Doctor of Pharmacy in India:Scope and Professional Challenges

Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) approved 22 colleges to start Pharm D course for the academic year 2008-09 throughout India. As on today there are 4050 Pharm D students and 590 Pharm D (Post Baccalaureate) students in a total of 52 colleges. Pharmacy education in India is set to undergo a sea change in the next few years with the introduction of Pharm D and dream role of clinical pharmacist in the health care system. A thorough search of literature was carried out and critically compared the recently introduced Pharm D course with the same of other countries. The Pharm D is meant for creating practicing pharmacists and is similar to a programme in the United States. The main goal behind introducing Pharm D programme is to put the pharmacy education in heights and to provide better services to the citizens on health needs.