Clinical pharmacy relates to the safe, effective and economic use of medicines and contributes to the “patient care journey” at all stages. It is the practice of pharmacy in a multidisciplinary health care team directed at achieving patient treatment goals by ensuring: The maximization of the effectiveness and tolerability of drug treatment and minimization of drug toxicity in individual patients, Monitoring of medical therapy and Involvement in educating prescribers.
Community pharmacists are considered to be the most accessible health professional to the public, as they are available to provide personalized advice about health and medicine. Community pharmacists provide important counselling services in the choice of over-the-counter medications, checking for drug interactions, making sure that the medications and doses are appropriate for the patient considering health factors and other medications, Dispensing medications, labeling the medication correctly with instructions for the patient about how to take the medication.
State and Central Government Agencies such as State Pharmacy Councils, Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) requires skilled pharmacists as regulators.
A hospital pharmacy is an organizational usually found within the premises of a hospital. Hospital pharmacies may provide a huge quantity of medications day to day, which is allocated to the wards and two intensive care units according to a patient’s medication schedule. Hospital Pharmacist manages the operations and play a decisive role in Pharmacy administration. It is the responsibility of the hospital pharmacist to oversee the complete medicine distribution cycle, starting from the prescription according to the diagnosis, choice of medicine, dispensing, preparation and administration of the medicines. Therefore, the pharmacist can fulfil an essential role in ensuring medicine safety within a hospital setup.
The pharmaceutical industry offers pharmacists many opportunities to pharmacist to use their specialist skills in a various roles, from drug research and development through to sales and marketing. Pharm D graduates are actively recruited by major pharmaceutical manufacturers for managing Pharmacovigilance, clinical trials, medical writing, regulatory affairs etc.
Pharmacoeconomics analyse the social, administrative and economic costs and benefits of pharmaceuticals and health care. Demand for experts in pharmaco-economics are steadily increasing. Pharmaceutical companies are likely to recruit more experts in pharmaco-economics to overcome Economic burden of the pts
Pharm. D graduates can seek employment in WIPRO, Accenture, Cognizant, Quintiles, TCS, PPD, I Gate Patni Computers, ICON Solutions and Quantum Solutions, etc. Central drug standards control organizations (CDSCO) has also made it mandatory for all Pharma companies those are working in India to establish a pharmacovigilance department and submit pharmacovigilance reports time to time. These firms work for both clinical trials and post marketing surveillance. Government of India has already launched the National Pharmacovigilance program in India (PvPI) which encourages Pharmacovigilance reporting from time to time from different health care organizations. PharmD Graduates are most wanted in the PV – Field.
A medical writer or medical science liaison or medical advisor is a health care professional who works for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and managed care companies. Currently, it’s the largest employer for Pharm. D graduates. Medical writing or medical liaison involves producing scientific documents by a specialized writer. Medical writer works with physicians, medical scientists and other subject experts. Medical advisors also answer queries asked by physicians providing consulting for pharmaceutical companies.
Academia is one of the biggest employment sources for Pharm. D graduates. PharmD graduates can find academia jobs abroad, such as Malaysia, Ethiopia, UAE States, and other Middle Eastern and African countries for teaching.
Contract research organizations work for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device industry to perform research and developmental work on a contractual basis. For pharmaceutical companies, CROs provide consultation for services such as development of medications, biologic assay development, commercialization, preclinical research, clinical research, clinical trials, and Pharmacovigilance. In the pharmaceutical industry as well, newly hire PharmD graduates mostly work as clinical research coordinators (CRC) and after 1-2 years of experience, are promoted to clinical research associates (CRA).
Product Management Team (PMT) is a core team of marketing development in a pharmaceutical industry, which oversees the overall marketing plan for a specific product and is responsible for profit or loss generated by that particular brand. PMT also trains the marketing executives that are newly hired by the company or for any new product launch. Pharm. D graduates have a good knowledge base about clinical research, management and communication skills.
Pharm. D graduates are eligible to join for Ph.D Programme in National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) and Various Medical Institutes like (AIIMS, JIPMER, NIMHANS, and PGIMER Chandigarh) through Qualifying PhD Entrance Exams. International M.S/ Ph.D. Admissions are based on Academic excellence, Letters of recommendation, Research experience, Personal interview, Graduate record examination scores (GRE). Postdoctoral fellowships are also available in foreign countries after completion of Ph.D Programs.
Pharm. D graduates are eligible to write various foreign pharmacy licensure examinations including in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, GCC Countries – Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, It is one of the mandatory component of the licensure process of most of the Western/ Gulf countries and is used by the boards of pharmacy as part of their assessment of a candidate’s competence to practice as a pharmacist.
Pharamcogenetic the application of genetics and genomics related to drug action and disposition in individual patients for precision medicine. It Promotes the optimal use and timings of Pharmacogenomics tests, including advocating for routine use of testing, which aid in the process of drug and dosage selection, design patient specific pharmacotherapy regimens. Most of the Pharmacogenomic experts work in research laboratories using knowledge of genetics to design new drugs, and second, investigating the effects of existing drugs according to an individual genetic makeup.
