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In this world of specialization and globalization the pharmacy education in India is suffering from serious backdrops and flaws. There is an urgent need to initiate an academic exercise aimed at attaining revamping of curriculum, keeping in pace with current and emerging trends in the field of pharmacy. Unfortunately all these years, enough emphasis was not laid on strengthening the components of Community Pharmacy, Hospital and Clinical pharmacy, while designing curriculum at diploma and degree levels of teaching. The curriculum followed by almost all universities in India are no were up to the world standards and students are still getting the 20-30 yrs older compounding practical exposure in labs during the graduation level. The article emphasises the concept of innovation ecosystems and quality management. Application of TQM to the educational system improves the present situation. The counseling system which serves to be the gateway of the students for entry into the profession should be brought under the scanner. Introducing specializations at the graduation level will result in professional expertise and excellence. Education is a customer focused industry and every student should be capable of evaluating themselves for continuously improving their quality and professionalism. Teacher focused mastery learning should give away to student focused smart learning. An educational institution should provide the student with a stress-free atmosphere for learning and developing his intellectual capabilities. Every college should have a counseling centre to address the problems of students in their academic and personal life. An emphasis on the concept of quality teacher is included. Revival of the pharmacy education in India is the need of the hour which in turn will pave the way for the up gradation of the pharmacy profession in the country.
Keywords: Education, innovation ecosystems, pharmacy, total quality managementInnovation has become the watchword in every aspect of life all over the world. The ability of a nation to use and create knowledge capital determines its capacity to empower and enable its citizens by increasing human capabilities. In the next few decades, India will have the largest set of young people in the world. The beginning of pharmaceutical education in India was initiated at the Banaras Hindu University was back in 1932 by Professor M.L. Schroff. From there it was a long journey of almost 80 years for this profession in this country and the question is where we stand in the international scene. Following a knowledge-oriented paradigm of development would enable India to leverage this demographic advantage. In the words of our Prime Minister, “The time has come to create a second wave of institution building and of excellence in the field of education, research and capability building so that we are better prepared for the 21 st century. With this broad task in mind, the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) was constituted on 13 th June 2005 with a time-frame of three years, from 2 nd October 2005 to 2 nd October 2008. In order to achieve this task we need to strengthen the base of our educational system so that the height of the pyramid of excellence could be enhanced.[1] In this world of specialization and globalization the pharmacy education is suffering from serious backdrops and flaws. The potentials for growth of pharmacy profession is enormous, if we are prepared to upgrade our standards to international and global expectations.[2] The curriculum followed by almost all universities in India are no were up to the world standards.[3] In the past one decade the technical education in India has spread its roots at an astonishing rate particularly the pharmaceutical field. South India nourished the mushrooming of pharmacy colleges during the initial part of the decade which seems to have paved the way for the alarmingly low number of choosers for this profession in the last phase of the decade. There is an overall decrease in admissions to professional courses particularly in undergraduate course (B. Pharm) in pharmacy during the last three academic years. It is a serious concern that 40% of the seats are lying vacant both in under graduate and postgraduate courses across the country. The placement in the sector has also gone done.[1] The Education Regulation of PCI which governs diploma education in India has not undergone any updation since 20 years.[4] The students are still getting the 20-30 yrs older compounding practical exposure in labs during the graduation level. The current frame work of pharmacy education in India produces outdated and unskilled professionals. The products of this form of education lack the much needed professionalism and rational thinking. 4 yrs of education in graduation level does not even make them fit for dispensing drugs confidently in a drug store. This is one of the main reasons behind pharmacy being an under developed profession in India. The situation is pathetic and through this article we are proposing some novel ways to improve this situation. We also suggest the application of TQM and innovation ecosystems in pharmacy education. We urge all the pharmacists to be a part and parcel of this rejuvenation process. The mushrooming growth of pharmacy colleges in India has contributed to the deterioration of in the standards of pharmacy education in India.[5] It has become obligatory that the pharmacy colleges have to improve their status to sustain their existence.
Research output from Indian educational labs rarely lead to commercialization and revenue generation.
Given the market needs for trained man power, teaching takes total priority over research in our universities.
Institutional base of research in India is extremely narrow serious research is limited to a few ‘elite’ institutes.
Every college should provide the students an atmosphere to nourish his internal skills and qualities. A system should be devised so that each and every student gets an opportunity to freely think and develop his skills to the maximum. Professionalism can be cultivated only through rational ways of thinking and performing. Students should come out with their ideas and suggestions in any aspect of education and especially be focused on innovative research. Most of our students are lacking an initial pull, which should be given by the teachers or the college. Students should also be trained to improve their presentation skills and their personality.
Coming to the educational aspect, much emphasis should be given to industrial and practical exposure. Clinical and practical training should be given more importance and made a part of the curriculum.[7] Research oriented way of learning is more effective rather than mugging up a lot of theory.[8] The knowledge of a pharmacy student should be current and always the updation of his knowledge is necessary. He should be aware of what are the latest changes going in the field of pharmacy. A student should learn to evaluate himself and try to continuously improve his knowledge levels. Here comes the importance of commitment and awareness which are the strong elements of TQM. Each and every person being a part of an institution should be aware of the task assigned to him and be committed to do the work in a perfect manner. Here we are discussing mostly about the changes that should be introduced at the educational aspect.
The concept of the innovation system stresses that the flow of technology and information among people, enterprises and institutions is key to an innovative process. It involves the interaction between the elements, who indeed should turn an idea into a process, product or service resulting in national economic growth. According to Chris Freeman the first person to use the expression ‘National System of Innovation’ was Bengt-Ake Lundvall.[9] Innovation ecosystems refer to the inter-organizational, political, economic, environmental and technological systems through which a milieu conducive to business growth is catalyzed, sustained and supported. Innovation ecosystem is an integrated approach for development.[1] Innovation is something that generates value. Innovators must be challenged to produce solutions that society needs. A basic representation of how an innovative ecosystem functions is conveyed through the Figure 1 . Innovative solutions or research with consequences and potentials must be nurtured and rapidly applied. Inventions will become innovations when they produce results which are beneficial to human race. Innovation culture and entrepreneurship are the two key elements for building a successful ecosystem. A dynamic innovation ecosystem is characterized by a continual realignment of synergistic relationships of people, knowledge and resources that promote harmonious growth of the system in agile responsiveness to changing internal and external forces. The Indian universities and institutions should change their mind set to promote innovation culture by creating an environment and encouraging young minds with ideas and thinking out of box approaches.[1]
Representation of an innovation ecosystem cycle
