Discovery Pharmacy

PERSPECTIVE

The international journal ISSN 2278–5426

EISSN 2278–5418

Enhancing Quality of Pharmacy Education and Research to Meet Global Challenges Sri Venkateswara Rao V҉ ҉

Correspondence to: Nalanda Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kantepudi, Sattenapalli, Gunntur, AP., India; E-mail: [email protected] Publication History Received: 10 January 2016 Accepted: 21 February 2016 Published: 01 March 2016 Citation Sri Venkateswara Rao V. Enhancing Quality of Pharmacy Education and Research to Meet Global Challenges. Discovery Pharmacy, 2016, 8(18), 1-7 Publication License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. General Note Article is recommended to print as digital colour version in recycled paper.

ABSTRACT The present article is aimed to improve the quality of pharmacy education and research in India and various steps to be taken for enhancing the quality in pharma education. Quality in business, engineering and manufacturing has a pragmatic interpretation as the non-inferiority or superiority of something; it is also defined as fitness for purpose. Quality is a perceptual, conditional, and somewhat subjective attribute and may be understood differently by different people. The current era of globalization has witnessed evolution in the professions of the health sector, especially in pharmacy. Whereas previously the pharmacist worldwide was seen as responsible primarily for manufacturing and supplying medicines, today the pharmacist's role has evolved towards a clinical orientation. The profession is still under continuous transition. With change in the health demands, pharmacists have a further role to play in patient care. The precise role of a pharmacist in the health setting is altering and varies significantly from country to country. In contrast to the developed world, pharmacists in developing countries are not fully executing their potential role. They are still struggling for the recognition of their role that can help to improve the health care system. Changes in quality pharmaceutical st education meet the challenges and needs of the nation in the 21 century.

business, engineering and manufacturing has a pragmatic interpretation as the non-inferiority or superiority of something; it is also defined as fitness for purpose. Quality is a perceptual, conditional, and somewhat subjective attribute and may be understood differently by different people. Sri Venkateswara Rao V, Enhancing Quality of Pharmacy Education and Research to Meet Global Challenges, Discovery Pharmacy, 2016, 8(18), 1-7, www.discovery.org.in

© 2016 Discovery Publication. All Rights Reserved

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Quality in

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1. INTRODUCTION

Consumers may focus on the specification quality of a product/service, or how it compares to competitors in the marketplace. Producers might measure the conformance quality, or degree to which the product/service was produced correctly. Support personnel may measure quality in the degree that a product is reliable, maintainable, or sustainable. Simply put, a quality item (an item that has quality) has the ability to perform satisfactorily in service and is suitable for its intended purpose. There are five aspects of quality in a business context:  Producing - providing something.  Checking - confirming that something has been done correctly.  Quality Control - controlling a process to ensure that the outcomes are predictable.  Quality Management – directing an organization so that it optimizes its performance through analysis and improvement.  Quality Assurance – obtaining confidence that a product or service will be satisfactory. (Normally performed by a purchaser) Quality applied in these forms was mainly developed by the procurement directorates of NASA, the military and nuclear industries from the 1960s and this is why so much emphasis was placed on Quality Assurance. The original versions of Quality Management System Standards (eventually merged to ISO 9001) were designed to contract manufacturers to produce better products, consistently and were focused on Producing, Checking and Quality Control. The subsequent move of the Quality sector towards management systems can be clearly seen by the aggregation of the product quality requirements into one eighth of the current version of ISO 9001. This increased focus on Quality Management has promoted a general perception that quality is about procedures and documentation. Similar experiences can be seen in the areas of Safety Management Systems and Environmental Management Systems. The emergence of tools like Asset Optimization and 6 sigma is an interesting development in the application of quality principles in business. Six Sigma is a set of strategies, techniques, and tools for process improvement. It was developed by Motorola in 1981. Six Sigma became famous when Jack Welch made it central to his successful business strategy at General Electric in 1995, Today, it is used in many industrial sectors. Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization ("Champions", "Black Belts", "Green Belts", "Yellow Belts", etc.) who are experts in the methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified value targets, for example: reduce process cycle time, reduce pollution, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits. Managing quality is fundamental to any activity and having a clear understanding of the five aspects, measuring performance and taking action to improve is essential to an organizations survival and growth. Quality education is not an easy concept to qualify. At a time when we are discussing a quality education for all our learners it is important to take time to understand this concept. The document Tomorrow's Schools (1995) had asked the following question: "What are considered to be the basic requirements of a quality education - one that is meaningful, worthwhile, responsive to individuals and social needs - and does each and every student, without fail get those requirements, regulated as these are by the principle of entitlement?" According to the Education For All: Global Monitoring Report 2005 - The Quality Imperative (EFA: GMR), two principles characterise most attempts to define quality in education: the first identifies learners' cognitive development as the major explicit objective of all education systems. The second emphasises education's role in promoting values and attitudes of responsible citizenship and in nurturing creative and emotional development." Quality education is the learning that meets high standards. The mode of learning is recognized by international standards. It incorporates use of modern methods of learning like e-learning. Quality determines how much and how well children learn and the extent to which their education translates into a range of personal, social and developmental benefits. Goal 6 of the Dakar Framework for Action (2000) emphasises the need of a stimulating pedagogy. It is the teaching and learning process that brings the curriculum to life, which determines what, happens in the classroom and subsequently the quality of the learning outcomes.

Relevant aims: Policy dialogue must arrive at a relevant balanced set of aims describing what learners should learn and why; the development of cognitive, creative and social skills and values; respect for human rights, the environment, peace and tolerance and cultural diversity. These put citizenship, democracy and human rights at the fore.



Subject balance: how subjects are defined, how many are taught and the time allocated to each.

Sri Venkateswara Rao V, Enhancing Quality of Pharmacy Education and Research to Meet Global Challenges, Discovery Pharmacy, 2016, 8(18), 1-7, www.discovery.org.in

© 2016 Discovery Publication. All Rights Reserved

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The GMR emphasises six policy issues which directly impact on teaching and learning:

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Good use of time: Positive correlations are noted between instruction time and student achievement at both primary and secondary levels. Between 850 and 1,000 effective hours (not necessarily official hours) of schooling per year is broadly agreed as a benchmark.

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Pedagogic approaches for better learning: Child-centred active pedagogy, cooperative learning and the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills need to be present.

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Language policy: Language of instruction is a policy choice affecting curriculum, content and pedagogy. A balance needs to be struck between enabling people to use local languages in learning and ensuring that they have access to global languages.



Learning from assessment: Regular, reliable, timely assessment is a key to improving learning achievement. The goals are to give learners feedback and improve learning and teaching practices. Formative assessment is needed as a complement to formal examinations.

Sri Venkateswara Rao V, Enhancing Quality of Pharmacy Education and Research to Meet Global Challenges, Discovery Pharmacy, 2016, 8(18), 1-7, www.discovery.org.in

© 2016 Discovery Publication. All Rights Reserved

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th

The word pharmacy is derived from its root word pharma which was a term used since the 15th–17 centuries. However, the original Greek roots from "Pharmakos" imply sorcery or even poison. In addition to pharma responsibilities, the pharma offered general medical advice and a range of services that are now performed solely by other specialist practitioners, such as surgery and midwifery. The pharma (as it was referred to) often operated through a retail shop which, in addition to ingredients for medicines, sold tobacco and patent medicines. The pharmas also used many other herbs not listed. The Greek word Pharmakeia meaning "drug" or "medicine. In its investigation of herbal and chemical ingredients, the work of the pharma may be regarded as a precursor of the modern sciences of chemistry and pharmacology, prior to the formulation of the scientific method. The field of pharmacy can generally be divided into three primary disciplines:  Pharmaceutics and pharmacognosy  Pharmacy practice  Pharmacy Practice Research Often, collaborative teams from various disciplines (pharmacists and other scientists) work together toward the introduction of new therapeutics and methods for patient care. However, pharmacy is not a basic or biomedical science in its typical form. It is also distinct from Medicinal Chemistry, which is a branch of synthetic chemistry combining pharmacology, organic chemistry, and chemical biology. Pharmacology is sometimes confused as a discipline of pharmacy. Both disciplines are distinct. Although pharmacology is essential to the study of pharmacy, it is not specific to pharmacy. Those who wish to practice both pharmacy (patient oriented) and pharmacology (a biomedical science requiring the scientific method) receive separate training and degrees unique to either discipline. Pharmaco informatics is considered another new discipline, for systematic drug discovery and development with efficiency and safety. Pharmacists are healthcare professionals with specialised education and training who perform various roles to ensure optimal health outcomes for their patients through proper medication use. Pharmacists may also be small-business proprietors, owning the pharmacy in which they practice. Since pharmacists know about the chemical synthesis mode of action of a particular drug, and its metabolism and physiological effects on the human body in great detail, they play an important role in optimisation of a drug treatment for an individual. At independence in 1947, India inherited a system for the pharmacy profession from the British rulers that was unorganized and there was no legal restriction on the practice of pharmacy. The concept of pharmacy practice was not realized until after independence was gained. In 1948, the Pharmacy Act was enacted as the nation's first minimum standard of educational qualification for pharmacy practice to regulate the practice, education, and profession of pharmacy. Currently, one needs at least a diploma in pharmacy to practice as a pharmacist. Provisions of the Act are implemented through the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI). The Act requires individual states to establish state pharmacy councils that are responsible for controlling and registering pharmacists in their respective states. Throughout this paper the word “institution” has been used to describe both colleges/schools and universities. English is the only language of instruction for all pharmacy institutions. A variety of pharmacy degree programs are offered in India: diploma in pharmacy (D.Pharm), bachelor of pharmacy (B.Pharm), master of pharmacy (M.Pharm), master of science in pharmacy [MS(Pharm)] and master of technology in pharmacy [M.Tech (Pharm)], doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D), and doctor of philosophy in pharmacy (PhD). The entry point, for D.Pharm, B.Pharm, and Pharm.D programs is 12 years of formal education in the sciences. The D.Pharm program requires a minimum of 2 years of didactic coursework followed by 500 hours of required practical training anticipated to be completed within 3 months in either a hospital or

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2. PHARMACY EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND REGULATIONS

community setting. The B Pharm involves 4 years of study in colleges affiliated with universities or in a university department. Students holding a B.Pharm degree can earn an M.Pharm degree in 2 years, of which the second year is devoted to research leading to a dissertation in any pharmaceutical discipline, for instance pharmaceutics, pharmacology, pharmaceutical chemistry, or pharmacognosy. Recently, M.Pharm programs on industrial pharmacy, quality assurance, and pharmaceutical biotechnology have been introduced. To train the graduate pharmacist to provide clinical-oriented services, the M.Pharm program in pharmacy practice was introduced at Jagadguru Sri Shivaratreeswara (JSS) College of pharmacy at Mysore in 1996 and at Ooty in 1997. There are 6 National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs) in India offering MS (Pharm), M.Tech (Pharm), and higher-level degrees. The NIPERs were created with the vision of providing excellence in pharmacy and pharmacy-related education. Students with an M.Pharm degree in any discipline can work toward a PhD with an additional minimum 3 years of study and research. The Pharm.D program constitutes 6 years of full-time study. The Pharm. D (post-baccalaureate) program is a 3-year program. The Pharm D program was introduced in 2008 with the aim of producing pharmacists who had undergone extensive training in practice sites and could provide pharmaceutical care to patients.

3. RESEARCH

Prior to mid 1980s, the growth of publicly funded institutions of higher education (including pharmacy institutions) was very slow. Until early 1980s, there were 11 universities and 26 colleges offering pharmacy education at the bachelor's and master's Sri Venkateswara Rao V, Enhancing Quality of Pharmacy Education and Research to Meet Global Challenges, Discovery Pharmacy, 2016, 8(18), 1-7, www.discovery.org.in

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4. GROWTH OF PHARMACY EDUCATION

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A broad definition of research is given by Martyn Shuttleworth - "In the broadest sense of the word, the definition of research includes any gathering of data, information and facts for the advancement of knowledge." Another definition of research is given by Creswell who states - "Research is a process of steps used to collect and analyze information to increase our understanding of a topic or issue". It consists of three steps: Pose a question, collect data to answer the question, and present an answer to the question. The major steps in conducting research are: • Identification of research problem • Literature review • Specifying the purpose of research • Determine specific research questions or hypotheses • Data collection • Analyzing and interpreting the data • Reporting and evaluating research • Communicating the research findings and, possibly, recommendations Research funding organisations throughout the world are turning their attention to the impact their funding has on society through the exploitation of research results. The present academic research findings are limited and useful for the sake of award of degrees and for publications. Efforts are needed to transform these findings to industry level and patent level. Pharmacy education in India is regulated by two organizations: the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), under the Pharmacy Act of 1948, and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which was established under the AICTE Act of 1987. As mentioned previously, the PCI makes regulations regarding the minimum standard of education required for qualification as a pharmacist. It is responsible for registration of persons fulfilling the prescribed eligibility criteria (minimum D.Pharm) and issuing a license permitting them to practice in an Indian state. Registration activity is decentralized and the state pharmacy councils are responsible for registering pharmacists in their respective states. Thus, the PCI regulates the D Pharm program and the recently introduced Pharm.D program. The B.Pharm program needs to be recognized by the PCI for the qualifications to be accepted for registration purpose only. The PCI has no jurisdiction over M.Pharm and other higher-level degree programs. Pharmacy education at all levels excluding the Pharm.D is regulated by the AICTE and all these programs must be approved by it. The AICTE is primarily responsible for planning, formulating, and maintaining norms and standards in technical education, which include pharmacy. Besides the Pharmacy Act, pharmacy practice is also governed by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940, which stipulates the manufacture, distribution, and sale of drugs. Currently, there are no regulatory body and regulatory control for clinical pharmacy practice. The AICTE is also responsible for quality assurance of pharmacy programs (D.Pharm, B,Pharm and M.Pharm) through accreditation by National Board of Accreditation (NBA) constituted by the AICTE. However, only 8% of pharmacy programs have been accredited. Accreditation is voluntary and also a stringent process; thus, few institutions have applied for accreditation on their own. The voluntary accreditation seems to serve little purpose for any of its stakeholders. Unlike other countries, the current regulations do not require any continuing education to maintain licensure once they are conferred. In addition, registered pharmacists do not have any established norms on competencies or standards of services. There is no categorization of practicing and non-practicing pharmacists

levels. In addition, there was at least 1 government school in every Indian state offering the D.Pharm program. Since the late 1980s, due to rapid industrialization in the pharmaceutical sector, privatization, and economic growth, pharmacy education has been developing faster in India than anywhere in the world. In 2007, there were 854 institutions that admitted more than 52,000 students to the B Pharm degree program and 583 institutions that trained more than 34,000 students in the D Pharm degree program. Most of the institutions, however, are privately funded colleges or privately funded universities. The private sector, which accounted for about 10% of the students admitted in the 1980s, now accounts for 91% of all pharmacy students admitted. While there are a large number of D.Pharm and B.Pharm graduates each year, the number of students that has graduated in any state varies widely. A large number of privately funded institutions are located in states like Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. There is no doubt that currently there is enormous gap existing between education and practice of pharmacy. Most of the academic institutions providing education in pharmacy are away from practice environment. The fate of about 1,200 B Pharmacy students in nearly 20 colleges in the state of Andhra Pradesh hangs in the balance according to times of India. Though these colleges were opened four years ago, they have not got approval from the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI). Now the first batch of students, about 1,200, are expected to pass out and join the approximately 17,000 students who are expected to pass out of about 300 other colleges in the state. However, they will not be able to open their own pharmacy shops or apply for any position in government hospitals. The numbers of accredited institutions are very few. Faculty strength and its quality is a problem. Management is not proactive in providing facilities and necessary educational environment. National pay scales are not fully implemented and hence good academia is missing. There are a few centres of excellence where students get all the facilities and are well placed after their graduation. In the next decade, pharmaceutical industries will scout for pharmacy graduates who are inclined to research. Therefore, pharmacy colleges must appoint the right faculty. Admission Criteria Entry qualifications for pharmacy programs vary across and within states, and most significantly, between private and public institutions. Entry requirements also vary depending on the degree program. The majority of privately funded institutions do not have a direct formal application processes. There is no centralized data repository to indicate the number of applicants to private and public institutions in India.

Sri Venkateswara Rao V, Enhancing Quality of Pharmacy Education and Research to Meet Global Challenges, Discovery Pharmacy, 2016, 8(18), 1-7, www.discovery.org.in

© 2016 Discovery Publication. All Rights Reserved

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B.Pharm Program. Admission to the first-year B.Pharm program is made directly from higher secondary school on the basis of marks obtained in the higher secondary examination or on the basis of a merit list rank prepared based on scores on an entrance examination administered by a state or individual institution. Administering an entrance examination as an admissions requirement is used mainly by public institutions. For example, admission to the first-year B.Pharm of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) is made through the joint entrance examination (JEE) conducted by Indian Institutions of Technology (IITs), a group of 13 autonomous engineering and technology-oriented public institutes of higher education established and declared as institutes of national importance by the government of India. The selected students opt for more rewarding bachelor of technology (B Tech) programs; therefore, most of the 40 seats open i n the B.Pharm program at BHU remain vacant. The practice regarding preparing a merit list of applicants also differs. Some states and institutions place emphasis on entrance examination scores and use this as the only criterion in the selection process. A few private universities and at least 1 Indian state (Tamilnadu) have abandoned entrance examinations and use grades scored in the higher secondary examination instead. Many government institutions adopt a middle ground and use a combination of grades and entrance examination scores in their selection process. The merit list rank preparation or the entrance examination conduction for admission to the first-year B.Pharm and bachelor of engineering programs is undertaken jointly in all states except Tamilnadu and Karnataka, where it is combined with the medical degree programs. In general, applicants who rank lower on the list enter a B.Pharm program. In 2008, more than 35,000 students completed an entrance examination in West Bengal, a north eastern Indian state. The 25,000 students who ranked highest on the list

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D.Pharm Program. In India, higher secondary study is concluded by a terminal examination, the higher secondary examination, at the end of 12 years. Admission to the first year D.Pharm program in any government college is based on performance on the higher secondary examination. However, private colleges have their own admission procedures that comply with the education regulations of the PCI. Students generally may choose to undertake the D.Pharm program as their second or third choice, having been unable to obtain a place at the college in another degree program that was their first choice. The D.Pharm curriculum is framed through the education regulations of the Pharmacy Act. The present education regulations framed way back in 1991 (ER91). The curriculum is the same throughout the country. In the 1990s, the efforts of the pharmacy council of India for upgrading the minimum qualification for registration from D.Pharm to B.Pharm failed due to lack of consensus.

chose to enter engineering programs, while students below this rank selected B.Pharm programs in private institutions. There were reports in 2008 that institutions were having difficulty attracting suitable candidates to fill openings in their pharmacy programs.

Sri Venkateswara Rao V, Enhancing Quality of Pharmacy Education and Research to Meet Global Challenges, Discovery Pharmacy, 2016, 8(18), 1-7, www.discovery.org.in

© 2016 Discovery Publication. All Rights Reserved

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Pharm. D Program. Admission to a Pharm.D degree program is on the basis of successful completion of the higher secondary examination or the D.Pharm program. Passing the higher secondary examination with physics, chemistry, and biology or mathematics entitles a student to enter the Pharm.D program. B.Pharm degree holders can join the Pharm.D program in the fourth year. According to Pharmabiz, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) had introduced Pharm.D course as an educational reform to match global standards, but critics are of the opinion that the course will not seem to match the claim. The course was started in 2008 giving much expectation to students of pharmacy in India, especially the aspiring pharmacists who were targeted for the six-year course and the B.Pharm graduates to the lateral entry for the three-year postbaccalaureate course. Giving a warning to the aspirants of the course, the faculty members who have thorough knowledge about the various courses such as D.Pharm, B.Pharm and M.Pharm are advising the students to opt for degree course suitable to Indian scenario rather than dreaming of western opportunities. At present the Indian Pharm.D degree is not recognised by the US Boards of Pharmacy. According to them each developed country in the world is producing enough pharmacy graduates to meet their healthcare demands. The US has around 125 universities offering Pharm.D degrees with an average enrolment of more than 120 students, academicians on condition of anonymity. “Right now the US is producing enough number of pharmacists to meet their healthcare demands in hospitals and retail pharmacies. There is unemployment for American Pharm.D holders in the states of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland. Job opportunities are not that good in other 45 states also.” Each individual state in the US will recognize the foreign Pharm.D degree depending upon their demand. Besides, there is no special visa category to take Indian Pharm.D graduates into America., No such visa category will be created in future as there is no shortage of American Pharm D holders. “Information received from US is that if one Indian Pharm.D holder enters the US on one’s own risk, one has to take foreign pharmacy graduate equivalency examination (FPGEE). Then he has to go through 1000 to 2000 hours of internship, NABPLEX examination, dispensing examination, law examination, test of English as foreign language (TOEFL), and test of spoken English (TSE) depending upon the states. Only after that he will receive the pharmacist license. Then, it is his turn to compete in the open market to get jobs. It is too difficult to get jobs in hospitals in the US because they prefer their own graduates who are properly trained for therapeutic drug monitoring. Not only from India, but also from other countries the pharmacists come to US in search of jobs and compete with the local graduates. There are very few clinical and hospital pharmacy jobs for Indian Pharm.D graduates in the US hospitals in the next 20 years.” Around 130 pharmacy colleges all over India were given permission to conduct Pharm.D course till now, and out of these, 60 are in Andhra Pradesh, 31 in Karnataka, 18 in Tamil Nadu and 12 in Kerala. According to Pharmabiz, a pharmacy lecturer said diploma holders in pharmacy (D.Pharm) are enough to work in Indian medical shops. B.Pharm graduates can work in hospital pharmacies. Globalization (or globalisation) is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture. Advances in transportation and telecommunications infrastructure, including the rise of the telegraph and its posterity the Internet, are major factors in globalization, generating further interdependence of economic and cultural activities. Though several scholars place the origins of globalization in modern times, ot.ers trace its history long before the European age of discovery and voyages to the New World. Some even trace the origins to the third millennium BCE. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the connectedness of the world's economies and cultures grew very quickly. Globally, pharmacy practice and education are undergoing unprecedented changes as additional roles for pharmacists, as providers of health-care services and as scientists, are increasingly recognised and valued. Many countries are, however, faced with critical shortages of pharmacists with required skills, pharmaceutical scientists and pharmacy support personnel needed to manage all aspects of the pharmaceutical supply chain (from research and development to production, wholesale distribution and dispensing).

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M.Pharm Program. The criterion for entry to an M.Pharm program is academic performance in the B.Pharm or an entrance test or both. Previously, there was more demand for the M.Pharm program than the availability of places in the country. An important criterion, a high Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) score, qualifies a student to receive government scholarship during the period of their M.Pharm study previously. Now GPAT score is used as criterion for sanction of scholarship and AICTE is the sanctioning authority of PG scholarship. This criterion was optional for admission to the first-year M.Pharm program. However, many public institutions require both past academic performance and GATE/GPAT score for application to the M.Pharm program. Now this trend is changed due to availability of more number of M.Pharm colleges and seats for every 50-100 KM or even less. Demand and supply rule is reversed. The student (customer) is king and all marketing activities are around the student. What student asks, the institution /college should provide. Entry of non-professionals and other business people in the establishment of Professional colleges particularly pharmacy colleges the entire profession is commercialized. The quality and standards are now deteriorating day by day.

These critical shortages also affect the availability of pharmacist-provided patient-care services for patients and communities. In Uganda, for example, there is one pharmacist for every 140 000 people; local health authorities estimate that there is only one-third of the required pharmacist workforce in the public sector. The WHO workforce (capacity) is built in the health-care system. A primary focus in this regard is the development of an adequate and appropriate health-care workforce, along with the academic and institutional infrastructure to deliver the required competency and initiating a drug therapy plan.

5. SUGGESTIONS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Self confidence and believe in own capabilities. Think high and have only positive thoughts and can automatically go high. Have interaction with other staffs that excel in their carriers. Make a network of innovators and a network of users. Attend international conferences. Utilise libraries and laboratories to the maximum possible extent. Attend seminars, refresher programs, work shop and training programs continuously in collaboration with industries. Development of writing skills as well as communication skills. Make it compulsory the collaborative research programmes (Industry-Institution, Government organized research centresAcademic institutions) before funding. Periodical review of progress of the research works by expert committees appointed by the funding agencies. Work hard and have a dream for the future. From the dream have a good vision and the vision comes to a reality. By this way, one can improve and update the knowledge to Face global challenges. NBA-NAAC accreditation is mandatory for all educational institutions.

6. CONCLUSION The current era of globalization has witnessed evolution in the professions of the health sector, especially in pharmacy. Whereas previously the pharmacist worldwide was seen as responsible primarily for manufacturing and supplying medicines, today the pharmacist's role has evolved towards a clinical orientation. The profession is still under continuous transition. With change in the health demands, pharmacists have a further role to play in patient care. The precise role of a pharmacist in the health setting is altering and varies significantly from country to country. In contrast to the developed world, pharmacists in developing countries are not fully executing their potential role. They are still struggling for the recognition of their role that can help improve the health care system. Changes in quality pharmaceutical education meet the st challenges and needs of the nation in the 21 century. There is a urgent need to adopt uniform syllabi through- out the country, continuous evaluation of student performance, adopting new teaching methodologies, double valuation and online system of internal examinations, centralization of theory and practical examinations just like GATE and GPAT. Restrict the intake of seats 40(B.Pharm), 10(M.Pharm), 15(Pharm. D) with hospital facility within the campus or nearby campus just 1-2KM away from the campus. The sanctioning authority should inspect the premises and other infrastructural facilities before and immediately after sanctioning any course and restrict two branches (PG) in each institution and two years gap in between. SPECIAL ATTENTION IS NEEDED AND STRINGENT ACTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN BY ALL STATUTORY BODIES AGAINST BAD PRACTICES AND THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR SUCH PRACTICES FROM TIME TO TIME IN THE FIELD OF PHARMACY.

REFERENCE

5. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pharmacy Accessed on 01-10-2013. 6. www.Pharmabiz.com/News Details aspx? aid=75997& sid=1 Accessed on 01-10-2013. 7. en.wikipedia.org/wiki Globalization. Accessed on 01-102013. 8. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research. Accessed on 01-10-2013.

Sri Venkateswara Rao V, Enhancing Quality of Pharmacy Education and Research to Meet Global Challenges, Discovery Pharmacy, 2016, 8(18), 1-7, www.discovery.org.in

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1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/quality business Accessed on 29-092013 2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/six sigma Accessed on 01-10-2013. 3. www.timesof malta.com/articles/view/20081128/education Accessed on 01-10-2013. 4. Subal CBaskar and Dondeti Satyanarayana, Pharmacy Education in India, Am J Pharm Educ., 2010, May12;74(4);68.

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