Govt universities in Assam approve B Pharm (Practice), classes to commence in August

The bridge course for pharmacy degree certificate, Bachelor of Pharmacy (Practice), introduced by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) in 2014 after rolling out its prestigious educational programmeme Pharm D in 2008, has been approved by the government universities in Assam.

Last week, the state government controlled Dibrugarh University in the eastern part of Assam officially approved the proposal for introduction of B Pharm (Practice). The department of pharmaceutical sciences at the university will start the course from August this year, sources from the university informed.

Assam Science & Technical University (ASTU), another government university that runs pharmaceutical courses, approved the course last year, but classes will be started from this academic year onwards. Girijananda Institute of Pharmaceutical Science (GIPS) in Guwahati affiliated to ASTU is the college where the course will be conducted under ASTU’s control. With this, the bridge course will be one of the courses of studies of these two government universities in Assam in addition to one private university. In the affiliated institutions of these universities and in the university departments, the course will be started from August this year.

In Assam, the bridge course was first started in Assam Downtown University in 2017, a private university located in Guwahati and its first batch successfully came out in March this year.

Sharing information with Pharmabiz from Dibrugarh University, Dr. Hemanta Sharma, course coordinator for B Pharm (Practice), said that the under-graduate board of the Dibrugarh University at its 121st meeting on April 25th recommended the course to the academic council which held its 116th meeting on April 30th to approve the course. He said the university will advertise the course on media and in newspapers in this month for starting the programme in coming August. The total intake of the course is limited to 40 professional pharmacists who should satisfy the conditions of the PCI. Pharmacists working in both government and private sectors can apply for the programme, but they should have four years experience in a community pharmacy or in a hospital pharmacy. Classes will be held on every Saturday and Sunday. The course duration is two years.

Explaining about courses of pharmaceutical sciences run by the university, Dr. Sharma said Dibrugarh University is the first institution in the entire north east to start pharmacy courses. Currently, B Pharm, M Pharm and Pharm D are conducted in the university’s department. Students from all north eastern states are coming to Dibrugarh to do degree and PG courses in pharmaceutical sciences.

He further said the two-year bridge course is aimed to upgrade the educational qualification of the professional pharmacists. The course planning and syllabus were designed by the PCI which published it through government gazette.

Birendra Kumar Burman, a CGHS pharmacist in upper Assam said the bridge course of the PCI received much acceptance in Assam because of the efforts of the government pharmacists association which takes interest in promoting pharmacy profession in the north east. The association leaders held several round of talks with the VCs and academic council members of the private and public universities to get the bridge course approved by the universities. He said he will hold discussion with VCs of other private varsities in the state in the month of June.

PCI introduced regulations for the bridge course in 2014. Although a small number of institutions started the course in south Indian states in 2015 and in later years, it did not receive much acceptance by institutions in north India as expected by PCI and the academic community. The course was first started in Vinayaka Mission College of Pharmacy in Salem in Tamil Nadu in 2015. One year later, Vels College of Pharmacy at Pallavaram near Chennai and JSS College of Pharmacy in Ootty started the course. Outside of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the course was started at the pharmaceutical sciences department of the Down Town University in Assam in 2017. It admitted 40 government pharmacy professionals and the first batch came out last March.

Source: http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=115735&sid=1