Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) is a statutory body of government of India. It was established on 4th March 1948 with the purpose to regulate the profession and practice of pharmacy. It regulates pharmacy education in India and allows registration as a pharmacist under the pharmacy act. There are many pharmacy colleges in India which offer Pharmacy courses but it must be noted that every college, offering DPharma, BPharma, MPharma and Pharm D must be approved by Pharmacy Council of India (PCI). PCI inspects Pharmacy institutes to verify availability of prescribed norms.
The eligibility for different pharmacy courses is different from each other. For pursuing BPharma and DPharma, a student must have passed 10+2 but for pursuing M. Pharma, it is compulsory to have a minimum qualification of B. Pharma. Students willing to pursue Pharm. D get two options. The ones pursuing Pharm. D, directly after 10+2 have to invest 6 years to complete this course whereas the duration for the students after graduation is 3years.
After completing any of the pharmacy courses, one gets great job opportunities in pharmaceutical companies, health departments, clinics, etc. One can also run his own chemist store chain instead of working in any company or organization. For running a chemist store, a license is required which is received after completing a pharmacy course. Only one license is received after completing a pharmacy course.
For getting a license, students have to complete their diploma or bachelor course and register themselves in their state pharmacy council and they can apply online for license. This procedure includes visit to an inspector, verification of documents, charges payable etc. But if a student has not passed from a PCI approved college then his/her degree will not be valid and there will be no chance of getting a license.
There are several PCI approved colleges in Dehradun, Uttarakhand offering Pharmacy courses. Some of these are….
- Shree Dev Bhoomi Institute of Education Sciences and Technology
- Maya Group of Colleges
- Dev Bhoomi Institute of Technology
- JB Institute of Technology
- Uttaranchal Institute of Technology
- Himgiri Zee University
- Ras Bihari Bose Subharti Medical University, etc.
These colleges are among top colleges of Uttarakhand. All the colleges are affiliated to recognized universities and approved by Pharmacy Council of India (PCI). The colleges’ campus is vast and well equipped with laboratories, libraries, classrooms, etc. Students are taught and trained by experienced faculties and practice is done in hospitals owned by the colleges. After successful completion of the course, students get jobs in reputed companies such as Cipla, Ranbaxy, Patanjali, etc and an average annual package between 3 lac to 18 lac. Thus, it is true to say that Pharmacy courses are career oriented provided the courses are done from PCI approved colleges and recognized universities.
