters in the "repeated" category, which means that their names figured at more than one place, the release stated.
