All you need to know about Pharm.D in India.
Disclaimer: These are my views/opinions/suggestions and in no way reflect the views of any universities of departments.
The primary focus of this article is on the Pharm.D program (doctor of pharmacy) however other pharmacy degree students may benefit as well from certain sections.
Why Pharm.D?
As a student graduate of Pharm.D., it is my duty to give you the honest opinion about it. If there is anyone out there choosing between Pharm.D and B.Pharm make sure you make an educated choice and not one based on some nonsense rosy picture painted by some senior or current student.
Originally Pharm.D is a course designed to make you a clinically aware and clinically educated Pharmacist, i.e a clinical pharmacist. If you look the curriculum it obviously reflects this clear as daylight. This would mean that you as a Pharm.D post graduate should be getting a job in a hospital set up as a clinical pharmacist (not hospital pharmacist ..that's different). *more on what after Pharm.D in another article*
But what is happening in reality? Is anyone getting placed in the hospital? Yes but very very very few. In chemistry terms, I would say “In trace amounts”. This is the reason why most Pharm.D graduates from Andhra/Telangana are fighting for jobs to be created with Pharm.D graduates in mind with the government. Bottom line we are meant for the hospital but we don't get hospital-based jobs. The Indian set up has still not accepted Pharm.D position yet. Only a few hospitals will take up Pharm.D’s even for that you will have to compete with some MBBS degree holder for something like a Pharmacovigilance position.
So where do all the Pharm.D graduates go?
Office setups. At the university which I studied at all those Pharm.D students who wanted a job got one, with a reasonable starting salary of 30k (to up to 50k in special cases) but in an office-based setting...Some are through campus recruitments while for others students apply and get selected via walk-ins. At other universities in India if you do Pharm.D you won't even get that job. Now, it may not specifically be the job you wanted but you do/will get some job. Once you have acquired the necessary basic experience you can always switch jobs.
At this junction, I would like you to take note that people from other specializations like engineering, for example, don't even get that much. If you have already taken up Pharm.D you might as well suck it up and deal with it and make most of what you have got like your seniors before you.
At this junction, I would like you to take note that people from other specializations like engineering, for example, don't even get that much. If you have already taken up Pharm.D you might as well suck it up and deal with it and make most of what you have got like your seniors before you.
Now coming to the question “Why Pharm.D?” Originally the trend was if you don’t get Medicine to get into Pharmacy. With most of my batchmates that was the case, I do not know what the trend is now. But if this happened to you then before you choose B.Pharm or Pharm.D make an approximate pencil sketch of what exactly you want to do after the pharmacy degree. Forget about not getting into MBBS, move on.
If you want to do a clinical pharmacy based job in a hospital setting… I say forget it. Do not even think about it. If you want some industry-based job take up B.Pharm. If you want a desk job in an A/C office take-up Pharm.D.If you want to work in some CRO again take up Pharm.D. You may have to struggle a bit for a CRO job but it’s possible to get one. Do not blindly choose and complain later, do not be misguided by one of these useless“pundits”, use your god given brains ask the right persons and make an educated decision. By the way, if you are someone who is interested in cellular-based research you should neither choose B.pharm. or Pharm.D I would recommend you to take up BSc. in biotechnology or related fields. That is the best way to go about it. For other kinds of research, B.Pharm is okay.
Choose carefully, Pharm.D is not the safest of choices, it's a big gamble. Do not take pharm.D for the Dr. prefix.
Since I am MAHE sudent I am the best defender and critic of my University, So here is why I feel they are the best and glad that I chose Manipal University.
Choose carefully, Pharm.D is not the safest of choices, it's a big gamble. Do not take pharm.D for the Dr. prefix.
Since I am MAHE sudent I am the best defender and critic of my University, So here is why I feel they are the best and glad that I chose Manipal University.
Pharm.D In Manipal:
Manipal Academy of Higher Education is one of the most prestigious deemed universities of India, now bearing the Institute of eminence tag. Despite the complaints of certain people I for one am glad to be here because I have seen one or two other pharmacy colleges and I can say Manipal does have good standards. But yes there is ALWAYS room for improvement and MCOPS/MAHE does know that and they work constantly to push their limits. It is no joke being in the top 10 pharmacy colleges of India.
Why Manipal is better than others?
There are many who often ask is Manipal better than this university or that one etc. I am sure you must have read “why Manipal?” or “why MCOPS?” somewhere or the other, maybe on some advertisement. They have given a reason, but they have done it with a corporate perspective. Let me give you my perspective.
1) First and foremost, freedom.
On the health sciences, campus of MAHE the curfew timings for hostels are 12 midnight. At most institutions, these rules don't apply and generally will have curfews before 7pm. The reason for such a late curfew is that for starters to allow the students to study for as long as they want in the library. And secondly, because many students have an internship or other related duties in the hospital which they may have to stay up until 12 (sometimes later for them curfews won't apply).
It goes without saying that based on this curfew you can stick to your usual routine of things as you would at home even in Manipal ...like, want to go for a late walk? It can be done...want to go for a late show of some movie? It can be done. Aside from this, there are no rules like lights off at so and so time etc in the hostel.
There are no food-based restrictions either, a few campuses in India require you to mandatorily eat veg when on campus. Not here you don't!
2) An open campus.
Unlike many other universities, the campus of MAHE or even MIT for that matter is not closed off to the public. Meaning there are scattered private properties, shops and other things all over the campus. There is no physical boundary demarketing it, it's essentially merged with the town of Manipal. So unlike other places, you don't really have to go miles away for those tiny things that you may want to buy or whatever. You won't understand the importance of this until you have experienced both worlds or at least imagined it. Everything necessary is walking distance here. Or max a 5 min local bus ride away fromcity of Udupi.
3) Research
In my personal opinion MAHE does conduct quite a bit of research but just like any other Indian research institute, it comes with those same issues that all other institutes face such as funding etc. Getting grants is a major issue no matter where you. There are quite a bit of good institutes out there like BITS, IISER, etc. That are superior to MAHE in this regard (and no they don't offer the Pharm.D course, refer their website for more on that). I do wish MAHE had realised this that how important research would be for them a bit earlier than right now. As of now, this is a moderate-strong point.
The point regarding research you probably won't realise its importance right now… or may not at all… but this especially applies to M.Pharm rather than Pharm.D. since M.Pharms have lab-based projects. It is of great importance to them (The Pharm.D scenario, however, is likely to change soon...only time will tell.)
But otherwise, for nonlab based studies (like in Pharm.D), Manipal is a good place, one just needs a very competent guide. In that regard, this is a good benefit for Pharm.Ds.
But otherwise, for nonlab based studies (like in Pharm.D), Manipal is a good place, one just needs a very competent guide. In that regard, this is a good benefit for Pharm.Ds.
4) Facilities
I have noticed that many of the students who secure an admission to MCOPS don't make use of the university facilities. Of Course, it won’t do any harm at all. But if you do there is a lot to be gained especially from a research perspective.
The key to realising the greatness of securing an admission to Manipal is to know what resources you have access to, making the right choices and keeping an open mind. Manipal has many clubs, gyms, and tiny-tiny places to explore. If nothing at all you can always study the weird as well as wonderful people of Manipal. HaHa.
Also lastly I would like to add that my home state of Goa is just about 300kms train ride away. Whenever you feel too stressed out, tried or need a break, or you simply got to pissed off at someone from Manipal, you can simply hop on a train to Goa for the weekend etc. It is barely 5 hrs away with the right train. Please travel responsibly, ensure that someone knows where you are, if you are a drinker drink responsibly. I am against drinking completely, and it should be noted people contstanly get themselves into trouble by doing so.
---Raghuvir Keni
Also lastly I would like to add that my home state of Goa is just about 300kms train ride away. Whenever you feel too stressed out, tried or need a break, or you simply got to pissed off at someone from Manipal, you can simply hop on a train to Goa for the weekend etc. It is barely 5 hrs away with the right train. Please travel responsibly, ensure that someone knows where you are, if you are a drinker drink responsibly. I am against drinking completely, and it should be noted people contstanly get themselves into trouble by doing so.
---Raghuvir Keni
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