SIX YEAR OLD D OC TOR O F PH AR M AC Y ED U CA TI ON IN IN D IA - A CRITICAL STU DY

The pas t few decades witness ed many scientific developments and achievements in the area s of Hospital, Clinica l and Community pharmacy s ervices through out the world. The Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) degree, is a profess ional doctor degree in Pharmacy focus ing on hospital, co mmunity and clin ical pharmacy activit ies . It is a global progra m in pharmacy education and is very much s imila r to profess ional degrees like Doctor of Medicine (M D) in USA. The firs t effort to introduce Pharm. D in India was initiated in Trivandru m in 1999 when Univers ity of Kerala approved the s yllabus and regulations , fra med by K. G. Reviku mar, the head of Hos pital and Clin ical Pharmacy, of Trivandrum Medical College. The program could not be s tarted for certain reas ons . Later in 2008 the Pharmacy council of India (PCI) managed to introduce a s ix year regula r Pharm D and the three year pos t baccalaureate Pharm. D in India. By 2013 November, the PCI had given approval to over 140 ins titutions covering s tates like Ke rala , Ta mil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Prades h, Maharas htra, Guja rat, Ra jas than, UP and Punjab for s tarting Pharm. D in India . The firs t batch of regular Pharm. D will graduate by the end of 2014. The s trengths , weaknes s , opportunities and threats (SWOT) of Indian Pharm. D a re crit ically and s cientifically analys ed and evaluated in this s tudy paper.