Bridging Competency Gaps in Indian Pharmacy Education: Student perspectives from five states of Southern India

This study assessed pharmacy students’ perspectives on how well the current curriculum prepares them for contemporary pharmacy practice demands in five southern states of India, namely, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

A 20-item cross sectional survey via an online link with consent to participate was sent to upper year pharmacy students of year 3 and above eliciting quantitative ratings and qualitative suggestions regarding Indian pharmacy curriculum between December 2022 to April 2023. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, thematic coding, and data visualization.

210 pharmacy students pursuing pre final and final year B.Pharm, PharmD and Master’s degree responded to the questionnaire. 83.7% of the sample fell within the age group of 20-25 years (47% males and 53% females). 54% were enrolled in Pharm.D programs, 34% in B.Pharm and a smaller segment, 12%, in Masters degrees. 61% of the students reported curricula emphasized memorization over clinical reasoning despite having sufficient curiosity to learn. They felt that the curriculum does not encourage them to obtain skills that will prepare them for the job market. Communication, entrepreneurship, and patient counselling skills were viewed as inadequate by 55-60% of students. The student’s dissatisfaction was uniform irrespective of the pursuing course degree, with the agreement that memorization over clinical reasoning is higher and the opportunities to develop them as professional pharmacists are low. Provision of infrastructure for virtual learning was perceived positively by 60% of them. Suggested enhancements centred on increased clinical training, soft skills development, and reduced dated coursework.

Aligning pharmacy education in Kerala, Tamil Nadu,Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha with global practice transformation requires integration of clinical knowledge, critical thinking, and skills development with reduced emphasis on memorization and outdated content. A competency-based approach is recommended to produce skilled pharmacists in this region.