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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Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.

The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.

Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.

Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.

What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.

"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,

which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.

"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.

"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.

"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.

In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.

The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.

With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.

Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).