By: Rukh Yusuf
Before the Pharm D degree, the Pharmacy profession in Pakistan was not roaring. Students of that era often questioned the application and usefulness of their profession. There were fewer public sector universities, and a smaller number of pharmacists came out from these institutions every year. Most of them used to join industries, start their own business or move abroad. There was a minimal number of pharmacists who joined the hospital or health sector. Those who joined remain confined to hospital stores, managing inventory, etc.
A revolution came in 2003 when four year B Pharmacy degree was upgraded to five years Pharm D Degree. The syllabus was revised and finalized by HEC and the use of Prefix Dr. raised the importance of the degree. Soon Private sector recognized the opportunity and started a Pharm D degree which resulted in more pharmacists every year. Currently, there are almost 55 institutes across Pakistan that are annually creating 5000 pharmacists or more.
Pharmacists used to migrate to the developed world, and currently, pharmacists are going as well. Those who migrated a long time ago are in worthy positions internationally and doing great in their positions both financially and professionally. But due to the increasing number of pharmacists, because of continuously increasing pharmacy institutes, the opportunities started declining globally as well as locally. Similar is the case with other neighboring countries, i.e. imbalance of graduates and opportunities so pharmacists in established countries are higher in number and there is more competition in the job market for foreigners.
In such a competitive environment these days, students soon after the Pharm D degree try to enroll for higher studies like MPhil or PhDs. The private sector and international scholarships have made a way for higher studies in the Pharmacy profession. The number of Pharmacists who have done MPhil or Ph.D. is highest as compared to the past. There is maybe more number of educated people than teaching posts in the country. Doing a Ph.D. from abroad or from Pakistan and acquiring a teaching post in a public or private university was a great option a few years back but these days almost all teaching institutes are full of highly qualified pharmacists.
As an observation, Pharmacists who graduated a decade ago are almost settled abroad or in Pakistan but pharmacists who completed their degrees later are still struggling to initiate their careers. Being in profession and studies for many years and having experience of training fresh and student pharmacists, I can claim there is more number of pharmacists, especially women who are not working and waiting for a position of hospital pharmacists. Most male pharmacists either join the Pharma industry or retail pharmacy but due to the dynamic nature of the pharmacy profession, they remain in the quest to settle even after several years of graduation.
The overall situation seems difficult to look at, but one thing is clear that to date pharmacy profession in Pakistan has changed a lot. We will look in detail in the next blog exactly how and in what ways the pharmacy profession has changed. Is this change good for Pakistan and Pakistan health sector or devastating for Pakistani Pharmacists? What more changes are needed to upgrade the profession in Pakistan and to improve the health sector of Pakistan?
Looking forward to next blog.