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To support the efforts being taken by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) to increase the standard of B Pharm course by revising its syllabi to make it industry-oriented, the industry forum of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association’s Kerala chapter (Kerala IPA) is organising industrial training programmes for the students of the bachelor course, coordinating with pharmacy institutions.
As part of this, the association has listed 50 major pharmaceutical companies in India with various functional areas like research & development, manufacturing, quality control, quality assurance, sales & marketing, regulatory affairs, finance, etc, for sending students from Kerala for one-month industrial training. IPA is now engaged in the process of reaching an agreement with the companies, and on the basis of that accord, the colleges will send their students to the companies operating in different states.
Dr. P Jayasekhar, president of the Kerala IPA, said most of the students prefer to go to north Indian companies for training. In south India they like to do the training job only in companies in Karnataka. Considering their interest, the association sent 50 students to four companies in Bengaluru, and they successfully completed the training. In addition to this, eight students were sent to two major companies in Chennai.
“Students belonging to 20 institutions in Kerala got trained in companies in Bengaluru in March. Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Steri-Science Specialties Pvt Ltd, Sami Sabinsa Pharmaceutical Company, Himalaya Drugs, Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (KAPL) and Micro Labs Ltd are the companies where the students did their training. In addition to this, eight students were sent to two companies in Chennai, Delvin Formulations and Fourrts Lab. Some students got training in some companies in Kerala also. The training programme will continue up to July,” Dr.Jayasekhar said.
Next batch of the students will be sent to companies in Bengaluru in the month of May, for which 50 students have been selected by the principals. On completing the training programme, IPA will organise 16 webinars for refreshing the students in their subjects.
He said the IPA has drafted some topics for the webinar which include challenges and scope of pharmaceutical careers in industry, overview of Indian pharmaceutical industry, overview of manufacturing and regulations of cosmetics, designing facilities for pharma industry, technology innovation in formulation, research development in formulation of generic medicines, manufacturing operations- oral solid dosage forms-I manufacturing operations- oral solid dosage forms-i, manufacturing operations- oral liquid dosage forms-III, and manufacturing operations-topical preparations, manufacturing operations-parental products, manufacture of dry product injectable, quality control of pharmaceuticals, quality control instrumentation, quality assurance in pharmaceutical industry, regulatory affairs in pharmaceutical industry and career in pharmaceutical product management etc.
Top industry leaders and managers of various departments will lead the classes. Each webinar will accommodate hundred students. Those who have undergone training in industries will only be permitted to attend the webinar.
Further to this, students after completing their course will be given training in entrepreneurship by the industry doyens. IPA will encourage them to start new firms/startup units with the help of institutions and industry in the state.
Briefing Pharmabiz about the training programme, Dr. Jayasekhar said one of the principal objectives of this training programme is to impart industry orientation training and knowledge to the students of pharmacy, who aspire to build their careers in pharmaceutical industry. This programme also caters to the needs of pharmaceutical companies having candidates motivated and exposed to various intricacies of the dynamic pharmaceutical industry and business.
As regards the webinar series, it consists of 18 modules delivered on weekends (Saturday and Sunday evening) by pharma experts. The hands-on training will provide a one month observership in various departments of the industry like research and development, production of dosage forms, quality management, regulatory affairs, product and marketing management, and human resource development. At the end of this training programme, the participants are expected to undergo the transition of being mature enough to undertake industry employment as a career option.
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