Doctor of Pharmacy or Pharm.D is a hospital oriented professional doctor degree in Pharmacy. It is a six-year Post-graduate program and a student gets authorization to use prefix Doctor (Dr) to his/her name. The course has been introduced to improve clinical and hospital pharmacy services in India and it is the only pharmacy service which is in direct contact with patient health care system and authorized to take critical decisions in in-patient prescription to assure the provision of rational drug therapy and to improve patient outcomes.
The students acquire their clinical knowledge and skills to manage patients with chronic or acute illness, Collaborate with other health care providers to provide cost effective care, identify and correct drug related problems, council and educate patients and family members on correct use of medications.
The students undergo one year internship/residency during the final year (6th year) in the various major departments of the specialty teaching hospital in the campus. The opportunities for Pharm. D graduates include Hospital, Clinical & Community Pharmacy, Clinical Trials, Pharmacovigilance (ADR monitoring), Academics, Pharmacoeconomics and Regulatory Affairs.
The Pharm. D course shall be six academic years (five years of study and one year of internship or residency) full time with each academic year spread over a period of not less than two hundred working days. The period of six years duration is divided into two phases.
Phase I - consisting of First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth academic year.
Phase II - consisting of internship or residency training during sixth year involving posting in specialty units. It is a phase of training wherein a student is exposed to actual pharmacy practice or clinical pharmacy services and acquires skill under supervision so that he or she may become capable of functioning independently.