The theme of the event was "Connecting Pharmaceutical Sciences and Knowledge and Advancement"

Dr. V G Somani, Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) New Delhi, Dr. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India, New Delhi, Dr. B.Janardhan Reddy IAS, Principal Secretary, Education Govt. of Telangana & Vice Chancellor, KU. Eminent speakers from the pharmaceutical industry like, Sri. Madan Mohan Reddy, Managing Director, Aurobindo Pharma, Dr. Krishna Ella Chairman &Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Ltd., Hyderabad, Dr. M U R Naidu, Director, Natco Pharma India, Sri. Ch. Bharath Reddy, Managing Director, MSN Labs, Hyderabad, Dr. N.Hemanth, Managing Director, Virchow Biotech Pvt., Ltd., Hyderabad, Dr. M U R Naidu, Director Natco Pharma India, Sri.Ch. Bharath Reddy, Managing Director, MSN labs, Hyderabad, Dr. P. Deshpande, Deputy Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Ltd., Dr. S.D. Sinha, Sr. Vice President, and Hetero drugs Ltd., Sri Y. Venkat Reddy, Managing Director, Genesys Biologicals Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad, Dr. A. Ramkishan, Dy. Drugs Controller of India, New Delhi, Dr. T. V. Narayana, President Indian Pharmaceutical Association has attended the pharmaceutical congress.

The first speaker Dr. V. G Somani, Drug controller General of India (DCGI) New Delhi. He addressed on Good Regulatory Practices (GRP) – Current challenges and gaps to achieve patient safety. Session was chaired by Dr. J.A.S. Giri, Chairman, Telangana state chapter of the Andhra chamber of commerce and Shri. J.Jayseelan, Managing Director, Delvin Labs Hyderabad. He described Patient safety is a fundamental element of health care and is defined as a freedom for a patient from unnecessary harm or potential harm associated with provision of health care. He gave an overview in recent years, there is growing recognition that patient safety and quality of care are critical dimensions of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Legal rights of the patients are set out in the Clinical Establishment Act (CEA), but the CEA is not being implemented across India. National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) and Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) have mechanisms to see that patients’ rights in terms of medication and device are protected and they are not overcharged. National Health System Resource Centre (NHSRC) has been designated as nodal agency at national level for implementing Quality Assurance program in public health facilities.

The next delegate Dr. Krishna Ella Chairman &Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Ltd., Hyderabad, addressed on human resource and innovation. Session was chaired by Dr. A. Ramkishan Dy, Drug Controller of India, New Delhi and Dr. K. Butchi Reddy, Chairman Rohini Super speciality Hospital. In his talk, he mentioned that India has not done enough on novel innovations that could create affordable solutions to benefit larger chunk of its population. India ranks 46th on the world’s innovation map. Not an encouraging thing,” remarked Dr Ella, adding further “Challenge is that the society doesn’t respect science. He said instead of following the West blindly, we should rather have an own model for India,” Dr Ella said adding, “Let us not compare our start up ecosystem with the Silicon Valley. We need to find our own indigenous model.”He advised the start ups to update their regulatory knowledge when they are developing the products.

The next delegate was Dr. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India, New Delhi addressed on Innovation and Entrepreneurship – a Way Forward. He was explaining how why individuals engage in entrepreneurial ventures with uncertain and risky outcomes. Sometimes there are classified according to the level of aggregation, starting the macro level and working their way down to industry – related factors, micro economic incentive structures and cognitive abilities of individuals. He briefly surveys the most frequent explanations to entrepreneurial activities, zeroing in at the empirical findings concerning the role of institutions and access to knowledge. The idiosyncrasies pertaining to the definition and production of knowledge are like wise addressed.

The next delegate was Sri. Madan Mohan Reddy, Managing Director, Aurobindo Pharma , addressed on Indian Drugs Export Opportunities to ICH countries. Session was chaired by Dr. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India. In this talk he said that the Indian pharmaceuticals industry is the third-largest in terms of volume and thirteenth-largest in terms of value. It has established itself as a global manufacturing and research hub. India is expected to rank amongst the top three pharmaceutical markets in terms of incremental growth by 2020. As regards the regulatory issues, Sri Madan Mohan Reddy said most of the companies have addressed them.

There is also a lot of improvement in their way of working. He expressed confidence that the global business will be retained in India because of competitive cost of production. He complemented the commerce and industry ministry for taking several measures to make India the main source of global manufacturing in pharmaceuticals.

Dr. M U R Naidu, Director, Natco Pharma India, his session was on Technological Advances in Implications for Drug Discovery and Development. Session was chaired by Dr. B. Jayakar, Registrar, Vinayaka Mission’s University, Salem, Tamilnadu and Mr. Mujeebuddin C.S Founder and CEO, Clinisol Research Pvt. Ltd. The process of developing a new drug to treat an illness is long, costly and uncertain. He mentioned that the most difficult problem associated with new drug discovery was the identification and characterization of the most appropriate target with in a disease pathway. The last decade has seen rapid technological progress but with increasing demands for safe and efficacious drugs. He expressed that no more than 1% of drugs in the discovery and development pipeline will reach the marketplace. Failure rates are too high, and all too often drug candidates fail relatively late in development, having already consumed substantial time and resources. Better information relative to disease pathophysiology is needed to improve target selection and validation; more predictive, biologically-relevant high throughput screens are essential; and, more emphasis must be placed on acquiring good ADME/Tox data earlier in the discovery process.

The next delegate was Sri. CH. Bharath Reddy, Managing Director, MSN Labs, Hyderabad, addressed on current pharmaceutical industries and oppurtunities. Dr. V. Ravichandran Director, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education& Research, Kolkata and Dr. Ranganayakulu, Principal, Sri Padmavathi School of Pharmacy, Tirupathi,. Sri. Bharath Reddy said that the country has an established domestic pharmaceutical industry, with a strong network of 3000 drug companies and about 10,500 manufacturing units The pharmaceutical industry in India produces a range of bulk drugs, which are the key acting ingredients with medicinal properties that form the basic raw materials for formulations. He was emphasizing that pharma industry should train students as per their need. Industries should contact Indian academic institutions to get qualified students who have the knowledge and aptitude for research and development in Pharma. He concluded that this will also help overcome the problem of unemployment for pharmacists and promote entrepreneurship in the nation. The industry can hire a team from academic institutions to participate in healthcare activities across the country for their promotional activities.

The next delegate was Dr. N. Hemanth, Managing Director,Virchow Biotech Pvt.Ltd Hyderabad, addressed on An SME Perspective on Pharma Development. His session was chaired by Dr. C. Gopal Krishnamurthy, Former Drugs Controller of AP and Ex-President IPA and Dr. P. Rajasekhar Reddy, Principal, St. Peter’s. Indian pharma SMEs can definitely see a good feature if these companies are willing to accept change and take over an accommodative move towards with the government and the other major industry players. There is a dire need to review many of the recent amendments in the related laws affecting pharma industry from India centric point of view, for survival of SMEs in India it is important to keep in mind that per capita income in India is much low, per capita health expenses are negligible. The multinational are achieving their objectives by painting the Indian industry, specifically SMEs, black and everybody went all out to change the regulations forgetting the interest are safe guard of legitimate and genuine SMEs in India SMEs have not been able to project at the right places and right time the exact design and exact changes n the regulations which are totally in favour of multinational companies and which will result it into closure of many pharma SNEs

Dr. T. V. Narayana, addressed on the Indian Pharma Industry : Now low cost generic medicines produced in India are helping millions of people across the world to get affordable high quality medicines and is likely to be in the top 10 global markets in value term by 2020.All these factors made Indian Pharmacy grow in the world and explained about the challenges of 21st century , as the world grows smaller present and future professional including technocrats managers administrators need to plan out careers on global lines rather than regional or national lines demanding the human resources to be sharper than ever to survive and exceed. His session was chaired by Prof. V. Kishan, Principal and HOD, UCPSc, Kakatiya University and Dr. K. Devender Rao, HOD, St.Peter’s.

Dr. P. Deshpande, Deputy Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Ltd. told about Increasing Vaccination coverage in India. His session was chaired by Dr. Rao Vadlamudi President, Commonwealth Pharmacy Association India and Mr. Krishna Dev. IIL company is the major supplier of DPT, TT, Hepatitis-B vaccine, Papilloma virus vaccine and pneumococcal vaccine. It offers FMD vaccines to farmers at affordable prices. The company is also emphasising on the development of diagnostic methods against TB, Para TB and brucellosis. Novel vaccines against animal diseases continue to be a major focus area for the research and development. OIL exports it’s products more than 45 countries across the world and we are working towards expanding the business are towards South Americans market, USA and Europe.

Dr. S. D. Sinha, Senior Vice President, Hetero Drugs Ltd, said about the Biosimilar Drug Development Challenges and Opportunities. His session was chaired by Dr. Rao Vadlamudi President, Commonwealth Pharmacy Association India and Dr. A. Ramesh, Principal, Viper, Hyderabad. He started the session with development of a Biosimilar and its importance and also included the challenges faced in manufacturing of Biosimilars. The experience in biosimilars has so far remained limited, indicating that they hold immense potential in the years to come.

Sri Y. Venkat Reddy Managing Director, Genesys Biologicals Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad shared his views on My Journey: Corporate to Entrepreneur his session was chaired by Dr. Divakar Goli, Campus Director, Acharya B.M Reddy College and Prof. G. Achaiah, Department of Pharmacy, UCPSc, Kakatiya University. He explained about the concept of entrepreneurship and what is the need for a corporate entrepreneurship. He told about the key factors that can lead to successful entrepreneur such as right attitude, passion, proactiveness, resilience and perseverance. We have to always challenge our self and take risk to achieve success. We have to visualize the goal and act accordingly. Always be keen to listen to complaints and manage risks and set company culture.

Dr. A. Ramkishan, Deputy Drugs Controller of India, New Delhi. He addressed on role of pharmacist in Rare Disease- Drug Discovery also mentioned about IACP importance in his session. His session was chaired by Dr. T. K. Ravi Principal, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Paramedical. He also mentioned that earlier there was no association of pharmacy colleges and this 2nd IACP really boosts the students to study pharmacy. He started his session with how a pharmacist can lead with respect to hospital service, community services. He also vocalised that patients are very sensitive with respect to medicinal products and care should be taken. The main role of a pharmacist is to promote circulars, guidelines to the society which were amended by the government.

The theme of the event was "Connecting Pharmaceutical Sciences and Knowledge and Advancement"

Dr. V G Somani, Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) New Delhi, Dr. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India, New Delhi, Dr. B.Janardhan Reddy IAS, Principal Secretary, Education Govt. of Telangana & Vice Chancellor, KU. Eminent speakers from the pharmaceutical industry like, Sri. Madan Mohan Reddy, Managing Director, Aurobindo Pharma, Dr. Krishna Ella Chairman &Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Ltd., Hyderabad, Dr. M U R Naidu, Director, Natco Pharma India, Sri. Ch. Bharath Reddy, Managing Director, MSN Labs, Hyderabad, Dr. N.Hemanth, Managing Director, Virchow Biotech Pvt., Ltd., Hyderabad, Dr. M U R Naidu, Director Natco Pharma India, Sri.Ch. Bharath Reddy, Managing Director, MSN labs, Hyderabad, Dr. P. Deshpande, Deputy Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Ltd., Dr. S.D. Sinha, Sr. Vice President, and Hetero drugs Ltd., Sri Y. Venkat Reddy, Managing Director, Genesys Biologicals Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad, Dr. A. Ramkishan, Dy. Drugs Controller of India, New Delhi, Dr. T. V. Narayana, President Indian Pharmaceutical Association has attended the pharmaceutical congress.

Department of Pharmacy Practice, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Educa-tion & Research (JSS AHER), Mysuru in collaboration with Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP) organized Pharmacy Practice Module - Advanced Learning Series on New Infectious Diseases from 24th - 26th November 2018. This module received overwhelming response from Pharmacy students and faculty. Around 510 participants from 34 Pharmacy Institutions of all five southern states of India attended this module.

Prof. Krishna Kumar, Prof. Elias B. Chahine and Dr. Miranda Nelson from USA were the speak-ers for this module. Dr. B. Suresh, Vice Chancellor, JSS AHER and President, Pharmacy Coun-cil of India, Prof. Chinnaswamy, President, IACP and other officials of JSS AHER and IACP were the guests for this module. Dr. T. M. Pramod Kumar, Principal, JSSCP, Mysuru and Dr. M. Ramesh, Professor & Head, Dept. of Pharmacy Practice were the Chariman and Coordinator respectively for this module.

A 3-day long learning session entitled- Pharmacy Practice Advance Learning Series- Module 10 with a focus on “Oncology 2 Hematology, Blood cancers” was jointly organized by Pharmacy Council of India and Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy from 4th-6th November, 2016. The event was held at the Grand Magrath Hotel in Bangalore and staffs and 17 students from Krupanidhi College of Pharmacy attended it along with delegates from several other pharmacy colleges in India.

The main aim of the module was to train the staff and students from its member colleges in oncology related treatment issues and also aid in bringing them together for expression and exchange of ideas and knowledge. The advanced learning series were conceived with the vision for understanding and providing Quality Pharmacy Practice. This module was preceded successfully by nine such modules, which have been hugely appreciated and repeated in various parts of the country on request from the Pharm D students and faculty.

The inaugural function started with the invocation of Gods and traditional lamp lighting ceremony. Some of the dignitaries present were Chief Guest Dr. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India and Vice-Chancellor, JSS University, Mysore ;Prof. K. Chinnaswamy, President , IACP ; Dr. Vadlamudi Rao, President IPA; Dr. Krishna Kumar , International coordinator as well as one of the speaker along with the principals from the local organizing committee. The inaugural function ended with vote of thanks and national anthem.

After a short tea break, the formal sessions started and the first speaker for the day was Dr. Krishna Kumar who is professor of Bio pharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics at the College of Pharmacy, Howard University, Washington DC, USA. He spoke about the Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of various Chemotherapeutic Agents and the importance of Medication Therapy Management. It was an interactive session with lots of queries from the students’ side which were satisfactorily dealt with by the professor. The session was divided in pre and post lunch phase.

Day 2 of the module started with greetings by the organizers with sumptuous breakfast for the participants followed by the first session of the day about Malignant Hematology with emphasis on treatment of different lymphomas. Dr. Sussane Liewer, Associate Professor in Department of Pharmacy Practice at University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy took charge of this session and kept all the attendees of the session on their toes with her very interactive and informative session. Post Lunch, Dr. Keith Hecht, Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, School of Pharmacy (SIUE) talked in detail about Acute Leukemia and kept the students waiting eagerly for the commencement of the third day where he would cover on Chronic Leukemia. The day was fruitful and the sessions were all the more interactive and attention grasping for the delegates.

The 3rd day was divided into three parts. With Chronic Leukemias and stem Cell transplant being the topics of the day dealt by Dr. Keith and Dr. Sussane, respectively in two different sessions, Valedictory function was organized post lunch wherein the speakers were felicitated and the students also got an opportunity to have open interaction with all the dignitaries including Prof. B.Suresh where they got to raise questions about the various doubts that they had pertaining to the future of Pharm D. and each student was answered to satisfaction by the concerned person during the discussion. The event culminated with distribution of Certificate of Participation to the delegates and formal and informal photo sessions.

To summarize, the three days were one of the most productive days and enormous learning experience for the students and they definitely look forward to the many more modules that will be organized by the committee in future.

Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy conducted Two day workshop on Smart lifelong learning in Pharmacy at Savera Hotel, Chennai, India on 21st & 22nd September 2016. The Pharmacy Council of India is focusing on continuing education of in-service pharmacists and pharmacy faculty as a need for proving the stake holders the benefit of knowledge, skills and attributes that are current and relevant. The IACP also endorses the view that acquisition of knowledge is a lifelong process and to be competent member of the health workforce team. It is important that pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists and pharmacy educators to update their knowledge and competencies to achieve excellence. In view of the above, the two day workshop was organized with the theme of shaping the pharmacy profession in India.

The Inauguration of the workshop was presided by Prof. K. Chinnaswamy, President, IACP and Dr. B. Jaykar, Secretary, IACP welcomed the gatherings. Dr. S. Geethalakshmi, Vice-Chancellor, The Tamilnadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai was the Chief guest and inaugurated the two day workshop and highlighted the need of updating the knowledge especially for the healthcare professionals. Dr. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy council of India, New Delhi was the Guest of honour and shared his vision of Indian pharmacy education to match the best in the world.

Mr. Mike Rouse, Asst. executive Director, Professional affairs & Director, International services, Accreditation council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), Chicago, Illinois, Dr/ sc. Arijana Mestrovic, Competency Development Manager, Consultancy and Education, Pharma Expert, Dunjevac, Crotia were International speakers.

The sessions were started with the lectures on Achieving excellence in pharmacy education and practice, learning styles in pharmacy, continuing professional development-achieving competencies by Mr. Mike Rouse and Dr. Arijana Mestrovic.

The second day sessions were started with quality of education-certification and recognition, Presentation skills and concluded with the final tips for the future. Then the panel discussion was chaired by Dr. B. Suresh, Mr. Mike Rouse, Dr. Arijana and Prof. K. Chinnaswamy. They have cleared the doubts raised by the delegates.

Around 200 delegates from all over India participated in this two day workshop and got benefited. Dr. T. K. Ravi, Principal, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of paramedical sciences, Coimbatore, delivered the vote of thanks followed by National Anthem.

Indian Congress of Pharmacy Practice 2016 & Second Convention of the Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, on 02 - 03 Apr 2016

Indian Congress of Pharmacy Practice - 2016 & 2nd Convention of Indian Association of Pharmacy Practice conducted at Hotel Le Meridien, Coimbatore, India on 2nd & 3rd April 2016 and was hosted by the Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, Chennai. Nearly 1200 delegates from Pharmacy Colleges of all over India attended sessions, meetings and presented their research papers. The overall theme for the conference was “The responsible Pharmacist: Transforming patient care”.

The Inauguration of the convention was presided by Prof. K. Chinnaswamy, President, IACP and Dr. T. K. Ravi, Principal, Sri Ramakrsihna Institute of paramedical sciences, Coimbatore, welcomed the gatherings. Dr. B. Jaykar, Organizing secretary of this convention presented the IACP secretary report. Dr. S. Geethalakshmi, Vice-Chancellor, The Tamilnadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai inaugurated the two days convention and highlighted the need of clinical pharmacist in the health care team. Dr. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy council of India, New Delhi was the Chief guest and shared his vision of Indian pharmacy education to match the best in the world.

Shri. R. Vijaykumar, Managing Trustee, S.N.R. Sons Charitable Trust, Coimbatore, Shri. L. Gopalakrishnan, Managing Trustee, PSG & Sons Charitees, Coimbatore, Dr. Thavamani D Palaniswami, Managing Trustee, Kovai Medical Center Research and Educational Trust, Coimbatore, Dr.R.Vasanthakumar, Chairman, Karpagam Educational Institutions, Coimbatore and Shri. K. Senthil Ganesh, Managing Trustee, RVS Educational Trust, Coimbatore were other dignitaries on the stage and graced the occasion.

Mr. Mike Rouse, Asst. executive Director, Professional affairs & Director, International services, Accreditation council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Ash Soni. President, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, London, UK and Ms. Debra Rowett, President, Australian Pharmacy Congress were special invitees on the stage.

The scientific sessions were started with the Keynote address by Dr. B.S. Ajaikumar, Chairman & CEO, Healthcare Global Enterprises Limited, Bengaluru, on “The responsible Pharmacist: Transforming patient care”; Mr. Mir Imran Ali, Vice President and Head, Data Sciences, Drug and Cardiac safety global delivery network, Quintiles Research (India) private Ltd, Bengaluru on “The responsible Pharmacist: Transforming patient care – An Industry Perspective” and Dr. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India, New Delhi on “Transforming patient care: Paramount issues and opportunities” Chaired by Prof. K. Chinnaswamy, President, IACP and Dr. T. K. Ravi, Principal, SRIPMS, Coimbatore.

Three Plenary lectures and four symposiums were held during the Congress on Various topics. The Plenary Lectures were delivered by Dr. Debra Rowett, President, Australian Pharmacy Council, Australia on “To transform patient care we need good evidence on harms and benefits of medicines: the place of Pharmacoepidemiology”; Mr. Ash Soni. President, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, London, UK, on “ The Role of the Pharmacist in Ever Changing Healthcare”; Mr. Mike Rouse, Asst Executive Director, Professional affairs & Director, International services, Accreditation council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), Chicago, Illinois, on “ Driving change in Pharmacy Practice: the roles of education and accreditation” and the first day sessions were concluded with the panel discussion on “HR perspectives” by the speakers from Indegene, Quintiles and Synowledge.

The second day (3rd April 2016) started with scientific poster presentations. Three hundred posters from different areas of pharmacy practice were actually presented during the Congress followed by symposiums.

Symposium I on Pharmacovigilance was delivered by Dr. Sten Olsson, WHO Programme expert, Uppsala Monitoring centre, Uppsala on “Pharmacovigilance-Global prospective”; Dr. V. Kalaiselvan, Principal Scientific officer, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, Ghaziabad on “Pharmacists engagement in PvPI”; and Dr. Anand Harugeri, Associate Director, Pharmacovigilance, Quintiles, Bangalore on “Pursuing Pharmacovigilance career in the industry”.

Symposium II on Faculty Development was delivered by Dr. Krishnakumar, Howard University, Washington DC on “Curriculum Mapping and Assessment”; Ms. Bronwyn Clark, CEO, Australian Pharmacy Council, Australia on “Recognition of competence and excellence-examinations and credentiating of graduates and pharmacists”; and Mrs. Archana Mudgal, Registrar cum Secretary, Pharmacy Council of India, New Delhi on “Pharm.D Program-Need for Faculty development and Training”.

Symposium III on Pharmacy residency program was delivered by Dr. M. Ramesh, Prof & Head, Dept of Pharmacy Practice, JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysuru; Ms. Anna Marie Liles, Director-Clinical services, University of Mississippi and Ms. Miranda Nelson, Paediatric Antimicrobial stewardship pharmacist, St Loius Children’s Hospital, Missouri. Symposium IV on Pharmacoeconomics was delivered by Dr. Santosh Tiwari, Team Lead, Truven Health Analytics Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, on “Value based drug strategies from patient reported outcomes”; Dr. Pinaki Ghosh, Senior Analyst, Novartis, Hyderabad on “Data Science applications in Pharmacoeconomic research” and Dr. Amit Dang, Founder & CEO, Marksman Healthcare solutions, Navi Mumbai on “HEOR-Industry, Career and Academic perspective and its role in an Indian context” and the second day was concluded with the panel discussion followed by Valedictory function.

During the breakout sessions, Pharm.D students and faculty had a great interaction with the speakers which helps in understanding the current trends of Pharmacy practice in Global level. A number of ideas were taken away from the conference, which could be put into practice in the Indian Pharmacy education as well as in hospital and clinical settings.

In the valedictory function, Dr. B. Suresh, President Pharmacy Council of India highlighted the difference between the 1st and 2nd convention of IACP and also about the theme of 3rd convention. Dr. B. Jaykar, Organising Secretary declared that next convention of IACP will be held at Hyderabad, in 2018. Dr. T.V. Narayana, Director, Vikas Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Rajamundry delivered the vote of thanks followed by National Anthem.

Antimicrobial Stewardship in India

It is time to implement antimicrobial stewardship program in all Indian hospitals to prevent the emergence of antimicrobial resistance and decrease preventable health-care associated infections and its burden... Said Prof. Elias B. Chahine and Dr. Miranda Nelson during 11th Pharmacy Practice Module held at JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysuru.

Department of Pharmacy Practice, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Educa-tion & Research (JSS AHER), Mysuru in collaboration with Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP) organized Pharmacy Practice Module - Advanced Learning Series on New Infectious Diseases from 24th - 26th November 2018.

This module received overwhelming response from Pharmacy students and faculty. Around 510 participants from 34 Pharmacy Institutions of all five southern states of India attended this module.

Prof. Krishna Kumar, Prof. Elias B. Chahine and Dr. Miranda Nelson from USA were the speak-ers for this module. Dr. B. Suresh, Vice Chancellor, JSS AHER and President, Pharmacy Coun-cil of India, Prof. Chinnaswamy, President, IACP and other officials of JSS AHER and IACP were the guests for this module. Dr. T. M. Pramod Kumar, Principal, JSSCP, Mysuru and Dr. M. Ramesh, Professor & Head, Dept. of Pharmacy Practice were the Chariman and Coordinator respectively for this module.

Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP) had jointly presented an International Certification Seminar during 6th to 8th August’ 2015 at Pushpagiri College of Pharmacy, Tiruvalla, Kerala – sponsored by DST, New Delhi. The Seminar was led by Dr.Krishna Kumar, Professor of Biopharmaceutics & Pharmcokinetics, Howard University, College of Pharmacy, Washington DC, USA and Dr.J.Christopher Lynch, Pharm D, BCACP, Southern Illinois University, USA and Dr.Douglas Jennings, Pharm.D, AACC BCPS-AQ Cardiology, Clinical Pharmacy Manager, Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Centre New York.

The 3-day seminar provided an insight into the objectives and diseases of Cardiovascular System which was an International Certification programme which benchmarks the Pharmacy Education. There was an overwhelming response to the programme and 241 delegates from 16 Institutions across India took part in the seminar.

The programme started off with an Inaugural function and chief guest Prof.K.Chinnaswamy, President, IACP, Chennai emphasized on the leadership provided by IACP in the country to discipline the quality of Pharmacy Education. He further mentioned that IACP will continue to forward to see that member organisation are a part of this global growth process. This was followed by the Inaugural ceremony led by Shri.K.Jayakumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DYSP) Tiruvalla, Pathanamthitta, he explains that Pharmacy Education in India making revolutionary changes with innovations in Pharmaceutical Sciences and by introducing the PharmD program made a shift from product to patient and has brought several improvements including the quality in Pharmacy Education. In addition the presence and felicitations of Prof.Dr.T.K.Ravi, Principal, SRIMPS, Coimbatore, Dr.Dhanapal, Principal, JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty, Rev.Dr.Shaji Mathews Vazhayil, CEO, Pushpagiri Group of Institutions, Rev.Fr.Mathew Vadakkekuttu Director, Pushpagiri Medicity Campus and Prof.Dr.Mathew George, Principal, Pushpagiri College of Pharmacy made the event blissful.

First Day Seminar session started with Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Digoxin, Procainamide, NAPA by Dr.Krishna Kumar, Professor of Biopharmaceutics & Pharmacokinetics, Howard University, Dr.J.Christopher Lynch and Dr.Douglas Jennings, led the programmes on second and third day through their presentations highlighting the effects on the topics cardiovascular diseases and recommended Pharmacological regimens to treat ACS, ADHF, CHF & AF. The seminar concluded with a lively question & answer session.

The new trends in Cardiovascular disease 2015 was successfully concluded with a valedictory function. Prof.Dr.Mathew George, Principal, Pushpagiri College of Pharmacy, Tiruvalla welcomed the gathering. H.G.Rev.Dr.Thomas Mar Koorilos, Metropolitan Archbishop of Tiruvalla, Catholic Archdiocese of Tiruvalla, presided over the event. Inauguration, followed by the Inaugural address by Sri.K.C.Joseph, Hon’ble Minister for Rural Development Planning and Culture, Information & Public Relation, Non-Resident Keralities Affairs, Government of Kerala, Chief guest Prof.K.Chinnaswamy, President of IACP, Guest of Honors’ Prof.Dr.T.K.Ravi, Vice President, IACP, Dr.B.Jaykar, PCI Central Council Member. Director’s message was delivered by Rev.Dr.Mathew Mazhavancheril, Director-Academics & Research, Pushpagiri Group of Institutions. Rev.Fr.Mathew Vadakkekkutt, Director-Medicity campus felicitated during the event. All the Speakers and Dignitaries were honoured with memento. Prof.Dr.Lincy Joseph, HOD Pharmaceutical Chemistry, proposed the vote of thanks. The event successfully ended with the National Anthem. The entire programme was covered in the leading newspapers and television media.

The Pharmacy practice module advanced learning series-4 was organized by Vinayaka Mission’s University, in association with Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy on Infectious Diseases between 2nd and 4th July 2015. Our Vice president Thiru N.V. Chandrasekar, Presided over the function and our Vice chancellor, Dr.V.R.R Rajendiran, welcomed the guests. The Pharmacy Practice Module –Advanced learning series-4 was inaugurated on 2nd July at 10.30 AM by Dr. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy council of India. We are extremely grateful to Prof. Dr. B.Suresh, President, PCI who is known for his passion for pharmacy profession, for gracing the inaugural ceremony and sharing with us his vision of pharmacy education to match the best in the world. Prof. K. Chinnasamy, President, IACP, Dr. Krishnakumar, Professor of Howard University, Washington DC, Dr K. Jayapal, Dean, Dr. P.S. Manoharan, Medical Superintendent, VMKV Medical College Salem and Dr. T.K. Ravi, Principal, SRIPMS, Coimbatore, were felicitated the function.

The scientific session was started in the afternoon and it was engaged by Dr. Krishnakumar, Professor, Howard University, Washington DC, He taught about the Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetic calculations. He explained about the first order calculations and zero order calculations and other pharmacokinetic parameters such as slope, AUC etc.

The second day scientific session was started by Dr Elizabeth Sherman on Introduction to HIV and antiretroviral therapy and the second session also by her on Antiretroviral and HIV complications. The afternoon session was engaged by Dr. Marylee Worley and she gave the lectures on Bugs and Drugs, Introduction to Infectious diseases.

The third day, session was started with Dr. Worley on Skin and soft tissue infections continued by Sherman on Opportunistic infections and again Worley on Urinary Tract infections.

Then in the afternoon session the examination was conducted and the certificates were issued after the valedictory address. Dr. M.D. Karvekar. Executive member, Pharmacy council of India was the chief guest for the valedictory function and delivered the valedictory address. Dr. B. Arul, Professor & Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice, Vinayaka Mission’s College of Pharmacy delivered the vote of thanks.

Faculty of Pharmacy, M.S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences in association with Indian Association of College of Pharmacy jointly presented a Pharmacy Practice Module-Advanced Learning Series-9 on Nephrology during 18th, 19th & 20th March 2015 at M.S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bangalore campus.

On 18th morning at 10 A.M the module was inaugurated by Prof. B. Suresh, Vice Chancellor, JSS University, Mysore and the President, Pharmacy Council of India, New Delhi in the presence of Dr. M.R. Jayaram, Chancellor, M.S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences and Dr. S.R. Shankapal, Vice Chancellor, MSRUAS. Prof. K. Chinnasamy, President, Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy graced the occasion along with the members of the program committee of IACP Dr. M.D. Karvekar & Dr. V. Ravichandiran. The program commenced with an invocation song, welcoming the guests by the Dr. S.R. Shankapal, Vice Chancellor of MSRUAS followed by the lighting of the lamp. Prof. K. Chinnasamy, President, IACP addressed the gathering mentioning the useful role played by the Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy in regard to the conduct & training of the Pharm.D program in India. Dr. B. Suresh, Vice Chancellor, JSS University and President of Pharmacy Council of India elaborated the scenario change in regard to Pharmacy education in India by the introduction of the 6 year Pharm.D program with clinical orientation. The Chancellor of MSRUAS Dr. M.R. Jayaram in his presidential address acknowledged the excellent efforts made by Dr. B. Suresh pertaining to the Pharmacy education in India.

The speakers of the module, Prof. Krishna Kumar, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Howard University, Washington, DC, USA, Prof. Anne Marie Liles, Department of Pharmacy Practice, The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy in Oxford, Mississippi, USA and Prof. Mary Vilay, Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico, USA were introduced to the audience and all the speakers from USA expressed their happiness to be in India to share their knowledge relating to the Pharm.D program to the delegates here. The inauguration function ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. V. Madhavan, Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee and Dean Faculty of Pharmacy, MSRUAS.

On 18th afternoon and on 19th & 20th March elaborate advanced teaching & training program in regard to the nephrology topics included in the Pharm.D program were carried out by these 3 senior speakers from USA. The topics included in this advanced leaning series were Clinical Assessment of Renal function, Drug dosing strategies for Chronic Kidney Disease patients, Pharmacokinetic modeling, causes & complications of chronic kidney disease (CKD), developing an appropriate treatment for the patients of CKD, recommendation towards Pharmacolgic and non-pharmacologic treatment, drug induced nephrotoxicity, acute kidney injury and renal replacement therapy.

Nearly 160 delegates from the southern states of India and senior teachers participated in this module training program on Nephrology.

On 20th afternoon the valedictory function was conducted having Dr. M.D. Karvekar as the Guest of Honour representing IACP. After the function all the participants expressed their happiness for having participated in such an useful program co-ordinated by Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy & Faculty of Pharmacy, MSRUAS, Bangalore. They also expressed their eagerness to attend similar programs in future too.

A 3 day Pharmacy Practice Module Advanced Learning Series 2 (repeat) on the topic “ Neurological Disease and Movement Disorder” was organised by Sri Adichunchanagiri College of Pharmacy, B.G.Nagara, Karnataka in association with Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, Chennai during 29 - 31 Jan 2015 at BGS Auditorium, BG Nagara, Nagamangala, Mandya, Karnataka. Around 180 delegates from various colleges from south India were registered for three days module.

On 29 Jan 2015 at 9.30am the programme was inaugurated by Sri.Sri.Sri. Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji & Dr.B.Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India was the Chief Guest of the function, other dignitaries present on the occasion were Dr.Shivaramu, Principal, AIMS, Dr.Manohar TM, Medical Superintendent, AH & RC, Dr.BK Narendra, Principal, BGSIT. The Resource persons Dr.Krishna Kumar, Dr.Mark Decerbo & Dr.Justin Kullgren also addressed the gathering.

During the course of inauguration, Poojyaaa swamijiii released “ Aoushadagiri2014” a college magazine, Dr.B.Suresh released the third issue “ Clinical Pharmacy Newsletter” and Prof.Krishna kumar released Module study material during the session.

Dr.B.Ramesh, Principal, Sri Adichunchanagiri College of Pharmacy welcomed the gathering. In his speech, highlighted the reason for conducting this programme and also elaborated the importance of this module to the gathering.

Dr.B.Suresh, in his inaugural address, stressed the importance and relevance of Pharmacy Practice in India & how the Pharm D graduates can complement to the physicians in Medication Therapy Management. He also highlighted that the pharmacist is a middleman between the Physicians and patients, if the Pharmacist can satisfy the patients and Physicians needs in terms of services in their management of health the Pharmacist recognition will increase. He also focused on the future upcoming speciality in Pharm D programme in India. i.e. Residency Programme for specialization (e.g: Oncology Pharmacist, Cardiology Pharmacist, Renal Pharmacist etc.....)

Swamijii in his Benedictions mentioned the importance of meditation and medication for the patients and implementation of the research learning and need of the research collaboration / path for further societal development need.

Immediately after inauguration, the scientific session was started by Prof.Krishna Kumar, who briefed about the basics of Pharmacokinetics and also highlighted the commonly using drugs and its drug therapy monitoring ( eg. Methotrexate, Profopal, Theophyline, Digoxin).

The second day session was started at 8.30 am by Dr.Justin and discussed on “Parkinson’s Disease” and few cases related to this disease. Later Dr.Mark spoke on “ Stroke & Alzimers Disease and its Management”, pharmacist role in this disease area like counselling and monitorin in the drug therapy management. The lunch break was given up to 1.15 to 2 pm. The afternoon session was started with Dr.Justin discussed more about Parkinson’s disease. After tea break, Dr.Mark continued with the session on “ Epilepsy & its Managament and Pharmacist Role” and followed by case discussion.

The third day session was started at 8.30am by Dr.Justin on “ Pain Management” & Dr.Mark discussed on “ Multiple Sclerosis and its Management”. The session continued till 12.45pm. Then the Assessment test was conducted for 30 minutes to know the understanding / importance of this module, how this module can help them in building their practice. Later the valedictory programme started at 2pm and the session ended with photo session of the delegates, feedback from them, certificate distribution and farewell to the Guest & Speakers.

Al Shifa College of Pharmacy, Perinthalmanna, Kerala took up the responsibility of hosting 8th Module and conducted successfully between 5th and 7th of November with accolades from all around!

Inauguration of the Module commenced at 10 am on 5th November 2014 with Dr. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India as Chief Guest and Prof. K. Chinnaswamy, President, Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, Chennai as President of the function. Mr. P. Unneen, Managing Trustee, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy and Prof. Krishna Kumar, International President, Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy as Guests of Honours.

Dr. TNK. Suriyaprakash, Principal, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy welcomed the gathering. In his speech, Dr. TNK Suriyaprakash highlighted the reason for conducting this programme and also elaborated the importance of this Module to the gathering. He highlighted the onerous job undertaken by Prof. K. Chinnaswamy and Dr. B. Suresh generally for the upliftment of pharmacy field and particularly to Pharm.D graduates.

In his presidential address, Prof. K. Chinnaswamy elaborated the genesis of this IACP and elaborated about the previous 7 Modules. He also expressed his happiness and satisfaction about the arrangements for this programme.

Dr. B. Suresh, in his inaugural address, stressed the importance and relevance of Pharmacy Practice in India and also highlighted the utility and service of Pharm.D graduates, which they will render to the practice of pharmacy in hospital and community sectors. Their role will be understood better in coming days and they should train better to overcome challenges in present set up, highlighted by the chief guest. The points mooted by the chief guest were very well received by the gathering of more than 1000 pharmacy students and professionals.

Mr. P. Unneen and Prof. Krishna Kumar, in their address elaborated the role of pharmacists in India and abroad respectively. Dr. T.K. Ravi, Principal, College of Pharmacy, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Paramedical Sciences, Coimbatore and Dr. B. Jayakar, Principal, College of Pharmacy, Vinayaka Missions University, Salem felicitated the gathering.

During the course of inauguration, Dr. B. Suresh released ‘Hospital Formulary’ 3rd edition, Prof. K. Chinnaswamy released ‘Guidelines for 14 Diseases’, Prof. Krishna Kumar released ‘Shifa ClinPharm Newsletter’ and Dr. T. K. Ravi released ‘Clerkship Record’. All these books were the products of students and faculty of Department of Pharmacy Practice, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy.

Dr. TNK. Suriyaprakash honoured all the resource persons, Prof. Krishna Kumar, Prof. Sharon See and Prof. Michelle T. Martin with a shawl and memento, which depicted rich Kerala heritage, was appreciated by the international speakers.

Dr. Dilip C, Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice delivered vote of thanks.

After inaugural function, Prof Krishna Kumar, Professor of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics of the College of Pharmacy, Howard University, Washington DC, USA elaborated on concepts of Biopharmaceutic and Pharmacokinetic principles to nearly 300 delegates from many parts of India.

Next two days, i.e. 6th and 7th, Prof. Sharon See BS, PharmD, Associate Clinical Professor in the Clinical Pharmacy Practice Department at St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, New York, USA and Prof. Michelle T. Martin, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA took the classes in tandem and covered GERD, PUD and Liver Disease and Cirrhosis, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) respectively. The delegates got firsthand experience of Pharmacy Practice in USA from these three resource persons of high caliber. Their in-depth analysis of the disease was eye opener to the delegates which comprises of many principals, senior professors, lecturers and students of Pharm.D and M.Pharm (Pharmacy Practice).

On 7th evening valedictory function was organized with Prof. Chinnaswamy as President and Dr. C.P. Jaffer, Chief Physician, Al Shifa Hospital as Chief Guest. Dr. Jaffer underscored the utility and involvement of Pharm.D students in hospital. Mr. Mohammed Haneefa welcomed the gathering and Dr. TNK. Suriyaprakash, Principal, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy delivered vote of thanks remembering each and every one of their contribution and Module 8 concluded successfully.

Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP) and JSS University, Mysore jointly organized Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) sponsored Pharmacy Practice Preceptor Development Program from 15-17 September 2014 at Sri Rajendra Centenary Auditorium, JSS Hospital, Mysore.

The theme of this program was “Preparing Effective Advanced Pharmacy Practice Educators”. The objective of this program was to provide training to pharmacy practice teachers on mentorship skills needed while precepting Pharm.D students during their internship. Pharm.D was introduced by PCI in 2008 to prepare the pharmacists to deliver patient focused health care services and to upgrade the roles and responsibilities of pharmacist in hospital and community settings. The concept of mentorship is brought in to Pharm.D course to ensure that the interns are well trained, motivated and sensitized to gain adequate training, skills and knowledge to practice as a pharmacist. In order to provide professional training to interns, we need preceptors who can motivate the students to achieve the best outcomes and professional goals of the course. In the backdrop of this scenario, Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy realized the need for training Pharm.D teachers so that they can deliver the needs as Preceptors for Pharm.D interns.

The program was inaugurated by Prof. K Chinnaswamy, President, Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Dr. B. Suresh, Vice Chancellor, JSS University, Mysore and President, PCI, New Delhi was Chief Guest of the inaugural function. Dr. R. K. Chaturvedi, Director, JSS Hospital, Mysore; Dr. M. D. Ravi, Vice-Principal, JSS Medical College, Mysore; Mr. Dipankar Chakraborti, Vice-President, PCI; Mrs. Archana Mudgal, Registrar cum Secretary, PCI were guests of honour. Dr. B. Manjunatha, Registrar, JSS University, Mysore; Dr. Krishnakumar, Professor, Howard University, USA and Dr. H. G. Shivakumar, Principal, JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysore were present in the inaugural program.

During the inauguration, Dr. G. Parthasarathi, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, JSS University, Mysore welcomed the gathering. Also, he briefed about the needs and objectives of the preceptor development program. Dr. B. Suresh in his chief guest address highlighted the need for well trained staff to train the Pharm.D interns so as to develop them not only as knowledgeable and skilled personnel in order to meet the pharmaceutical care needs of the nation but also globally. Dr. K. Wayne Hindmarsh, Dean Emeritus & Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Canada delivered the keynote address on the theme ‘Preparing Effective Advanced Pharmacy Practice Educators’ and released the ‘Clinical Pharmacy Newsletter’. Dr. R. K. Chaturvedi stressed on the importance of preventing medication errors in improving the patient safety. Dr. M. D. Ravi highlighted the need for training the academic pharmacy practitioners in order to play a greater role in the patient safety. Dr. Dipankar Chakroborti released the course material. Mrs. Archna Mudgal, highlighted the role of Pharmacy Council and the efforts that are being taken in meeting the pharmaceutical care needs of the society. Dr. B. Manjunatha in his speech said that there is a need for conducting this kind of program for the effective practice. Dr. H. G. Shivakumar in his address highlighted that pharmacy practitioners need to develop required knowledge and skills for the effective delivery of pharmaceutical care services. Dr. M. Ramesh, Professor & Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice proposed the vote of thanks.

A total of 71 faculties from different pharmacy institutions located across India participated in the programme. During the three-days scientific session of the programme, various topics on preceptors’ development were deliberated. Dr. Krishna Kumar from Howard University, Washington DC, USA; Dr. Mark Decerbo from Roseman University of Health Sciences, Nevada, USA; and Dr. Elizabeth Sherman from Nova Southeastern University, Florida USA were the resource persons. Dr. Krishna Kumar oriented all the delegates with designing curriculum, goals of the clinical rotations and evaluation of students during internship in general. Dr. Mark Decerbo discussed about concepts and methods of case presentation, patient case presentation, journal club, assignments, seminars and bedside teaching. Also, he introduced the participants on how to deal with difficult situations that may arise while monitoring these activities. Dr. Elizabeth Sherman discussed about the role of clinical pharmacists in HIV care settings with demonstration with her own experiences in precepting students on HIV rotations. She also described about importance of structuring training curriculum, goals, objectives and its evaluation.

During the three-days of training program, participants had opportunities to learn various aspects on preceptorship like roles and responsibilities of preceptors during internship, developing learning outcomes of clinical rotation(s) and its evaluation during internship, methods to support slow learners and hands on preceptor training in few clinical specialties like Acute care setting, Infectious diseases, Nutritional care and Neurology. The training program was well appreciated by the participants and they have revealed that the programme was very informative, useful and beneficial in gaining the required knowledge and skills to practice in the health care system. Finally, Prof. K. Chinnaswamy delivered concluding remarks with very encouraging and kind words to all the pharmacy teachers and wished all of them GOOD LUCK for great success ahead as a PRECEPTOR. Dr. G. Parthasarathi, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, JSS University, Mysore coordinated the scientific session. Dr. M. Ramesh, Professor & Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice, JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysore coordinated the programme.

Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP) and JSS University, Mysore jointly organized Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) sponsored Pharmacy Practice Preceptor Development Program from 15-17 September 2014 at Sri Rajendra Centenary Auditorium, JSS Hospital, Mysore.

The theme of this program was “Preparing Effective Advanced Pharmacy Practice Educators”. The objective of this program was to provide training to pharmacy practice teachers on mentorship skills needed while precepting Pharm.D students during their internship. Pharm.D was introduced by PCI in 2008 to prepare the pharmacists to deliver patient focused health care services and to upgrade the roles and responsibilities of pharmacist in hospital and community settings. The concept of mentorship is brought in to Pharm.D course to ensure that the interns are well trained, motivated and sensitized to gain adequate training, skills and knowledge to practice as a pharmacist. In order to provide professional training to interns, we need preceptors who can motivate the students to achieve the best outcomes and professional goals of the course. In the backdrop of this scenario, Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy realized the need for training Pharm.D teachers so that they can deliver the needs as Preceptors for Pharm.D interns.

The program was inaugurated by Prof. K Chinnaswamy, President, Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Dr. B. Suresh, Vice Chancellor, JSS University, Mysore and President, PCI, New Delhi was Chief Guest of the inaugural function. Dr. R. K. Chaturvedi, Director, JSS Hospital, Mysore; Dr. M. D. Ravi, Vice-Principal, JSS Medical College, Mysore; Mr. Dipankar Chakraborti, Vice-President, PCI; Mrs. Archana Mudgal, Registrar cum Secretary, PCI were guests of honour. Dr. B. Manjunatha, Registrar, JSS University, Mysore; Dr. Krishnakumar, Professor, Howard University, USA and Dr. H. G. Shivakumar, Principal, JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysore were present in the inaugural program.

During the inauguration, Dr. G. Parthasarathi, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, JSS University, Mysore welcomed the gathering. Also, he briefed about the needs and objectives of the preceptor development program. Dr. B. Suresh in his chief guest address highlighted the need for well trained staff to train the Pharm.D interns so as to develop them not only as knowledgeable and skilled personnel in order to meet the pharmaceutical care needs of the nation but also globally. Dr. K. Wayne Hindmarsh, Dean Emeritus & Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Canada delivered the keynote address on the theme ‘Preparing Effective Advanced Pharmacy Practice Educators’ and released the ‘Clinical Pharmacy Newsletter’. Dr. R. K. Chaturvedi stressed on the importance of preventing medication errors in improving the patient safety. Dr. M. D. Ravi highlighted the need for training the academic pharmacy practitioners in order to play a greater role in the patient safety. Dr. Dipankar Chakroborti released the course material. Mrs. Archna Mudgal, highlighted the role of Pharmacy Council and the efforts that are being taken in meeting the pharmaceutical care needs of the society. Dr. B. Manjunatha in his speech said that there is a need for conducting this kind of program for the effective practice. Dr. H. G. Shivakumar in his address highlighted that pharmacy practitioners need to develop required knowledge and skills for the effective delivery of pharmaceutical care services. Dr. M. Ramesh, Professor & Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice proposed the vote of thanks.

A total of 71 faculties from different pharmacy institutions located across India participated in the programme. During the three-days scientific session of the programme, various topics on preceptors’ development were deliberated. Dr. Krishna Kumar from Howard University, Washington DC, USA; Dr. Mark Decerbo from Roseman University of Health Sciences, Nevada, USA; and Dr. Elizabeth Sherman from Nova Southeastern University, Florida USA were the resource persons. Dr. Krishna Kumar oriented all the delegates with designing curriculum, goals of the clinical rotations and evaluation of students during internship in general. Dr. Mark Decerbo discussed about concepts and methods of case presentation, patient case presentation, journal club, assignments, seminars and bedside teaching. Also, he introduced the participants on how to deal with difficult situations that may arise while monitoring these activities. Dr. Elizabeth Sherman discussed about the role of clinical pharmacists in HIV care settings with demonstration with her own experiences in precepting students on HIV rotations. She also described about importance of structuring training curriculum, goals, objectives and its evaluation.

During the three-days of training program, participants had opportunities to learn various aspects on preceptorship like roles and responsibilities of preceptors during internship, developing learning outcomes of clinical rotation(s) and its evaluation during internship, methods to support slow learners and hands on preceptor training in few clinical specialties like Acute care setting, Infectious diseases, Nutritional care and Neurology. The training program was well appreciated by the participants and they have revealed that the programme was very informative, useful and beneficial in gaining the required knowledge and skills to practice in the health care system. Finally, Prof. K. Chinnaswamy delivered concluding remarks with very encouraging and kind words to all the pharmacy teachers and wished all of them GOOD LUCK for great success ahead as a PRECEPTOR. Dr. G. Parthasarathi, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, JSS University, Mysore coordinated the scientific session. Dr. M. Ramesh, Professor & Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice, JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysore coordinated the programme.

Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP) in association with Shri Vishnu College of Pharmacy, Vishnupur, Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh jointly organised ‘ Pharmacy Practice Advanced Learning Series – Module 3 (repeat) programme on 10th – 12th March’ 2014. This repeat Module programme was inaugurated by Prof.K.Chinnaswamy, President, IACP in the presence of Prof.T.V.Narayana, Chairman, Academic Division, Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association, Prof.Krishna Kumar, Professor, Howard University, Washington DC, USA, Prof.Becky Keel Jayakumar, Dept of Pharmacy Practice at University of Connecticut, USA, Prof.Douglas Jennings, Dept of Pharmacy Practice, Nova South Eastern University, FL, USA. Mr.Ravichandran Rajagopal, Vice Chairman, Shri K.Krishna Ganga Raju, Secretary, Vishnu Educational Society, Dr.D.Basava Raju, Director, Shri Vishnu College of Pharmacy, Dr.K.Prasad, Principal, Shri Vishnu College of Pharmacy and the representatives of the other Institutions.

On day 1, Prof.Krishna Kumar, Professor, Howard University, Washinton DC, USA discussed the importance of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring. He also emphasized on how to initiate and revise therapy of Digoxin, Procainamide and NAPA based on Pharmacokinetics. He has also discussed the significance of dosing in neonates and in special groups like obesity.

On day 2, Prof.Becky Keel Jayakumar made her presence laudable and very informative through her session on Hypertension and its treatment and complications. Later she elaborately explained pediatric immunizations.

On day 3, Prof.Doughlas Jennings explained about the different treatment options available for the management of common cardiac disorders like Congestive Heart failure, Arrhythmias, Acute coronary syndrome and Coronary Artery disease.

The speakers enlightened the students to take up their role as pharmacists. They also encouraged the students that more scope is in the field of Pharmacy and the students have to strive to improve the standards of Clinical services and Pharmacy Profession as a whole.

There was immense response for the programme, 105 delegates from more than 10 colleges across the State have participated. This Module was a huge success because of the collective effort of the Organising Committee, Resource persons, Conveners, Patrons and the delegates. The session ended with a kind of satisfaction amongst the student fraternity as unanimously they expressed it was a great learning experience in their life.

Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP) in association with St. Peter’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hanamkonda and 26 pharmacy institutions in the state of Andhra Pradesh jointly organized “Pharmacy Practice Module “Advanced Learning Series-6” on October 06 - 08, 2013, at Hotel Daspalla, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India". This Pharmacy Practice Module “Advanced Learning Series-6” was inaugurated by Prof. Krishna Kumar, Howard University, Washington DC, USA in the presence of Prof. T. V. Narayana, Secretary, Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association, Dr. B. Jayakar, Treasurer, IACP, Mr.T.Jayapal Reddy, Chairman, St. Peter’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, President AP Pharmacy Private Colleges Association, Dr. Amy Kennedy, Assistant Professor at University of Arizona, Tucson,AZ, USA, Mr.Malla Reddy, Dr. Ram Das, Mr. PanduRanga Reddy, Dr. Rao Vadlamudi and Dr. Suresh Bandari, Scientific Co-ordidinator and Principal St. Peter’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and various college managements and principals.

On day 1, Prof. Krishna Kumar, School of Pharmacy, Howard University, Washington DC, USA accentuated the importance of therapeutic drug monitoring in pediatric population with special emphasis on the problems associated with the usage of amino glycosides along with the factors affecting their disposition. He has also discussed the significance of dosing in neonates and pharmacokinetics of pediatric population. On day 2,Dr. Amy Kennedy, professor in pharmacy practice and science at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA made her presence laudable and very informative through her session on diabetes with special focus on assessment and monitoring of diabetes control, treatment and complications. Later she elaborately explained pediatric immunizations. On day 3, Dr.Hanna Phan, professor in pharmacy practice and science at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USAexplained aboutpharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in pediatric patients with assessment as a pharmacist in vital signs, laboratory values in pediatric respiratory infections. She also addressed on the assessment strategies to be applied by a pharmacist in the control of pediatric asthma.Dr. Mary BabicoPharm. D., Pharmacy Resident of College of Pharmacy, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA enlightened about pharmacy residency training in pediatric specialty, board certification and eligibility.

All the three speakers emphasized on the importance of pharmacist at patient bed-side to improve overall compliance and outcomes. Highly enthusiastic students and delegates were enthralled by these sessions and applauded the IACP and the organizers for conducting such useful sessions. Dr. Rao Vadlamudi, Mr. T. Jayapal Reddy, and Dr. Suresh Bandari, felicitated the speakers. There was an immense response from the faculty and Pharm. D. students from around 20 colleges across the state and other states as well. This module was a huge success because of the collective effort of the organizing committees, resource persons, conveners, patrons and the delegates. The session ended with lots of joy and happiness expressed by the delegates.

1. M.S.Ramaiah College of Pharmacy, Bangalore.

The programme was really interesting & informative. Please give more time to Prof.Krishna Kumar to do kinetics. Dr.Saraswathy G.R, Asst.Prof.

2. R.R.College of Pharmacy, Bangalore.

Well organised. Very informative. Good interaction between speakers & delegates. Very good hospitality. Talents demonstrated by students, depicting the vast cultures of Kerala is very well appreciated. Mrs.Geetha Jayaprakash, Assoc.Prof

3. RMES’s College of Pharmacy, Gulburga, Karnataka.

I am attending this type of Module programme for the first time Overall it was a good experience. All the sessions were excellent especially pharmacokinetics. Mr.Shantveer Halcher, Lecturer

4. HKES’s Matoshree Taradevi Rampure Instt of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Karnataka.

The first two days session were excellent with skills and exposure. It helps us in improving our teaching skills, knowledge in Biopharmaceutics, COPD and Asthma patients. Mr.S.S.Biradar, Asst.Prof

The session improves the skills of the pharmacist in dealing with Asthama & COPD patients, highlights the role of pharmacist in dealing with the chronic diseases. Dr.Neelkant Reddy.Patil, Asst.Prof.

5. Al-Shifa College of Pharmacy, Kerala.

Well done. Congratulations for the coordination teams. Pls arrange water for the delegates inside the auditorium. Registration fees not affordable by the students. If possiblekindly reduce. Augustine Xavier, Student.

Food and Cultural programmes are good. Sabin T.Sojan, Student.

6. JKK Nataraja College of Pharmacy, Tamilnadu.

Presentations, usefulness, transport arrangements, updated information (scientific), audio arrangements are good. Cultural programmes – very excellent. Hospitality and food – Average. Accomodation – not up to the expected level. - N.Venkateswaramurthy, Professor.

7. Sree Krishna College of Pharmacy and Research Centre, Kerala.

This module has given me good opportunity to know more about Asthma and COPD, make me understand the importance of Biopharmaceutics, very impressive and knowledgeable module, had a chance to meet Dr.Suresh. I really had a good experience and able to learn a lot from the professionals. Majun.A.S, Student.

All the sessions were good and informative. Biopharmaceutics session on the first day was a great experience. Good to know about the practices in pharmacy outside India & growth of Pharmacy abroad. Chithra.G.S, Asst.Prof.

Very informative session. Lekshmi B.Chandran, Student.

Very informative. I really look forward to attend another conference. No suggestions, all were fantastic. Akhilendran.R, Student.

We feel great to attend the seminar. It will be very useful in our academic life. Thank you for inviting us. Athira Suresh, Student.

8.Devaki Amma Memorial College of Pharmacy, Kerala.

I’m really thankful to the authorities who gave me such an opportunity to become a part of this session. It was a better opportunity to improve my academic part as well as to know more about Pharm.D course. Moreover I’m so happy to meet and hear the speech of Dr.B.Suresh the president of PCI. Saranya.K.Sivarajan, Student.

The session was fantastic and I’m blessed to be a part of this programme. Day 2 was the best scientific session. Thank you for providing this golden opportunity. Anjana.P.Suman, Student.

I gained a lot of new ideas about asthma, COPD, Kinetics in Pharmacy Practice advanced learning series – 5. Especially the day 2 session ( Dr.Brown Ma’am) was very interesting and informative. The cultural programme was very nice. Sarath.T, Student.

It was a beautiful three day session that gave me lots of knowledge about the subjects and pharmacy field. Thank you for giving me the golden opportunity to participate. Wish to be a part in the next module. Vishnu.P, Student.

I gained more knowledge about asthma and COPD. Day 2 session was very much interesting. The cultural programme was good. Arun.S, Student.

It was a great pleasure to participate in the Module 5 programme. I wish to participate in the remaining modules. Anjali Udayan, Student.

The session was very nice. Mathews Abraham, Asst.Prof.

All the sessions were very nice. Please organise programmes like this in future. Byju.K.Asst.Prof.

The Module programme -5 was very nice and informative. We expect this kind of programmes in the future. Biju.C.R. Asst.Prof.

Really feel lucky to be a part of this Module programme. I’m very much thankful for giving an opportunity to meet Dr.Suresh, who is the back bone of Pharmacy in India. The session with the International speakers are very much informative and interesting. It made me to dream for high achievements in the field of pharmacy. I always remember the words of Dr.Abdul Kalam “ Dream is not that when you sleep, Its something that don’t allow you to sleep”. Anuroop.Jose, Student.

I enjoyed and grasp a lot of information from this session. The lectures given by the International professors are so informative. The chief guest Dr.B.Suresh provide us valuable information regarding the Pharm.D programme. Accommodation, college backyard, cultural programmes, food and attitude, am 100% satisfied. All the Best. God bless you. Arun Krishnan, Student.

Programme is informative, but last 2 days, the sessions are with similar topics.Shaimol.T, Asst.Prof

First time, i got an opportunity to participate this kind of session. It helps me to gain more knowledge about COPD, asthma and Pharmacokinetics. Dr.Wendy Brown Ma’am session was the most interesting session. We have close interaction with her and it was very useful. The cultural programme was good. Happy to be a part of this programme. Keerthi Hareendranath, Student.

This Module programme was very interesting and good. Kindly arrange some more modules. Accomodation, transport and food are excellent. All the speakers gave the excellent source of knowledge. N.S.Surendiran, Asst.Prof.

Definitely this is one of the best seminars, i have ever attended. The International speakers have done a fantastic job. Please include more diseases in the forth coming session like DM etc. Yasir.K.P, Asst.Prof.

The programme was very informative. If there is a chance of lesser no. of slides than a wide level of explanation, it would be more interesting and give chance for interaction. Siraj Sundaran, Asst.Prof.

It was a great opportunity to attend this kind of seminar. I was so happy about the seminar. Maneesha Ramachandran, Student.

The Module 5 programme was so helpful in gaining much information about the COPD, asthma, how to handle a case and patient care. We also expect this kind of sessions in the future. Nasma.P, Student.

9. Grace College of Pharmacy, Kerala.

Thank you for conducting this module. It was really informative. The first two days session with Dr.Krishna Kumar and Dr.Wendy Brown were very much informative and interactive too. Hope such programmes will be conducted in Kerala more often. Abna, M.Pharm Student.

All sessions were informative, but the third session was a bit harder to hear. The day 1 and day 2 sessions were good. We expect this kind of sessions in Kerala. Chithra R.Krishnan, Student.

Sessions on day1 and day 2 were interesting, session on day 3 was a bit dry, but of course, all the notes are going to help a lot. Pharmacokinetics have become easier and simpler. The organisers have done a great job. Great hospitality, very clean and neat environment. Deepthi Govindankutty, Student M.Pharm (Pharmacy Practice).

The first two days session found to be useful. Sujitha Ravindran, PG Scholor.

The programme is interesting. Good hospitality, but the food Committee performs less satisfactory. Cultural programmes are good. Angelchacko, PG Scholar.

Day 1 session on Pharmacokinetics was informative. Day 2 session was interesting and informative. Day 3 session was ok. Cultural programme and hospitality were good. Arya Mohan, PG Scholar.

The sessions were good enough to acquire the knowledge on different topics such as Pharmacokinetics, COPD & asthma. The most interesting session that i felt is from the PCI president Dr.B.Suresh. Thanks for the Coordinator. Shafer.V.P M.Pharm Student.

A very good programme, helped us to learn a lot of things in the respective topics. Hoping that such programmes will continue in the future also. Shibin, M.Pharm student.

10. National College of Pharmacy, Kerala.

Good session. Please extend the no of days of this programme (atleast 5 days). Anil Antony, III Pharm.D student.

The sessions were very informative. The Day 2 session was very much informative and helpful. But the day 3 session, i feel little bored as the topic was based on our syllabus. Abaedha Susan Kuriakose, III Pharm.D student.

Day 2 session was very informative and interesting. Day 3 boring session. Maria.C.Kuriakose, Student.

The sessions were good and informative. Anjaly.S. Student.

Please commence the programme on time which is printed in the schedule. I was not able to hear the announcement on the previous day and missed the session which started before 9’0 clock on day 3. Jisha Sara John, Student.

We had a little anxiety on attending this module, but felt positive, informative and moreover motivating after hearing the speech of Dr.B.Suresh. I felt very happy. The tobacco session on day 3 was little difficult to understand, but still all classes were informative. Thank you.Aleen Catharine, III Pharm.D Student.

Need some more relevant topics to be covered where the Pharm.D teachers and students are waiting to get some training sessions – especially in the upcoming modules if you could add toxicology and Pharmacovigilance as a part of training modules. Anil Babu, Asst.Prof.

Programme was nice and also informative, in my point of view the first 2 days were more informative to understand calculations, case studies etc, but the 3rd day comparatively less effective & informative – full of rush and no interaction, just reading the slides. This module gives an opportunity to meet great people in the field of Pharmacy and the speech from Dr.B.Suresh was a great relief for us because we are very anxious about our carrier. We request you to conduct more modules in Kerala. Thank you. Manas Joshi.M, III Pharm.D student.

11. Chalapathi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.

I am really happy to be able to attend this conference. This programme was very useful, interactive which made me gain more knowledge regarding Obstructive Lung diseases. Patience of the speakers ( Dr.Krishna Kumar, Dr.Wendy and Dr.Sara) were really awesome. Speech by Dr.B.Suresh help to regain my confidence the Pharm.D graduates will be having a golden future to serve the people. I really thank IACP for organising this module. I had only one suggestion, i ask the programme coordinators to change the food as it is difficult to have the same kind of food everyday. M.Manusha. Student.

I felt very glad to be a part of this module. We learnt many things and gain more knowledge about diseases, future of Pharm.D graduates. K.Sipora, Student.

Module was well organised. We gained valuable knowledge. Good hospitality. Totally it was an excellent module. G.Sneha, Student.

I felt very happy to participate in this module. We have gained new things about COPD, asthma, case studies and how to analyse. Through these modules we had a chance to learn new topics. Thank you for the nice hospitality. Kalari Sahithi, Student.

This module was helpful to gain knowledge on respiratory diseases (asthma, COPD) & some of the case studies which were given were helpful in having practical knowledge to deal with patients in hospitals. Dr.Suresh speech about future Pharm.D challenges, oppurtunities was informative. Overall i had a pleasant experience in attending this module. Nadendla.Sowmya, Student.

The Pharmacy Practice module was very honourable as i have been lucky to be exposed to lectures of eminent personalities. Among the lectures, i was overwhelmed by the lecture of Dr.Wendy Brown on day 2. Mounika Sanaka, Student.

All the three scientific sessions were very informative. G.Vijitha Naga Smruthi, Student.

Its nice that the Pharmacy Practice Module is going to be a grand success every year. The programme like this will be very useful especially for Pharmacy Practice dept students. Everything is nice, but the food is little disappointing. Any disappointing words in my feedback, sorry, its not intentionally. Dr.Chaitanya Lakshmi.CH, Asst.Prof.

The module was useful, the lectures were wonderful & informative. The hospitality was good. But the food was unacceptable. A.Sravya Varma, Student.

This programme has helped us to gain a better knowledge which is much of practical related and i am happy for that. Veermala.Tejaswi, Student.

Being the first time participant, i felt the module was very useful in all aspects as it aids in updating the knowledge. In addition, the homework and solving the questions were very interesting and exciting. Interaction with professionals and fellow students helps to know various facts about the Pharm.D course. I feel like attending the upcoming modules also. Ch.Sindhuja, Student.

Program is good, informative & interactive sessions with resource person. Three day module has been successfully organised. Thank you and All the best. V.Raghuram, Asst.Prof.

I am glad to be a part of this module programme. Obtained knowledge on COPD and Pharmacokinetic studies. This programme makes us more interested towards learning new aspects in advanced pharmacy practice. Being a delegate from other state, i am happy with your hospitality. Thank you. M.Sai Priya, Student.

It was really a nice programme and i am glad to be a part of this programme. The topics are very much helpful to us. The pharmacokinetics and COPD topics were very much interesting. Good hospitality. Thank you. Tabrik Fathima, Student.

Gained knowledge about the pharmacokinetics & about the lung diseases such as asthma & COPD. Clarified the doubts regarding the challenges and opportunities of Pharm.D course. K.Shilpa, Student.

The topics we have learned in this programme were useful. Dr.Krishna Kumar’s lecture on Pharmacokinetics was very good. P.Manohar, Student.

The topics covered in this conference were very much interesting. Day 1, the pharmacokinetic topic was very useful – which was explained in a slow and detailed manner. On day2, we learnt about the use of different inhalers and their advantages, treatment for asthma, how to see the spirometry results & how to assess the disease based on spirometry results. On day 3 we learnt completely about COPD & about tobacco quitting. Hospitality was very good. As we are from Andhra Pradesh, we didn’t like the food that much. S.Jahnavi, Student.

We have a good lecture on Pharmacokinetics by Dr.Krishna Kumar on day 1. This topic will be useful for further studies. Dr.Wendy Ma’am lecture on asthma was very much interesting. Day 3 was about COPD and tobacco abuse by Dr.Sara Ma’am, as she was rushing the topic, we have some difficulty in understanding. Good hospitality but food was not good. M.Nagalohith, student.

Good and this programme was the best. This module 5 is very much important for the Pharm.D students. G.Prem Kumar, Student.

The topics included in this module were very very very useful to the students. This module gave a clear information about asthma, COPD and what are the oppurtunities for the Pharm.D graduates. On day1, Theophylline drug information given by Dr.Krishna Kumar was very very useful to us. Food is not that much good. G.Naveena, Student.

The topics we have learned in this module was very useful to us. Dr.Krishna Kumar’s lecture on Theophylline’s Pharmacokinetics was very good. G.Venkata Sudheer, Student.

The lectures on this programme was very much useful to us. We have gained more knowledge on the topics discussed. B.Krishna Teja, Student.

Very interesting and nice module. I am very happy to be a part of this program. We have gained knowledge about asthma, COPD and pharmacokinetics. Dr.Vidhyadhari, Student.

The topics were good. If possible, one module in renal system will be useful to us. P.Chandra Sai, Student.

12. St.James College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chalakudy, Kerala.

Programme was really informative. Femy Varghese, Student.

Happy to be part of this programme. Nancy Varghese, Student.

This module was the most memorable one in my life. The speaker especially Dr.Wendy Ma’am was very much interesting. Thank you all. Akshaya, Student.

The seminar was excellent. The classes were outstanding. The study materials were very good. We gained much knowledge about asthma & COPD. Oshin Sebastin, Student.

The programme was highly useful and helped us to enrich our knowledge on clinical pharmacy practice on various aspects. Theja Thomas, Student.

Very good, informative & got opportunity to interact with most respected person in our country. Thank you. Fanas, Student.

This seminar was very informative and get to know about many subjects. We have good interaction with the speakers and discuss about our pharmacy field. Thank you. Abhilash Vijayan, M.Pharm Student.

The programme was excellent and very informative. Chinnu Paul, M.Pharm student.

This programme was very informative and good. Mary Priya, M.Pharm Student. Anju Joshy, Student. Ancy Sebastin, Student. Anita P.Antappan, Student. Christeena Jose, Student. Gini Yo Yaki George, Student.

Very good programme and got an opportunity to interact with eminent personalities. Thank you. Hari.A, Student.

Three day programme was very good. All the classes were interesting. Anju Paul, Student.

The programme conducted was very informative. We gained knowledge about asthma and COPD apart from our syllabus. Anjali.Pankaj. Student.

The programme was excellent and i am totally surprised to see the President of Pharmacy Council of India, Dr.Suresh and his valuable words encourage us. I think his wish and dream about Pharmacy in India will fulfil. Aiwa Eldhose, Student.

The programme was very informative and helped me a lot in clarifying numerous doubts. Nooja Moinudeen, Student.

The programme was very inspirative. It gave me more information in achieving my dreams which is to become a good pharmacist. The pictograms in the study materials helps me to see some techniques which i have not seen earlier. Through this programme, i got more helpful information about the therapy of the lung diseases mainly the asthma & COPD. Similarly the speech by Dr.Suresh has cleared all my doubts about my profession. Over this entire programme was very much useful to me. Thank you. Merin Anto Thelappilly, Student.

The programme was very informative, i think its better to add some more details about the scope of Pharm.D and its job oppurtunities. Ancy Paul, Student.

Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP) , Chennai in association with Devaki Amma College of Pharmacy, Malappuram, Grace college of Pharmacy Palakkad , St.James College of Pharmaceutical Sceinces, Chalakudy have organized “Pharmacy Practice Module- Advanced Learning Series-5” from 01 to 03 July 2013 at St.James College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chalakudy , Auditorium. The inauguration function of the program was held at the auditorium hall on 01 July 2013. Rt.Rev. Dr.Pauly Kannookadan, Bishop, Diocese of Irinjalakuda & Patron of St.James Hospital presided over the function. Dr.K.Mohandas, Vice Chancellor, Kerala University of Health Sciences, Thrissur inaugurated the function by lighting the Kuthuvilakku. Prof. K.Chinnasamy, President, IACP and Co-Chairman (India) of the program was the Chief Guest on the inaugural function. Dr. Krishnakumar, Professor. Howard University, Washington D.C., USA and the Co-Chairman (International) was the Guest of Honour . Rev.Fr.Paul A Ambooken, Director, St.James Hospital , Dr.T.K.Ravi, Principal. Sri Ramakrishna institute of Paramedical Sciences, Coimbatore , Dr.G.Babu, Principal ,Devaki Amma college of Pharmacy felicitated the gathering. Prof.Wendy Brown, Associate Professor, NDSU College of Pharmacy, U.S.A, Prof.Sarah Macbane, Asst. Professor, SKAGGS School of Pharmacy, University of California, U.S.A were the guest speakers. Dr.K.Krishnakumar, Scientific co-ordinator(Kerala) and Principal, St.James College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chalakudy welcomed the gathering and Dr.Sajeeth C.I, Vice Principal, Grace College of Pharmacy, Palakkad delivered the vote of thanks.

The participants were, Pharm.D teachers and students from 23 colleges across the country. There were 165 participants and the Valedictory function was held on 03rd July 2013 evening by 4.30pm. Dr. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India & Vice-Chancellor, JSS University, Mysore and the chairman for the program was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Prof. K.Chinnasamy , Chairman, IACP and Co-Chairman (India) of the program presided ove the valedictory function. Msr.Davis Ambooken delivered the benedictory address. Dr. Krishnakumar , Professor. Howard University, Washington D.C., USA and the Co-Chairman (International) was the Guest of Honour . Dr.T.K.Ravi, Principal. Sri Ramakrishna institute of Paramedical Sciences, Coimbatore , Mr.Narayanan .M , Manger ,Devaki Amma College of Pharmacy, Rev.Dr.Jojo Antony Thoduparambil , Assoc. Director, St.James Hospital, Prof.Wendy Brown, Associate Professor, NDSU College of Pharmacy, U.S.A, Prof.Sarah Macbane, Asst. Professor, SKAGGS School of Pharmacy, University of California, U.S.A were the special invitees. Dr.K.Krishnakumar, Scientific co-ordinator(Kerala) and Principal, St.James College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chalakudy welcomed the gathering and Dr.Sajeeth C.I, Vice Principal, Grace College of Pharmacy, Palakkad delivered the vote of thanks.

On Day 1 , Dr.Krishna Kumar,Ph.D,MPS,Howard University,College of Pharmacy,Washington DC,USA enlightened us on the intricate details of dosage calculations with respect to Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics of Theophylline. He started with importance of pharmacokinetics in dosage regimen .He continued to say that Clinical pharmacokinetic report provides clinician with an interpretation of patient’s pharmacokinetic parameters. This helps the clinician to design usually appropriate dosing regimen to achieve selected target plasma levels for the patient. He explained about steady state and importance of half-life of a drug to reach steady state. Further he discussed about bioavailability and population parameter. In the after session he concluded with calculation on half-life, loading dose and maintenance dose.

On Day 2, Prof Wendy Brown – Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice NDSU College of Pharmacy USA greatly improved our understanding of the clinical perspectives in diagnosis and management of Asthma. She effectively conveyed role of practicing pharmacist to health care professionals and patients. She started with Medication Therapy Management (MTM).She continued with Obstructive Lung Disease and Restrictive Lung Disease.She taught about history taking in asthmatics. Next she went on to diagnosis of asthma by using spirometry and explained about parameters of lung function tests like forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume. Next she explained the etiology and pathophysiology of asthma and concluded with drug therapy problems and current trends in asthma management.

On Day 3, Dr.B Suresh, President , Pharmacy Council of India, redefined scope of Pharm.D programme in India and abroad. He started his talk by answering controversies about Pharm.D programme in India. He effectively laid down statistics about Pharm.D college and graduates in the coming years.He spoke about the importance of Clinical Pharmacists in current healthcare settings ,job opportunities for Pharm.D graduates India and abroad. He concluded by interacting with the delegates answering their queries on Pharm.D programme.

Prof.Sarah Mcbane Pharm.D, CDE, BCPS, Associate Clinical Professor, University of California, Sandiego, USA imparted in depth knowledge on the mechanism, Risk factors, Diagnosis and Management of COPD. She gave us awareness on current trends on pharmacotherapeutics of COPD. In the afternoon session she started with health consequences of tobacco dependence. She continued with clinical practice guidelines for treating tobacco use and dependence. She concluded with ‘5 A’s to help patients quit tobacco and responsibilities of health profession in tobacco cessation therapy.

The participation certificates were given by Dr. B. Suresh , President, Pharmacy Council of India & Vice-Chancellor, JSS University, Mysore The participants gave a very good feedback about the module-5 and many of them were expecting more, such type of programs to be conducted in future. Feedback forms were distributed and collected. The three day pharmacy practice advanced learning series module-5 concluded with National Anthem.

Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP), Chennai in association with JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty has organised the “Pharmacy Practice Module – Advanced Learning Series – 4 from 11th – 13th March’2013 at the Auditorium of the JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty. Dr.S.Veeraiyan, Joint Director of Health Services, The Nilgris was the Chief guest for the inaugural function of the Pharmacy Practice Module 4 programme. Dr.K.Ilango, Principal, JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty presided the function. Dr.Krishna Kumar, Professor of Biopharmaceutics & Pharmacokinetics, Howard University, College of Pharmacy, Washington DC, USA, Dr.Elizabeth Sherman, Associate Professor, Nova South Eastern University, Florida, USA, Dr.Miranda Nelson, Associate Professor & Pediatric Infectious Disease Pharmacist, School of Pharmacy, Southern Illinois University, IL, USA, the International speakers were the guest of honour. Dr.Ponnusankar, Professor & Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice welcomed the gathering. The guests were felicitated and the Module 4 programme was inaugurated by lighting the lamp. The course material of the 3 day Module programme was released by the chief guest Dr.S.Veeraiyan during the function. Dr.Krishna Kumar, introduced the Module programme to the participants. Mr.K.P.Arun, Asst.Professor delivered the vote of thanks. After the Inaugural function, the Pharmacy Practice Module 4 programme started with series of lectures by the invited speakers of USA.

Day 1 : 11th March’2013
Speaker :Dr.Krishna Kumar, Professor of Biopharmaceutics, Howard University, USA.
Topic:Therapeutic Drug Monitoring – Aminoglycosides and Vancomycin. The pharmacokinetics parameters for aminoglycosides were discussed: apparent volume of distribution (Vd) Clearance (CL), Plasma concentrations etc. Further, the aminoglycoside pharmacokinetic calculations were done to understand the appropriate dose and dosing interval recommendation. This was revised with some calculations. A patient case example has been given to the participants and asked to calculate the volume of distribution and clearance. After the understanding of the calculation, group exercise was performed by all the participants.

Day 2: 12th March’2013
Speakers: Dr.Elizabeth Sherman, Associate Professor, Nova South Eastern University, FL,USA.
Topic: HIV / AIDS.

Dr.Miranda Nelson, Associate Professor & Pediatric Infectious Disease Pharmacist, School of Phamacy, South Illinois University, IL, USA.

Topic: Opportunistic Infections.

HIV/AIDS – part 1: Introduction to HIV/AIDS and Antiretroviral Therapy

Dr.Sherman summarized her presentation with the following points.

• ART has made HIV/AIDS a treatable and manageable chronic disease.
• Initiate ART based on WHO clinical stage, CD4 count and presence of co morbidities.
• Initial ART with any 2 NRTs + NNRTI
• Goal is to reduce viral load and restore immunologic functioning.
• Multidisciplinary healthcare teams support patient medication adherence improving outcomes.

HIV/AIDS – part 2: Antiretrovirals and HIV complications

Dr.Sherman concluded her discussion with the following points.

• While ART is life saving, HIV and ART are associated with multiple complications.
• ART required frequent monitoring.
• Review medications at every patient visit and check for drug interactions and side effects.
• Tremendous opportunity for pharmacists to assist clinicians in diagnosis and management of drug toxicities and to provide patient counselling.

OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTIONS
Dr.Nelson started her presentation with the common opportunistic infections such as pneumocystis pneumonia, candidiasis, tuberculosis, toxoplasmosis encephalitis, cryptococcal meningitis, cytomegalovirus retinitis and mycobacterium avium complex along with its clinical presentation, diagnosis, primary prophylaxis and alternative therapy available. Further she narrated the monitoring of therapies in relation to managing the opportunistic infections. She also defined the various central nervous system infections and its etiology, pathophysiology, causative organisms, types, clinical presentation, diagnosis, laboratory findings, treatment and prevention.

Day 3: 13th March’2013
Speakers: Dr.Miranda Nelson, Associate Professor & Pediatric Infectious Disease Pharmacist, School of Phamacy, South Illinois University, IL, USA.

Dr.Elizabeth Sherman, Associate Professor, Nova South Eastern University, FL,USA
Topic : Viral Hepatitis

Dr.Nelson described to differentiate latent infection and active TB disease based on sceening tests and symptoms, give treatment recommendations for latent TB infection recommend treatment for active TB disease and identify side effects of anti-tuberculosis therapy. Further, TB in special population such as HIV-AIDS patients, children, pregnant women along with its management and algorithm of the therapy was discussed in detail.

Meningitis / Encephalitis was defined with various central nervous system infection such as encephalitis, meningitis and meningoencephalities. Etiology of encephalitis based on viral and bacterial were classified and discussed.

Dr.Sherman started her presentation with an overview about viral hepatitis include the types of hepatitis such as A,B,C,D and E and its source of virus, transmission route, type of infection and prevention of hepatitis. Signs and symptoms of acute and chronic hepatitis were discussed. Dr.Sherman concluded that viral hepatitis is a worldwide infectious disease and prevention through vaccination is effective for HAV and HBV, behavioural modifications to reduce incidence of HCV infection.

Each session ends with case studies and group discussions. The participants were given the opportunity to have clinical visits in groups on Day 2 & Day 3. An assessment test was given at the end of the Module programme.

The programme concludes with a formal valedictory function. Dr.B.Suresh, Vice Chancellor, JSS,University, Mysore was the chief guest of the function, in his address quoted the importance of continuing education for the Pharm.D graduates and emphasized the need for updating the knowledge with respect to the practice. The International speakers Dr.Krishna Kumar, Dr.Elizabeth Sherman and Dr.Miranda Nelson shared their experience of the three day programme, with the audience. Dr.K.Chinnaswamy, President, Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, Chennai presided the function and distributed the certificates to the participants.

The Module programme ended with much appreciation from the delegates.

Pharmacy Practice Module “Advanced Learning Series-2” (Repeat) Feb 15-17, 2013 at St. Peter’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hanamkonda, Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India

Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP) in association with St. Peter’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences have joined hands together with Pharmacy Practice Professors and Practitioners from other parts of the world to provide multifaceted learning opportunities to pharmacy practice educators and students.

This Pharmacy Practice Module “Advanced Learning Series-2” (repeat) was inaugurated by the Hon. Vice chancellor of Kakatiya University Prof. B. Venkat Rathnam on Feb 15, 2013 in St. Peter’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vidyanagar, Hanamkonda, Warangal. While inaugurating the session, Prof. B. Venkat Rathnam expressed his happiness and applauded the role of IACP, Chennai and St. Peter’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences for being instrumental in organising such useful training sessions by eminent professors from various parts of the world.

Prof. K. Chinnaswamy, President, IACP in his presidential address congratulated the delegates and urged them to utilize this valuable opportunity for the betterment of health care practices in India. He also congratulated the management and staff of St. Peter’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences for conducting such training sessions.

The inaugural function was attended by the international coordinator, Prof. Krishna Kumar, Howard University, Washington DC, USA and resource persons of this module, Prof. Justin Kullgren, South College School of Pharmacy, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, Prof. Mark Decerbo, Roseman University of Health Sciences, Henderson, Nevada, USA, Dr. Butchi Reddy, Chairman and Dr. J. Sudhakar Reddy, Medical Superintendent, Rohini Hospitals, Hanamkonda, Dr. Rao Vadlamudi, Director, Dr.T. Jayapal Reddy,Chairman and Dr.Suresh Bandari, Principal St. Peter’s Institute of Pharmaceutical sciences. Dr. T. Jayapal Reddy expressed his gratitude to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. B. Venkat Rathnam and Prof. Chinnaswamy for their continuous support and blessings to the students of St. Peter’s in all their endeavors.

Prof. Krishna Kumar, who emphasized the importance of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and the role of modern day pharmacist in Medication Therapy Management (MTM) in patients with complex regimens initiated the first day of the training module. On Feb 16-17, 2013, Prof. Justin Kullgren and Prof. Mark Decerbo took charge and explained in detail about management of pain and of diseases like Parkinsonism, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, stroke and seizures. They explained that in India the incidence of progressively neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s is on the rise and as per a recent study more than 11 people out of 1000 suffer from Alzheimer’s. The delegates were shown videos for better understanding and each session ended with an exercise.

An assessment test was conducted on Feb 17, 2013 at the end of the module to assess the level of understanding by the participants. The valedictory ceremony started at 2.00 pm and presided by the IACP president Prof. K. Chinnaswamy and Prof. T. V. Narayana, Secretary, Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association was the guest of honour. Dr Rao Vadlamudi, Director St. Peter’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences highlighted the significance of such training modules. The delegates were asked to share their experiences on the sessions conducted for the three days. The participant feed back about these modules was very good and many of them were expecting more of such programs to be conducted in future. Dr. T. Jayapal Reddy, Dr. Rao Vadlamudi and Dr. Suresh Bandari felicitated the speakers and guests of honor on this occasion. Certificate of participation were issued to the delegates after the closing ceremony.

Being a repeat module, there was an immense response from the faculty and Pharm. D. students from around 14 colleges across the state. This module was a huge success because of the collective effort of the organizing committee, resource persons, conveners, patrons and the delegates. The session ended with lots of joy and happiness expressed by the delegates.

College of Pharmacy, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Paramedical Sciences, Coimbatore, in association with Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP), Chennai has organized “Pharmacy Practice Module- Advanced Learning Series-3” from 11th to 13th December 2012 at Velumaniammal Memorial Hall in its campus. The inauguration function of the program was held at the new auditorium hall on 11th December 2012.

Shri. C. Soundararaj, Managing Trustee, SNR Sons Trust, Coimbatore presided over the function. Dr. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India & Vice-Chancellor, JSS University, Mysore and the chairman for the program was the Chief Guest on the occasion.

Dr. B. Suresh in his address quoted a published report those drugs worth $550 billion USD may be prevented if the prescriptions are audited properly by the pharmacist.

He also suggested a 5 point strategy for the pharmacist to provide better health care to the patient viz. Procurement and supply of drugs by the Pharmacist; Early deduction of diseases and prompting them for further action; Preparation of Essential Medicine List; Rational use of Medicines and reduction of the cost of Medicine by suggesting the physician to prescribe in generic name, as the branded drug will be under patent and hence costlier.

He also assured the participants that by attending such programs they can get equipped to meet the challenges ahead.

Dr. Krishnakumar, Professor. Howard University, Washington D.C., USA and the Co-Chairman (International) was the Guest of Honor. Prof. K.Chinnasamy, Chairman, IACP and Co-Chairman (India) of the program, Dr. V. Ravichandiran, Principal, School of Pharmacy, Vel’s University, Chennai and the Secretary, IACP, Dr. Jessica Kerr, Assistant Chair, Pharmacy Practice and Associate Professor, School of Pharmacy, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Illinois, USA, and Dr. Jingyang Fan, Clinical Associate Professor, Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Illinois, USA were also present on the occasion. The Course material of the three day program was also released by the chief guest Dr. B. Suresh during the function. Dr. T. K. Ravi Principal College of Pharmacy, SRIPMS welcomed the gathering. Dr. V. Ravichandiran, Secretary delivered the vote of thanks. On day 1, Dr. Krishna Kumar , professor of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics at the school of pharmacy, Howard University, Washington DC conducted the Module on Tuesday, 11th December 2012. His module session was started with therapeutic drug monitoring of digoxin, where he discussed on the relationship between CL Digoxin and CLcr in patients heart failure.

Topics discussed under this session included, relationship between Vd digoxin and CLcr, relationship between fraction lost in a day; at steady state and CLcr, therapeutic range of digoxin, how to predict t ½, how to estimate metabolic and renal clearance, fractions of drug absorbed for various formulations of digoxin including tablets, capsules and elixir with case studies. Afternoon session started with procainamide pharmacokinetics.

Areas discussed included population parameters of procainamide such as therapeutic concentration, bioavailability, salt factor, Vd and t1/2, time to sample for loading and maintenance dose, therapeutic range of procainamide and how to initiate and revise therapy of procainamide with case studies. The delegates interacted well and clarified their doubts through questions and productive discussions.

On Day 2 Dr. Jessica L Kerr the acting Assistant chair of Pharmacy Practice and Associate professor at SIUE school of pharmacy, started her module session with cardiovascular concerns such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Areas discussed under hypertension includes etiopathogenesis, desired goals, management options, diagnosis of hypertension, staging of hypertension and antihypertensive for uncomplicated and compelling indications and thereby how to determine the appropriate therapeutic goals for a patient with hypertension and how to recommend the optimal pharmacologic management based on clinical evidence.

Next session started with hyperlipidemia and topics covered included the etiology, absorption of lipids in the body, pathophysiology, risk factors, risk stratification and goal setting of a patient by cholesterol risk assessment with Framingham point score, management options and how to determine the appropriate therapeutic goals for a patient with dyslipidemia based on cardiovascular risk factors and how to recommend pharmacologic treatment with the help of case studies. Delegates had lot of discussion on case study and actively participated throughout the session.

On Day 3, Dr. Jingyang Fan , clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice at SIUE School of pharmacy discussed about coronary heart disease and the session included pathophysiology of CHD, symptoms, medications for symptomatic control of stable angina, medications for symptomatic control of stable angina and mortality reduction in CAD,ABC’s of CHD and antiplatelet use after revascularization.

She also discussed in her session about acute coronary syndrome and areas covered included types of ACS, pathophysiology, patient assessment, biomarkers after acute MI, treatment and general approach to ACS, coronary catherization and various pharmacologic options and also about atrial fibrillation . Next session started with heart failure and the topic was discussed by both Dr. Jessica L Kerr and Dr. Jingyang Fan. Model Cases were given with questions to kindle the minds of the delegates regarding the rationale in drug choice in Pharmacotherapy of the disorders discussed.

The participants were, Pharm.D teachers and students from 19 colleges across the country. There were 102 participants and the Valedictory function was held on 13th December 2012 evening by 5.00pm. The participation certificates were given and the delegates were asked to share their experiences on the module conducted for the three days. The participants gave a very good feedback about the module-3 and many of them were expecting more, such type of programs to be conducted in future. Feedback forms were distributed and collected. The three day pharmacy practice advanced learning series module 3 concluded with National Anthem.

Placement conclave conducted by IACP for pharm-D students at SRMC chennai was inaugurated by Dr. B.Suresh., President of PCI who highlighted the importance of conducting this placement conclave for the benefit of pharm-D graduates and the organizations recruiting the graduates. Dr. V. B. Desai, former drugs controller of Karnataka was also present during the inauguration.

Initially Prof. Chammundeswari, Principal, SRMC welcomed the dignitaries, the recruiting organizations and the pharm-D graduates. The following organizations participated in the conclave and presented a brief profile about their concern.

1. Quintiles, Bangalore

2. Delvin Formulations, Chennai

3. Sai Mirra Pharmaceuticals, Chennai

4. Care College of Pharmacy, Warangal

Thirty five (35) Pharm D graduates attended the conclave and the companies conducted aptitude test followed by personal interview for the graduates.

Certain number of students have been short listed by the organizations and they are in the final rounds of interview.

The following IACP members. Dr.T.K. Ravi, Dr.T.V. Narayana , Dr. Ravi Chandran and Dr. Meenakshi Sundaram were present during the placement conclave. Dr. M. Ramesh & Dr.Raghunandan H V of JSS University, Mysore co-ordinated the event. Finally Prof. B. Jayakar Convenor of the programme delivered the vote of thanks.

Placement conclave conducted by IACP for pharm-D students at SRMC chennai was inaugurated by Dr. B.Suresh., President of PCI who highlighted the importance of conducting this placement conclave for the benefit of pharm-D graduates and the organizations recruiting the graduates. Dr. V. B. Desai, former drugs controller of Karnataka was also present during the inauguration.

Initially Prof. Chammundeswari, Principal, SRMC welcomed the dignitaries, the recruiting organizations and the pharm-D graduates. The following organizations participated in the conclave and presented a brief profile about their concern.

1. Quintiles, Bangalore

2. Delvin Formulations, Chennai

3. Sai Mirra Pharmaceuticals, Chennai

4. Care College of Pharmacy, Warangal

Thirty five (35) Pharm D graduates attended the conclave and the companies conducted aptitude test followed by personal interview for the graduates.

Certain number of students have been short listed by the organizations and they are in the final rounds of interview.

The following IACP members. Dr.T.K. Ravi, Dr.T.V. Narayana , Dr. Ravi Chandran and Dr. Meenakshi Sundaram were present during the placement conclave. Dr. M. Ramesh & Dr.Raghunandan H V of JSS University, Mysore co-ordinated the event. Finally Prof. B. Jayakar Convenor of the programme delivered the vote of thanks.

The Pharmacy Practice Module – Advanced Learning Series –II was organized by Faculty of Pharmacy, Sri Ramachandra University, in association with Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP), Chennai. The module was held from 26th to 28th July 2012. Lectures were delivered by eminent speakers viz. Prof. Krishna Kumar, Department of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics, College of Pharmacy, Howard University, Washington D.C, USA, Prof. Lisa Whittington Goldstone, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, College of Pharmacy, University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ, USA and Prof. Mark Decerbo, Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Roseman University of Health Sciences, USA. On day 3, feedbacks were obtained from the delegates on a 5 point scale on parameters like Course content, Delivery of course material, Interest generated by the speaker and Problem based learning. The overall seminar rating and the feedbacks were scrutinized and statistically analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2007 and the report is as follows.

About 37% of the delegates reported that the course content of the module was very good on day 1, 41% reported as good on day 2 and 43% reported as good on day 3. About 40% and 36% of the delegates reported that the delivery of the course material was good on day 1 and day 2 respectively, and 38% reported it as excellent on day 3.

About 38% of the delegates reported that the interest generated by the speaker was good on day 1, 38% and 43% reported it as excellent on day 2 and day 3 respectively.

About 38% and 34% of the delegates reported that the problem based learning of the module was good on day 1 and day 2 respectively, and 37% reported it as excellent on day 3.

The overall rating for all the 3 modules were reported to be good by 60% of the delegates followed by 63% for scientific content, 45% for hospitality and 42% for registration process.

91% of the delegates reported that they are willing to participate in future modules.

Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, Chennai, in association with The Faculty of Pharmacy, Sri Ramachandra University, conducted a three days interactive program on Quality Pharmacy Practice Advanced Learning Series Module - II from 26th to 28th July 2012. The inaugural program started with invocation at 9.30 A.M. on 26th July 2012 at Dental college auditorium. DR.D.Chamundeeswari, Principal, Faculty of Pharmacy, welcomed the gathering. Prof. S.P.Thyagarajan, Pro-Chancellor (Research), Sri Ramachandra University, illuminated this knowledge sharing program by lighting the lamp and felicitated Prof. B. Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India, and Vice-Chancellor of J.S.S. University, Mysore, Prof. K. Chinnaswamy, President, Indian Association of Colleges of pharmacy, Chennai, Prof. Krishna Kumar, Professor of Biopharmaceuticals and Pharmacokinetics, College of Pharmacy, Howard University, Washington, DC, and DR. Lisa Whittingtone Goldstone, Assistant professor of Pharmacy practice, college of Pharmacy, University of Arizona, Tuscon, USA.

Prof. B. Suresh, elucidated the pertinence of this Quality Pharmacy Practice Module Advanced Learning Series-II program for the Pharm D teachers and Pharm D students at this juncture, where the pharmacy profession in India is enduring a phenomenal shift from industry to patient care; a mission with which the Pharm D course was introduced in India in 2008 by the Pharmacy Council of India, to groom the Indian Pharmacy graduates to the concept of pharmaceutical care. He addressed the Pharm D program as a challenge that is bound to be a great success in near future. He thanked the president and the members of the IACP and the international co-ordinator Prof. Krishna Kumar and the international speakers for their active contribution towards this learning module series and the Placement conclave.

Prof. K. Chinnaswamy, in his presidential address, reiterated Prof. B. Suresh’s words, congratulated the delegates and wished them success. Prof. J. S. N. Murthy, Vice-Chancellor, SRU, delivered the inaugural address. He acknowledged the evolving role of a pharmacist in the health care settings from dispensing of drugs to prescription monitoring, patient education and clinical research. He congratulated the Pharm D students and assured them a bright scope for career in patient care settings.

The key note address by Prof. Krishna Kumar emphasised on the need for training the Pharm D students of India to be competent enough to practice pharmacy in international practice settings, with the aim of which the advanced learning series modules were designed.

Dr.Lisa Whittington Goldstone, enlightened the Pharm D students on their scope in managing Psychiatric disorders. Dr.K.Chitra, Vice principal, Faculty of Pharmacy, SRU, delivered the vote of thanks. The inaugural session was followed by the interactive sessions for the next three days which was held at the Faculty of Management sciences, SRU. 136 delegates from 19 Colleges in and around South India participated.

The speaker of the first day was Prof. Krishna Kumar. He started the session by 11.00AM following the inaugural. He discussed on the basic concepts of biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics, giving more emphasis on therapeutic drug monitoring of theophylline and digoxin. The post lunch session was an interest generating session dealing on calculation of pharmacokinetic parameters of theophylline and digoxin like prediction of half life, clearance, and dosage adjustment of these drugs in altered renal and hepatic function with appropriate case studies.

The second day was taken over by Dr. Lisa Whittington Goldstone from 10.00 AM. She focused on psychiatric disorders ranging from schizophrenia, mood disorders, (bipolar and unipolar), anxiety disorders and substance abuse. She discussed about the clinical symptoms, the diagnosis, different class of medications, and factors to be considered in choosing medication regimens for these disorders with illustrative case studies.

The speaker of the third day session was Prof. Mark Decerbo, Associate Prof. of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Roseman University of Health Sciences, USA. He concentrated on Neuro module multiple sclerosis. He elaborated on the appropriate pharmacotherapy regimens for patients with newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis, pregnant and nursing women, and patients with other co-morbidities, the adverse events associated with DMAs and their management, patient education on drug use, laboratory monitoring, expected side effects and significance of adherence to therapy. He had given suitable case scenarios for better understanding of the module.

To summarise, the three days interactive learning module was interactive, packed with lot of information and more understanding examples, encouraged participants to work on case studies or answer questions in small groups.

An assessment test was conducted on the 3rd day, i.e. 28-7-12 to assess the level of understanding of the modules by the participants. Feedback about the Module –II Program were received from the participants. The valedictory function started at 4.30p.m and presided by the IACP Sectretary Dr.V.Ravichandran in the presence of Dr.Krishnakumar, Dr.Lisa Whittington Goldstone, Prof. Mark Decerbo, Dr.D.Chamundeeswari, Dr. Jayapal Reddy.

Mr. K.Kannan Assistant Professor Department of Pharmacy Practice gave a report on the proceeding and was followed by the distribution of certificates to the participants. Mrs.Ramalakshmi delivered the vote of thanks and the programme concluded by national anthem.

The Pharmacy Council of India took the bold step of introducing the Pharm. D. curriculum in the month of May 2008. As we get ready to graduate our first group of Pharmacist clinicians we realize that Pharm. D. training will require new skills of students and educators, and to address this issue the Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP) has taken the initiative to launch an advanced learning series in understanding and providing Quality Pharmaceutical Care. IACP aims to provide TEN such learning modules in the next three years in collaboration with its various stakeholders.

The IACP and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vels University jointly with advanced practitioners and teachers from other parts of the world presented the inaugural module to strengthen the quality of Pharm.D. education in India.

This Trainers’ Training Program for Pharm.D teachers and students was a three-day programme (14th March 2012 to 16th March 2012) at the Conference Hall, Vels University with a wide coverage of topics like Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM), Medication Therapy Management (MTM) Principles and Diabetes.

The programme was inaugurated with expert advice and words of wisdom from eminent scholars of Pharmacy education in India like Prof.Dr.K.Chinnasamy, President, Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (IACP), Chennai, Dr.Krishna Kumar, Professor, Howard University, USA and International Coordinator (IACP), Dr.V.Ravichandran, Director, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vels University, Prof.S.Ramachandran, Vice Chancellor, Vels University, Dr.P.Govindarajan, Registrar, Vels University, Ms.Archana Mudgal, Registrar, Pharmacy Council of India, New Delhi, Dr.S.K.Rajan, Former Dean, Stanley Medical College, Chennai, Prof.M.D.Karvekar, Executive Committee Member, Pharmacy Council of India, New Delhi.

Day one of the sessions covered the areas of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) and was addressed by Dr. Krishna Kumar (Professor of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics, College of Pharmacy, Howard University, Washington, D.C., USA) was attended by more than 90 participants.

Day two of the session covered the Principles of Medication Therapy Management and diabetes was addressed by Dr. Paul Oesterman, Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Roseman University, Henderson, Nevada USA.

The final day of the session dealing with BPH and ED was addressed by Dr. Youness R. Karodeh, Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy, Howard University, Washington, D.C., USA.

This small group interactive teaching platform encouraged participation from all attendees with team approach and group discussions and learning by problem solving. Feedback from participants indicated that the sessions were appreciated by registrants and helped to better equip them with tools needed to practice within their changing profession.

The training session was followed by comprehensive assessment and the participants were presented with certificates of successful completion.

The Valedictory ceremony was chaired by Dr. Ishari K. Ganesh, Chairman, Vels University, who also helped in distributing the awards. The session concluded with an invaluable concluding address by professor. K. Chinnasamy where stated that the inaugural module of IACP was a grand success and the association is looking forward to organizing atleast 10 modules in the next 2 years.

The second module will be scheduled in June 2012. And the repetition session of 1st Module will be held once again in August 2012. He appreciated the efforts of Dr.Krishnakumar in making this happen and also thanked Dr.Ishari K.Ganesh for all the support and encouragement and appreciated the efforts made by Dr.V.Ravichandran, the Principal and his team form organizing the same successfully.

The session ended with a lot of joy and happiness as expressed by the participants and presenters alike.

1. Shete Shiv Kumar (student, Vinayaka Missions college of Pharmacy, Salem)

I expect the next workshop on subjects which helps us - clinical research/ pharmcovigilance/ clinical pharmacology/ clinical data management. The professors may be from medical colleges who teaches (DM - clinical pharmacology & therapy) in various colleges such as JIPMER pondichery, PGIMS, Chandighad, aiims etc which will give scope for pharm.D student rather than any disease management.

2. D.Sivaraman (Asst.Prof, C.L.Baid Metha College of Pharmacy, Chennai)

This module was highly informative. Next time if possible we could include some information regarding US health care system and also how pharmacist are filing their claims to insurance company etc. It will be really useful for all our students those who are planning to go for abroad. since i have some exposure in US claim processing system, i will help you in this aspect.

3. N.Vanitha Rani (Lecturer, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai)

The workshop was good, but the pharmacokinetic part could be much more interactive.

4. J.Mohamed Ali (student, Vels University, chennai)

The program was quiet unique and enjoyed the 3 days program with my friends. The topics discussed in the first day was hard to understand by the pharm.D students from 3rd year and less. I am PB student so i enjoyed the topic. pls make next module topics common to all pharm.D students, so they can fully enjoy the program.

5. Feba sarah Mathew (student, Vinayaka Missions, Salem)

It was very interesting and hope you will conduct this type of workshop again.

6. Kanneganti Sandeep (student, Chalapathi Instt. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, A.P)

MTM is very important, i think if it is repeated, we may learn many more things.

7. N.N.Sri Preethi (student, JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysore)

The workshop was great. it helped to think and make plans for our next step towards uplifting pharmacy which in a totally different dimensional view. the next module can be planned in a different venue little early. since this was near to year end of our college, lot of students though interested could not participate.

8. Phiney Treesa Philip (student, Nandha College of Pharmacy, Erode)

I am so glad that you asked for the feedback. The workshop was good, but this was just like a seminar, we expected more practical sort of work. we would be able to do something more practical rather than sitting in a seminar room and discussing about the topics.

9. Donakurian (student, Nandha College of Pharmacy, Erode)

I would suggest, for the next module, if you give a practical sector in hospital, it will be very useful to understand about our job.

10. G.Vimalan (Asst.Professor, Padmavathy College of Pharmacy, Dharmapuri).

These kind of advanced learning series modules will help us to upgrade our knowledge. We will show a better practice in our profession and hope that day will come soon.