[e-drug] The PharmD Degree in Developing Countries

["Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar" <horizon_pharm@yahoo.com>]

E-DRUG: The PharmD Degree in Developing Countries
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Dear Colleagues

The following "Letter to Editor" is published by
American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education and
raises some important questions regarding Pharm D in
developing countries.

http://www.ajpe.org/view.asp?art=aj7106125&pdf=yes

Am J Pharm Edu, Vol: 71, Issue 06, Article: 125 

Regards

Zaheer
_________________________

Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar,PhD 
Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice
School of Pharmacy
Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences
The University of Auckland
85 Park Road, Grafton
New Zealand
Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar <horizon_pharm@yahoo.com>
Ph: +64 9 3737599 Ext 88436
Ph:(Mobile) + 64 211 241013
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LETTERS
 
The PharmD Degree in Developing Countries

Shazia Jamshed M Phil, Zaheer Ud Din Babar PhD, and
Imran Masood MBA IT

School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains
Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia 

To the Editor. A doctor of pharmacy degree program
must have a multidisciplinary curriculum that produces
pharmacists with sufficient mental acuity to
differentiate their position from that of simply
dispensers of drugs to that of providers of
pharmaceutical care. 

The PharmD program in the United
States is the epitome of the practice-based model as
it evolved from industrial and compounding pharmacy to
a more patient-focused program. Now, as there is an
upsurge in clinical pharmacy, many developing
countries have expanded their pharmacy curriculum to a
5- or 6-year program that issues a doctorate of
pharmacy degree. However, it is still to be determined
whether these countries are genuinely interested in a
practice-based model or simply want their graduates to
enroll in the US system. 

Let us look at the situation in various developing countries.

Recently, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) decided
to introduce PharmD (post-bacclaureate degree) courses
for the first time in the country in the coming
academic year. This decision has been appreciated in a
previous letter to the editor entitled ?India to
Introduce Five-year Doctor of Pharmacy program? in
AJPE.1 However, it is imperative to evaluate the state
of pharmacy education in India before fully supporting
this decision. 

There are more than 600 pharmacy institutes in India producing over 13,000 pharmacy
graduates every year. Pharmacy practice experiences are more or less non-existent with particularly no emphasis on pharmacotherapeutics and clinical pharmacy. There may be exceptions like Jadavpur University and JSS College of Pharmacy. 2 

As the principal author of this letter and a former
lecturer in one of the pharmacy colleges in Delhi, I
want to share my experience and observation on the
infrastructure of pharmacy colleges, especially those
in north India. The pharmacy colleges are in a
debilitating state. Their curricula are devised by
highly non-technical personnel who have no idea about
clinical pharmacy or pharmacy practice. 

Most of the pharmacy colleges do not have any alternatives to
animal experiments as software for undergraduate
education. However, they are busy producing
postgraduates and PhDs, obviously in bulk. More or
less all of the pharmacy colleges are recognized by
PCI as well as the All India Council of Technical
Education.

In Pakistan, a universal PharmD program has been
started; however, questions have been raised regarding
inadequacies within the curriculum. There are also
issues in terms of lack of experienced academicians
and practice-based facilities. It is imperative to
revisit these issues because, since its inception,
pharmacy education in Pakistan has not contributed in
any notable way to healthcare policy.3 

In Iran, although implemented, the PharmD degree does
not provide pharmacy students with clinical insight
through active participation in patient care at the
interdisciplinary level.4 According to Iranian
academcians, 5 pharmacy education and pharmaceutical
services in Iran must be in accordance with social
needs. 

In Korea, though the curriculum seems clinically orientated, the induction of a 6-year
curriculum in pharmacy education is likely to cause educational inequality and may ignite a struggle for power between pharmacists and physicians. 6 

Clinical pharmacy promotes rationale drug use and plays an important role in patient care. However, in developing countries, clinical pharmacy is promoted as an isolated single entity and not related to a stable population-based pharmaceutical system.7

 In the United States and in other Western countries where clinical pharmacy was established, a stable drug distribution system was in place in the hospitals and drug regulatory authorities were efficient. However, how developing countries will promote the PharmD degree and clinical pharmacy in the absence of good governance of pharmaceuticals it is still a question mark.

According to the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), there must be well-planned execution of good pharmacy practice in developing countries. Thus, the implementation of the PharmD program must largely emphasize pharmaceutical care encompassing areas of patient care such as hospital and clinical pharmacy. It should not be used as a tool for the pharmacist to be employed internationally or as a sole instrument of professional power and status. If it is so, then implementation of the PharmD degree is certainly questionable and merits justification. We
hope that the FIP as well as other national pharmacy councils would take heed of this situation.

Shazia Jamshed, M PhilZaheer Ud Din Babar, PhDImran
Masood, MBA ITSchool of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Universiti Sains Malaysia Penang, Malaysia





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REFERENCES
  1.  Khan Ghilzai,Naushad M.,PhD; Dutta,Arjun P,PhD.
India to introduce five-year Pharm D program [letter].
Am J Pharm Educ. 2007;71((2))Article 38 
2.  Parthasarathi G, Ramesh M, Nyfort-Hansen K, Nagavi
BG. Clinical pharmacy in a South Indian teaching
hospital. Ann Pharmacother. 2002;36((5)):927?32. 
3.  Babar ZU. Pharmacy education and practice in
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4.  Salamzadeh J. Clinical pharmacy in Iran: where do
we stand?. Iranian J Pharm Res. 2004;3:1?2. 
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http://www.ijpr-online.com/Docs/20021/IJPRe001.htm.
Accessed September 5, 2007 
6.  Yang E, Shin TJ, Kim S, Go Y, Lee S. The
pedagogical validity for a six years curriculum in
pharmacy education. Korean J Med Educ. 17((3)):225?38.

7.  Babar ZU. Defining clinical pharmacy in Asia
[posting]. Essential Drugs. 2007. Available at:
http://www.essentialdrugs.org/edrug/archive/200706/
Accessed September 5, 2007