Career options after completing b. Pharm or m. Pharm

The field of pharmacy is a versatile field from a career point of view. It is a paramedical professional course that relates the health sciences with chemical science for the research, development, and production of various drugs to provide therapeutic, diagnostic, and preventive benefits to the user. A pharmacy graduate or postgraduate has a wide array of career options to choose and work as per one’s interest and opportunity. A pharmacy graduate can explore multiple and vivid jobs in pharmaceutical biotechnology, bioinformatics, hospitals, clinical research organizations, regulatory and patent avenues. Be it a private sector, public sector, or government sector, one can find job and career opportunities of their choice and caliber. The content and extent of post graduation is research-based which provides a better opportunity in more skilled job profiles like research, teaching, and management. A great career in pharmacy can be achieved with the help of one’s theoretical as well as practical knowledge and grip on experimentation and laboratory skills like instrumentation, experimental animal handling, calibration, and standardization. The experience of an individual in the relevant field always gives an edge and better chances of growth.

Career Options after B. Pharm:

B. Pham is four-year bachelor’s degree course (Three years in case of Lateral Entry if the student has already done diploma in pharmacy). After the completion of the course, one can immediately start earning money by starting own business of retail or wholesale medicine stock or joining jobs in the pharmaceutical company, research institutes, hospitals, government dispensaries, and even academic institutes. There is no doubt that pharmacy graduates have diverse employment opportunities in the government departments, Including: Health and family welfare, food and drugs departments, and government labs related to manufacturing, analysis, quality control, and packaging. The pharmacists also get the opportunity to work in the formulation, production, development, distribution, and marketing of the drugs, adverse drug reaction monitoring, drug regulatory affairs, patent filing, medical transcription, medical coding, and clinical studies.

Few of the options are as follows:

1. Marketing: Pharmacy graduates find a vast scope in the marketing and sales department of pharmaceutical companies making drugs, tools, and machines for research and diagnostic kits. These companies hire pharmacy graduates for marketing and sales as Medical representative (MR), Product manager, or product executive. Companies pay a handsome salaries ranging from Rs. 20–40 thousand per month, which goes on increasing with experience and designation. It is not an easy task for a layman to discuss all the necessary information regarding medicines or instruments with the medical professionals (Physician or surgeon), so a pharmacist is hired for the marketing of the product.
2. Production: The manufacturing firms hire suitably skilled pharma individuals in manufacturing units to supervise and control the manufacturing of drugs and pharmaceuticals. Initial salary is somewhere between 10000–15000 rupees per month, which increases at a faster growth rate and crosses much other profile salaries- the designation changes from production supervisor to production manager in a few years.
3. Quality Control (QC): QC chemist is yet another career option for pharmacy graduates under the quality control segment of pharmaceutical products. Even some government jobs like government analysis are associated with it. The QC pharmacist develops, applies, revise, and maintains quality standards for processing the materials into partially finished or fully finished products. The QC chemist has to ensure proper working and functioning of all the lab equipment, in line with good laboratory practices (GLPs) and good manufacturing practices (GMPs) requirements. Once the product is finished, they are responsible for preparing testing reports for all samples post-testing and make certification etc. for approval. They help in designing and implementing standard methods and procedures for testing and evaluating the accuracy and quality of products. They make the documentation for the inspection of testing procedures. The private manufacturing firms also require quality control pharmacists who are responsible for all the above-mentioned tasks.
4. Information Technology (IT): A pharmacy graduate having sound knowledge of diseases and drugs with excellent communication abilities and skilled in computer, can provide advice about health issues, symptoms, and medications in response to customer inquiries through online services based on software. Apart from these, they work on troubleshooting and co-coordinating with vendors for instrument maintenance, calibration, training of hardware and software. They also assess the analysis of cost per sample to the billing department. They record follow-ups and ensure all laboratories personal are following Lab SOPs, GLP protocols, and company lab policies.
5. Regulatory Affairs: A pharmacy graduate can work with the regulatory department of pharmaceutical companies. They act like intermediates between the pharmaceutical companies, and government regulatory bodies. They study scientific and legal documents and ensure compliance with regulations set by the medicines and healthcare products by regulatory agencies and prepare documentation and dossiers.
6. Drug Safety Specialist: A Pharmacy graduate having good knowledge of medical terminology, fluent in written and spoken English, and proficient in computers with the ability to make concise, accurate, and relevant synopses of medical text and data can work as a drug safety specialist. The candidate must be able to determine the category of information received i.e., whether it is a medical inquiry, product quality complaint (PQC), or an adverse event (AE).
7. Medical Coding: After a graduate degree in pharmacy, one can work as a medical coder with multinational companies. Medical coding is a highly paid job which gives a salary between 25000–6000 rupees per month. The candidate should have in-depth knowledge of anatomy and physiology of humans. The task is to prepare a concise and accurate history of any injury or surgery of the patient into code language for reference.
8. Hospital Pharmacist: A B. Pharm graduate can join any private or government pharmacy to work as a dispensing or clinical pharmacist. The salary range varies from 15000–45000 rupees per month.
9. Patent Agent: After completing graduation in pharmacy, one can take a short course of patenting and become a patent agent. This career option has handsome remuneration or salary package for the registered patent agents in the field of pharmacy, biotechnology, and other R & D firms. Patent agents can file International Patent Applications (PCT) on behalf of Indian applicants, whereas foreign applicants can file a patent in India through an Indian Patent agent only. A patent agent can work as a Freelancer in patent specification drafting for Indian and international IP law firms. They can even start their IP law Firms and consultancy services.

After B. Pharmacy one can even pursue higher studies like M. Pharm, MS, M. Sc. programs in Pharmacology or pharmaceutical chemistry, MBA program in hospital management, PG Diploma courses like PGD in regulatory affairs, clinical trials, pharmacological, Pharm. D. and Ph. D. to further improve their skills and up-gradation of their degree.

Career Options After M. Pharm:

Research Project Assistant: After M. Pharm, the students have ample knowledge of doing research work, and so they are hired to work as project assistants at various research institutes or laboratories. Corporate sectors and multinational companies (MNCs) hire post graduates with higher capabilities and skills at a more top salary package.

1. Clinical Research: A Pharmacy postgraduate can work as a Clinical research associate or programmer. They coordinate and monitor the study protocol, data management plans, and implement the design to meet the project deadlines.
2. Academics: For teaching UG pharmacy students in college or university, M. Pharm is minimum eligibility criteria. One can pursue a career in academics and research if he or she has excellent communication skills and excellent knowledge of the subject. Academics have nowadays collaborated with research. Projects attract government fundings and hence a good source of generating more income.

A postgraduate pharmacist having M. Pharm or equivalent degree can work on the same profile with higher designation and salary package in which pharmacy graduates (B. Pharm) work. Their starting salary ranges from 25000–30000 rupees per month and increases rapidly with experience. Many candidates move to foreign countries for better opportunities or higher studies after cracking GRE, NAPLEX, or TOFEL exams.