After a gap of 11 years, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has recently come out with a new draft syllabus for B Pharm course which seeks to produce competent and innovative professionals who can excel in healthcare delivery, industrial excellence, research innovation and regulatory engagement. It has been designed under strict compliance of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to meet the evolving needs of the pharmacy profession in India at par with international standards. The new syllabus envisions global outreach with ample flexibility and freedom to the stakeholders. By emphasizing on a skill-based, industry-associated and research-driven framework, the new syllabus not only offers the much-needed flexibility through Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) and subject electives, but it also promotes practical training, soft skills and professional ethics. It also incorporates emerging domains such as novel drug delivery systems, modern analytical techniques, precision medicine and pharmacovigilance, ensuring alignment with the latest advancements in research and practice. Equally important is the emphasis on nurturing rational, critical, and out-of-the-box thinking, alongside an entrepreneurial mindset, to empower students to generate innovative and pragmatic solutions to real-world pharma problems. There can be no two opinions, the PCI’s move to overhaul the B Pharm curriculum is a timely and reformist endeavour towards aligning pharmacy education with the evolving demands of the pharmaceutical industry and the healthcare sector. Of course, the new curriculum has been designed by integrating the core principles of pharmaceutical sciences with the evolving demands of healthcare, industry, research and technology.
All said and done, there are several issues in the new syllabus which the PCI should clear before coming out with the final syllabus. PCI has announced it is going to start two distinct streams of Industrial and Clinical Specializations by splitting the existing B. Pharm course. It is a welcome move, but the published draft syllabus does not clearly reflect those objectives. It looks like mixture of those two streams as already existing. Another issue is that the draft syllabus has picked up subjects as diverse as from Agriculture, Law, Management, Engineering, etc. But, the question is whether it is possible for pharmacy teachers to teach all of these subjects. Will the PCI direct pharmacy colleges to appoint teachers from these fields to implement this syllabus. Another point is that the syllabus is silent about lateral entry of D. Pharm students into B. Pharm. Then, PCI has announced those students who leave after second year B. Pharm will be awarded Diploma in Pharmacy as per the NEP. But the new syllabus for the first two years of B. Pharm course is insufficient to make a full pharmacist. First two years syllabus do not have the very important subjects like Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Jurisprudence. Both are unavoidable and very much essential subjects for a pharmacist to practice. Then there are implementation challenges before the PCI as several pharmacy institutions in the country lack the infrastructure, trained faculty, and resources to deliver advanced modules effectively. The implementation of new syllabus necessitates the consistent involvement of experts in domains such as AI/ML, 3D-printing, microfluidics-based ‘lab-on-a-chip’ systems, digital health, nanomedicine, telemedicine, precision medicine, QbD, PAT, and continuous manufacturing. No doubt, it is a bold and progressive step by the PCI. The new curriculum will make pharmacy graduates more skilled, innovative, and globally competitive. It will bring in the much-needed shift from a rote learning-based system to a more holistic, multidisciplinary approach, emphasizing foundational learning and skill development. But, the implementation of the new syllabus in letter and spirit will prove to be a Himalayan challenge for the pharmacy education regulator in the country. |