All you need to know about Diploma of Pharmacy

Pharmacists are expert healthcare professionals who are trained in dispensing of medicines for the benefit of the patients. D.Pharma is a diploma course in pharmacy with good scope for higher education and middle-level employment in hospitals and pharma companies.

Pharmacists are an integral part of the healthcare team and are concerned with dispensing medicines according to the prescriptions of the doctors to patients. Every hospital, government or private, needs to have pharmacists to address the immediate needs of the visiting or admitted patients. They can also work in an independent licensed pharmacy. This diploma course demands two years of full-time study with 75 per cent compulsory attendance.

Required skillset for the course

The most important skill set for a pharmacist is to have an eye for detail. They should be able to identify the drug based on its generic and commercial names. In order to work as a part of the healthcare team, the pharmacist should:

• Follow a strict code of ethics
• Identify prescriptions and process paperwork
• Supply the required drug to the concerned department at the earliest
• Understand the basic drug pharmacology
• Apply the drug relevant terminology wherever necessary
• Understand the drug dosage calculations, so as to not offer the wrong dosage to the wrong client
• Understand and apply drug safety regulations and workplace ethics wherever appropriate.

Eligibility criteria

Diploma in Pharmacy or D.Pharma is a two-year diploma certificate course that can be pursued after 10 +2 level of education. A minimum of 50 per cent aggregate marks at in the higher secondary exam is mandatory for admission. A relaxation of five per cent marks is applicable for applications from SC, ST and OBC candidates. Majority of the institutes admit students based on their 10 +2 marks, some of them may conduct an entrance test and personal interview before the admission process. At the undergraduate level (B.Pharma) the aspirants are required to take the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and other entrance tests.

Course curriculum

In this two-year course, student should attend classes for a minimum of 180 working days and about 500 hours of practical training to qualify for the final examinations and for the certifications. The examinations are conducted once in a year in the non-semester pattern by the regulatory board. The examinations include both written theory and practical viva voice. It is important for the candidate to substantiate satisfactory attendance throughout the course period so as to be eligible to appear for the final examinations. The candidate should have 75 per cent attendance in theory classes and 80 per cent attendance in practical sessions.

The following are the subjects covered the two years of D. Pharma course.

Year of study	Subjects
1st Year	Pharmaceutics 1st paper
	Pharmaceutical chemistry 1st paper
	Human Anatomy and Physiology
	Bio-chemistry and clinical pathology
	Pharmacognosy
	Community pharmacy including health education
2nd Year	Pharmaceutics 2nd paper
	Pharmaceutical chemistry 2nd paper
	Pharmaceutical jurisprudence
	Pharmacology and Toxicology
	The drug store and business management
	Hospital and clinical pharmacy

Specialisations performed in the course

As D.Pharma is a diploma certification course, those aspirants who graduate this diploma certification course can directly join in the second year of B.Pharma course as lateral entry. After completing their undergraduate degree in Pharmacy they can opt to specialise in clinical pharmacy, pharmaceutical analysis, pharmacognosy, research in drug discovery and development, biopharmaceutics, etc.

Higher education venues for D. Pharma graduates	Job opportunities for Pharmacist	Job titles for D.Pharma graduates
B.Pharma	Private hospitals and nursing homes	Pharmacist
M.Pharma	Government hospitals	Senior Pharmacist/ head of pharmacy
Pharma.D (Doctor of Pharmacy)	Pharmaceutical companies	Medical representatives
PG diploma courses in pharmacy	Clinical research centers in pharmaceutical products	Research coordinator
Nuclear pharmacy	Research analyst	Researcher
Community pharmacy	Community health centers	Pharmacist in PHC
Toxicology	Entrepreneur	Independent pharmacist

Job profiles with an average annual salary

After completing the D.Pharma course, most of the graduate takes up the role of the pharmacist in government or private hospitals. They are not permitted to sell over the counter drugs without medical prescription, especially medicines that are under the drugs control act. Before dispensing the medicine, they have to check the name of the drug, dosage, expiry dates and the suitability of the drug for the particular age group. Other job profiles that they can adapt to are as follows:

Job Profile	Details	Average Annual Salary
Pharmacists	Pharmacist dispense medicines to the clients according to the medical prescription of the doctor. They dispense appropriate medicines based on their composition and expiry dates. Pharmacists in government hospitals are paid more than those practicing in private nursing homes	Rs 2-5 lakh
Chemist	Chemists are those who prepare drug formulations and sell them at their licensed and authorized chemist and druggist outlets. They also have good job prospects in pharmaceutical companies in the preparation of specific drugs	Rs. 3-3.60 lakh
Medical representatives	Medical representatives are those who serve as a bridge between the pharmaceutical companies and the doctors. They take new drugs to the doctor’s office and explain to them about their interactions.	Rs 2.50-4 lakh
Technical supervisors	After gaining a Bachelor’s degree in pharmacy or after gathering years of experience in the industry, the graduates can find jobs in pharmaceutical companies to supervise drug production and handling	Rs 4-6 lakh

Top recruiters

The job roles and salary packages for Pharmacist tend to increase with their years of experience. This is the case with any profession in the healthcare stream. A fresher in the stream with less than a year of experience can expect an average compensation of Rs 2 lakh per annum. With up to four years of experience, they can earn a salary of about Rs 3 lakh per annum. Pharmacist with 5-9 years of experience can command a salary of about Rs 4-5 lakh per annum, etc.

The top recruiters of D.Pharma graduates are Cipla, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Zydus Cadila, Apollo Hospitals, Fortis Healthcare, Johnson and Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott Laboratories, etc.

Pharmacists are expert health care professional who is concerned with the dispensing of medicines for the benefit of the patients. D.Pharma is a diploma course in pharmacy with good scope for higher education and middle-level employment in hospitals and pharma companies.