As our health care system consist of Physicians / Doctors , Paramedical staff and Pharmacists . In Pakistan I can say that the most neglected profession among these is the Pharmacists and I will explain Why is it so !
Let me first brief you about the course of Pharm-D in Pakistan . Pakistan started the Bachelors in Pharmacy in 2003 , which was a 4-year degree program and it was all about the drug manufacturing and Pharmaceutics Whereas in 2004 Higher Education Commission of Pakistan in collaboration with Pakistan Pharmacy Council updated the B Pharmacy into Pharm-D , which means Doctor of Pharmacy , 5 year degree Program with a change in content and course focusing on Clinical research. Pharm-D is different from D Pharmacy , as Pharm-D is Doctor of Pharmacy and D Pharmacy refers to Diploma in Pharmacy which is a 2 year course .
Overall , there are 85 Universities and Colleges which are offering Pharm-D degree in Pakistan and there are more than 60,000 students graduating annually .
Now , coming towards the Professional aspect of this degree. As it refers to the Doctor of Pharmacy , so a Pharmacist is the one who manufactures , dispenses medicines as well as monitor and evaluate the prescription of medicines and counselling of patients .
You can work as a hospital Pharmacist , Retail Pharmacist , Community Pharmacist , Drug Inspector or Industrial Pharmacist , But it all depends on the availability of jobs . According to World Health Organization , there should be one Pharmacist per 50 beds in a hospital . But this is a fact that there is hardly one or two pharmacists in a 1500 bedded hospital . Retail Pharmacy is mostly occupied by Pharmacy Technicians , Community Pharmacy is not well established in Pakistan .
There are so many challenges faced by the Pharmacists in Pakistan and the most important one is the unacceptance by the hospital staff and the society and many people talked about it even protested last month for the rights for pharmacists . I , as a Pharmacist request our Governement to have a look at this issue and create job opportunities for the Pharmacists in Pakistan.
Drofmedics 