Publication

Abstract : The concept of clinical pharmacy was introduced in pharmacy profession by the American Hospital pharmacistsduring the period 1920-1940, though the term 'clinical pharmacy' as such was not coined during those days.Clinical pharmacy as discipline evolved in USA from a combination of factors that contributed for thedevelopment and achievements in the area of hospital pharmacy. The introduction of PharmD in the Universityof California at San Francisco in 1955 contributed for the overall growth and popularization of clinicalpharmacy. By 1980s the PharmD became a sought after course in the US. The American Association of Collegeof Pharmacy (AACP) and the Accreditation Council for Pharmaceutical Education adopted PharmD as theessential and basic qualification required for the practice of pharmacy. Along with the regular PharmD, othernon-traditional programs like post baccalaureate PharmD were also introduced and PharmD got migrated toother parts of the world. When the Foreign Pharmacy Graduation Equivalency Committee (FPGEC) in the USmandated a 5 year pharmacy graduation program to be eligible to the Foreign Pharmacy Graduation EquivalencyExamination ( FPGEE), pharmacists from other countries particularly Asian countries including India got upset.All this prompted Indian authorities too to think of introducing PharmD. Finally the PharmD program wasinitiated in India in 2008 in few selected institutions approved by the Pharmacy Council of India. In spite of thelimitations of the Indian PharmD structure and the curriculum, the program will develop to one of the best suchprograms in the world in the years to come.