Understanding the Career Opportunities of Clinical Pharmacy in India

Abstract

This review highlighted on understanding the career opportunities available in India for Clinical Pharmacy practitioners. Clinical pharmacy is a health science discipline which deals with providing patient care that optimizes medication therapy and promotes health, and disease prevention. To improve the status of this field in India a new course, Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) was introduced a decade ago. The students pursuing this course are uncertain and misled about the career options of clinical pharmacy. Due to lack of awareness and skills among the budding pharmacists as well as the lack of guidance by academicians and academic institutions, it is really becoming difficult for the students to understand the areas where they can pursue their career. There are diverse fields in which Pharm.D students can pursue their career such as pharmacovigilance, health economics and outcome research, clinical research, medical writing, academics and research. However, clinical pharmacy and its practitioners have fewer acceptances in the healthcare system and among the general public. Due to lack of awareness among the Indian population, dominance of the clinicians in the healthcare field, lack of initiatives by the governing authorities to mandate the role of clinical pharmacist in the government sector this field is not well established. Therefore, it is high time for the budding pharmacists to focus on such an embrasure of the healthcare scenario and to understand and utilize the available opportunities. The present situation might be discouraging for the individuals pursuing their study in clinical pharmacy but, there is a wide scope and demand for the graduates in clinical pharmacy and no opportunity is small.