Insights into​career opportunities in pharmacy

With a view to providing valuable insights to students in emerging career opportunities in pharmacy after graduation, Vivekanand Education Society’s College of Pharmacy (VESCOP) has organized a seminar on “Career opportunities in pharmacy” on June 11. The seminar also dwelt on important issues like the Centralized Admission Procedure (CAP) introduced by the directorate of technical Education (DTE), Government of Maharashtra for admission to the F.Y.B. pharm course. The seminar was helmed by Dr Supriya Shidhaye, Principal (VESCOP).

“CAP is a unique initiative introduced by the government to base the F.Y.B.pharm admission procedure on transparency and meritocracy. Leaving no scope for malpractices, the procedure has smoothened the admission process through online registration of students and assigning them a general merit number by DTE. Keeping the student at the core of the admission activity, CAP is a novel initiative aimed at ensuring that students are admitted to an institution of their choice,” said Dr. Shidhaye.

Online procedure will be the criteria for admitting 51 percent minority quota of respective minority institutes, clarified Dr Shidhaye and stated that going further, seats will be displayed with various reservation tags including for minority streams till CAP round 4. The DTE will remove all the reservation tags in the last stage of round 4 and seats will be open to the general category on the basis of merit. The seminar also provided detailed explanation on the various aspects of reporting to the Facilitation Centre, Admission Reporting Centre, documents to be carried to the allotted institution and other sequence of activities.

Giving a broader overview of the Indian pharmaceutical industry, Dr Shidhaye stated that with an annual growth rate of 12%, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is valued at Rs.1,00,000 crore. In terms of volumes, it is ranked third largest and 13th largest in terms of domestic consumption value. Valued at $15.4 billion in 2014, the domestic pharma market is expected to clock a growth rate of 13.3% to $32.7 billion by 2020 triggered by an aging population, increase in lifestyle diseases, accelerating disposable incomes and large-scale penetration of local drug companies in the global market. With India emerging as a global hub for manufacturing and clinical trials of new molecules, the pharmaceutical sector offers huge job opportunities in commercial R&D activities and clinical studies and trials.

In the course of the seminar, detailed information was also provided on 24 pharmacy colleges affiliated to University of Mumbai, minority and aided institutions alongwith their years of establishment and admission capacity in an academic year. Dr Shidhaye also guided the students on the steps needed to make the next career move.

The seminar received a terrific response from the student fraternity with more than 100 students and their parents confirming their presence. The painstaking efforts and the meticulous presentation method of the VES Management and the Phamacy College in providing an in-depth guidance on various career opportunities in the pharma sector along with clearing doubts on CAP was deeply appreciated by the students and their parents.