IMA vehemently opposes PCI's circular issued to universities to prefix 'Dr' before the names of Pharm D graduates
Coming down heavily on Pharmacy Council of India
(PCI) for its recommendation to universities to prefix 'Dr' before the names of
those who pass out the Doctoral Pharmacy (Pharm D) course, the Indian Medical
Association (IMA) has asked the national pharmacy education regulator to
withdraw the contentious circular issued to the universities in this regard by
the PCI Registrar last week.
In a statement issued on May 29 against the circular
of the PCI, the IMA says that the PCI’s circular is unlawful, and in violation
of the rules and regulations governing the practice of modern medicine in the
country. On several occasions, the Supreme Court of India held that only a
person holding a registration with the ‘Medical Council of India’ or the state
medical councils is entitled to practice modern system of medicines. As per the
judgments and rulings of the apex court, the pharmacists cannot use ‘Dr’ prefix
with their names. They are supposed to work under a medical supervision and in
any case, cannot be the first contact person for an illness.
Speaking to Pharmabiz, Dr. R V Asokhan, national
secretary of the IMA has said that unless a decision in this regard comes in
favor of the medical community from the new government in the Centre, the IMA
will approach the apex court of the country for justice as the students of
Pharm D are coming through the pharmacy stream and not through the medical stream.
He said there are different streams in the healthcare system. Medical stream,
nursing stream, pharmacy stream and physiotherapy stream are different areas,
but only professionals of the medical stream are eligible to use the prefix
'Dr' before their names.
Dr Asokhan said the Pharm D course cannot be
considered as a doctoral course. If the pharmacists want to have a ‘Dr’ prefix,
let them do research in separate areas of pharmaceutical sciences after
obtaining a post graduate degree. Once they get Ph D in their subjects after
long study and researches, they can use a non-medical ‘Dr’ prefix with their
names. The Pharm D is a six-year pharmacy course, and the students join the
programme after Plus Two. This degree does not entitle them to use the 'Dr' prefix,
he argued.
When asked whether IMA recognizes the Pharm D
programme as a Doctoral Pharmacy course, the IMA national secretary responded
that PCI did not have the power to mandate the universities to use the word
‘Doctoral’ in the nomenclature of the programme or to advise the varsities to
write ‘Dr’ prefix before the names of the course passed out students.
He said that as the circular of the PCI is
inappropriate and illegal, IMA has written to the Union health ministry and
also to the Medical Council of India about the recommendation of the PCI.
According to him, government of India has clearly stated that the prefix ‘Dr'
can only be used by the practitioners of recognized systems of medicines.
But calling for a broad consensus on the issue with
the medical professionals and associations like IMA, Dr B Suresh, president of
the PCI has responded to Pharmabiz on the statement of the IMA. He said both
the leadership of the professional associations should sit together and evolve
a consensus on the issue.
According to him, as per the Pharm D Regulation 2008,
Pharm D is a professional doctorate degree and it is a globally accepted
pharmacy qualification. The students who successfully complete the course are
eligible to prefix the letters 'Dr' with their names. It signifies that they
have successfully pursued the course and completed their doctoral degree.
“The prefix Dr
and the Pharm D degree do not confer any graduate the rights to practice the
profession of medicine. Under Pharm D Regulations and Pharmacy Practice
Regulations 2015, they are eligible to practice the profession of pharmacy. The
pharmacists are supposed to continuously and closely work with the physicians
who are the captains of the healthcare team. Hence the leadership of both the
professions should sit together and evolve strategies to leverage the support
that Pharm D graduates can give to the physicians in providing a better care to
the patients”, the PCI president said.
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