Pharmacy Course? in India: Everything you should know

What is Pharmacy?

Before getting into the details about the Pharmacy courses, first let me explain to you the actual meaning of the word ‘Pharmacy’. There are medication experts who are using their respective knowledge pools about medicine to treat patients to feel better or get cured. Yes, the methods they use vary from a practice setting to the next, but the main responsibilities remain the same. This Process as a whole is called as ‘Pharmacy’. The people who carry this enormous and valuable process are called Pharmacists.
The main responsibilities of a Pharmacist include:
• Providing medications, assuring of the suitability and safety of the recommended therapy
• Ensuring the strength and the purity of the drugs
• Cooperate with nurses, doctors, physicians and other health care members to give facility on improving patient outcomes And much more.

What is pharmacy course?

Pharmacy course is the following of Pharmacy Education and training through academic courses. In India these academic courses are starting from diploma levels and reaches to doctoral levels. Some of the most popular courses among students are the D.Pharmacy (D.Pharm) – diploma in pharmacy (Diploma Course), After that the B.pharmacy (B.Pharm) – Bachelor of Pharmacy (Undergraduate Course) and then the Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D) which is a Postgraduate Degree. It has subjects from Medicine and Pharmacy too. In total there are 6 years to complete the degree including the internships and the projects.

Pharm D. is also a post graduate degree although you will have to join after completing your B.pharm degree. These students (of Pharm D.) are joined into 4th year of general Pharm D. studying after intermediate. After completing the 4 years of B.pharm, you have to do 3 years of Pharm D. In total it takes 7 years to complete. Eligibility Criteria of these each pharmacy course is different from each other too. We will talk about these courses in detail down below.

What is D.Pharmacy (D.Pharm) and what you will study here?

Diploma in Pharmacy (D.Pharm) course is the study of diploma in pharmacy. To get admitted to this course, candidates have to complete a few minimum requirements before admission is granted. D.Pharmacy (D.Pharm) course requirements include:

• Age at time of admission: must be at least 17 years old
• Minimum Educational Qualifications: Pass the 10+2 exam in science stream and/or the completion of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC)
• Science stream subjects

What will you study in Diploma in Pharmacy (D.Pharma.)?

D.Pharma is the diploma course for the students who wish to study Pharmacy, and are expecting to achieve a career option in Pharmacy field. It’s a full-time course completed in 2 years. It’s designed in a way that it prepares the candidates to perform under a licensed pharmacist’s supervision. This takes place in Hospitals, Pharmacies and other Pharmaceutical-related locations. There are both theory and practical subjects. These subjects include preparing students to assist in distribution of drugs, computer processing, pre-packing pharmaceuticals, assist in controlling narcotics, clerical duties and other such duties.

What is Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) and what you will study?

B.pharmacy (B.Pharm) course is the study of Bachelor of Pharmacy. This is the gateway in entering to the Pharmacy sectors of Health care and Medical industry. The core subjects of this subject include Pharmacology, Pharmaceutics, Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry.
B.pharmacy (B.Pharm) course Minimum requirements are:

•  Age at time of admission: must be at least 17 years old
• Minimum Educational Qualifications: 10+2 with subjects of science stream – mathematics/biology, physics and chemistry passed
• If above Educational Qualification isn’t met: completion of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC).
• It’s also crucial to have a higher rank in the institutional or state entrance examinations (Because admission requirements differ from institution to institution, so it always helps if you have higher rank).

What will you study in in Pharmacy (B.Pharma.)?

There will be both theoretical and practical subjects. These subjects include Remedial Mathematics, Communication skills, Biochemistry, Human Anatomy, Medicinal Chemistry, Computer Applications in Pharmacy and Physiology followed by lots of other subjects in the syllabus. You can find the B.Pharmacy Full Course Curriculum Here.

What is Pharm D (Doctor of Pharmacy) and what you will study?

Pharm D course is the study in Doctor of Pharmacy. It was introduced in India by the PCI, only in 2008. This course differs from the other courses because It’s clinically oriented – in other words: patient specific. The duration of the course is 6 years (5 years being Study and 1 year of internship). The minimum requirements of this course include:

• Age at time of admission: must be at least 17 years old
• Minimum Educational Qualifications: 10+2 with subjects of mathematics/biology, physics and chemistry passed
• If above Educational qualification isn’t met: A completed D.pharm course from an institution approved by PCI
• If both the above Educational qualifications aren’t met: Any other equivalent qualification approved by PCI

What will you study in in Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D)?

The 1st year subjects of Pharm D includes subjects of Medicinal Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Organic Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Inorganic Chemistry, Remedial Mathematics/ Biology, Human Anatomy & Physiology and other subjects.

2nd year subjects have Pharmacognosy & Phytopharmaceuticals, Community Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Pathophysiology, Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapeutics.

To See the full Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D) syllabus please refer here: Pharm D Full Course Curriculum

What is Pharm.D. (Post Baccalaureate) and what you will study here?

Pharm.D. (Post Baccalaureate) is a professional post-graduate course of 3 years. It’s a course that is eligible to graduates of pharmacy – Has to be completed in a recognized institute by the PCI. The course is divided in to 2 phases: 1st phase being the theoretical studies and the 2nd phase being the internship/residency programs expected to be completed by the students.

The course covers the subjects of Biochemistry, Microbiology, Hospital Pharmacy, Clinical Toxicology, Bio-Statistics, Jurisprudence, Pharmaceutical Formulations, Pharmaco-Economics, Pharmaco-Epidemiology, Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmacognosy, Community and Clinical Pharmacy and Clinical Research.
Postgraduates of this programme are hired in careers such as:
Professor, Drug Inspector, Researcher, Hospital Pharmacy Director, Analytical Chemist, Pharmacist etc.

What is Master in pharmacy (M.Pharm) and what you will study here?

Master in pharmacy (M.Pharm) is a 2 year long full-time postgraduate course. Its eligibility is to a graduation degree in B.Pharm. course – with at least 50 percent marks from any recognized university or any institute similar to university.
The syllabus of the Master in pharmacy (M.Pharm) course covers 4 semesters of learning: each semester being 6 months. Cut-off marks for application in this programme differs from institute to institute.

To see the full syllabus curriculum of the Master in pharmacy (M.Pharm) programme, please refer here.

This concludes my article on “Pharmacy course in India”. If you learned something from this article please feel free to share it among your close-ones as well. Thank you!