An innovative post-graduate programme in Pharmacy Practice
was launched at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (DOPS), University of
Kashmir in the year 2009. Course was introduced with an aim of introducing
clinical pharmacy, community pharmacy and modernized hospital pharmacy services
at a tertiary care hospital with whom DOPS has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) under which the hospital has been providing necessary assistance
to our students for undertaking practical classwork and research studies at its
various inpatient and outpatient departments.
Main objectives of the course were to shift the focus of
graduating pharmacists from bench side to bed side, from product to patient so
that they are adequately skilled and properly trained to offer patient oriented
services like patient counseling, drug information services, pharmacovigilance
and drug safety monitoring services, prescription audit and drug utilization
studies, hospital formulary and drug management services, community education
services, pharmaceutical care services etc. This way pharmacy practitioners
will become a part and parcel of the healthcare delivery team which hitherto
comprised of only doctors and nurses. Thus this course marks the beginning of a
new era of clinical pharmacy practice in the state.
During the past five years of this programme one research
project involving design, implementation and evaluation of pharmaceutical care
services to the patients of respiratory medicine at the Internal Medicine ward
of the tertiary care hospital was completed successfully apart from two more research
projects on drug utilization evaluation. During the course of their research and
practical work, trainee pharmacy practitioners took part in ward rounds,
offered patient counseling and education services, undertook case studies of
patients, prepared clinical manuals of various diseases and exposed themselves
thoroughly to the drug and disease management techniques in clinical settings
at various wards of the tertiary care hospital.
This paper discusses the journey and experience of the author
with this innovative programme over the past five years and throws light upon
the various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT ANALYSIS) encountering
the programme so that the future policy and planning of this course becomes
better that shall pave way for a smooth and successful conduct of this course
in days to come. Primary needs and special
requirements of the course to fulfill its basic objectives are also discussed.
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