Two different worlds of pharmacy practice and education - United States of America and India (Part-2)

Abstract

In the part-2 of this series, I provide some basic information on the current status of pharmacy practice in India. Most of the “Medicine Shop” owners in India hold two year diploma in pharmacy. Due to lack of enforcement of the pharmacy law, many of them have unwritten “prescriptive authorities” that cannot even be dreamt of by the pharmacy practitioners in the US. Hospital pharmacist, on the other hand, is no more than a store keeper who keep track of the drug flow in the hospital. Implementation of the new Pharm. D. curriculum from 2009 in India and clinical pharmacists joining physician on medical round, offer new hope that pharmacy profession may be finally coming of age in India.