Seeing as the industry-academia collaboration is crucial in the field of pharmacy education, the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University and the state branch of the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (TN IDMA) are planning an industry-institution partnership to promote knowledge-sharing and skill-development, it is learnt.
According to sources from the industry, the initiative is taken by the university itself on the advice of the industry association in Tamil Nadu. As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned it is the hub of pharmaceutical industries and allied sectors in south India. The Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University is one of the biggest health universities in India, to which all the 94 pharmacy institutions in the state are affiliated.
Sources said the university has informed the IDMA that they will invite the association for deliberation about the collaboration, of which the vice-chancellor of the university and the chairman of the association had held a preliminary talk last month. Following this, the VC is planning to hold a meeting of academicians and industry leaders after the pooja holiday is over. It is further learnt that the meeting will have the participation of all the principals of the pharmacy colleges in Tamil Nadu, who can have interaction with the industry leaders on how to plan industry-training for their students. Both the sides expect mutual benefits from this long-standing tie-up for which an MoU will be signed at the end of the meeting. Talking to Pharmabiz, the chairman of the TN IDMA, J Jayaseelan, who is also the president of the TN State Pharmacy Council, said, in today’s pharmacy education and curriculum, industry-academia collaboration has become a crucial component, and this tie-up between the university and the industry will provide students with practical skills and knowledge. The tie-up will help the students to bridge the gap between theory and practice and to gain hands-on experience in their subjects. As far as industries are concerned, they can access a pool of talented students and collaborate with institutions on research projects, leading to the development of new products and services. He said the partnership between the university and the industry association in Tamil Nadu will offer several benefits to both the parties. When asked whether the government pharmacy colleges will also come under the tie-up, Jayaseelan said all the institutions which are affiliated to Dr MGR Medical University can access benefits out of the contract. However, the eight Deemed-to-be-Universities are not coming under this collaboration. He said he is waiting for the official letter from Dr K Narayanaswami, the VC of the university for discussion. Hailing this initiative of the university and the industry as a good move for the development of quality education, the president of the pharmacy teachers’ association (APTI) in Tamil Nadu, Dr V Sekhar said this collaboration will help both the industry and the institutions. As far the institutions are concerned, the tie-up will help both the students and the teachers alike. In the case of industries, they can solve the minor issues emerging there though they are focussed on quality in production. According to him, the tie-up should work for training for the students and it should be designed in such a way that they are undergoing an internship programme. The students will get more opportunities out of this, the industry can watch their performances and fix projects accordingly. But the timeline is the only limitation for realizing the projects, so the industry has to implement their projects based on the timeline of the universities. Dr. Sekhar said the pharmacy degree students (B Pharm) have to go for 15 days industry training as directed by the PCI. Previously, the training period was 30 days. He welcomed the decision of the Dr MGR Medical University and said with this collaboration, the entire pharmacy institutions in Tamil Nadu will get the benefits, and there is no need for any student to go out of the state for training purposes.
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