B Pharm After 12th: Eligibility, Course Details & Jobs

 B Pharm stands for Bachelor of Pharmacy. It is a 4 years long undergraduate course. After completing the course, graduates will obtain the ‘Bachelor of Pharmacy’ degree. After obtaining this degree, graduates may start practice as a Pharmacist in India as well as abroad! Science stream students, from both Mathematics and Biology groups, are eligible to pursue B Pharm course after completing 12th standard. In this article, you will be reading about B Pharm course details, eligibility criteria, admission process, syllabus, PG courses, career prospects and job profiles available after graduation.

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BACHELOR OF PHARMACY: INTRODUCTION

One of the main tasks of a pharmacist is to prescribe medications to patients. It is evident from this very fact that the course of B Pharm focuses on the study of biology, pharmaceutical chemistry (inorganic, physical and organic), biochemistry, medicines, physiology, pharmacology, dispensing etc.

The course trains students in the above mentioned aspects and makes them ready to take on various roles in the pharmaceutical industry. Possessing the knowledge of medicines and biology, graduates may perform tasks such as prescribing appropriate medicine to patients (pharmacist), clinical research, work at pharmaceutical companies etc.

In India, the role of a pharmacist is limited. Abroad, the scenario is fully different! There, pharmacists play a far greater role and command more respect!

COURSE DETAILS

Bachelor of Pharmacy is an undergraduate degree course. Let us check out the course duration details now.

Duration: Course duration is 4 years. The 4 years’ duration is divided into 8 semesters, with each semester lasting for a period of 6 months. In case of each semester, students will have to face one theoretical external examination (main exam). In case of some semesters, practical examinations will also be held, with the subjects being hospital pharmacy, clinical pharmacy and community pharmacy.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Science stream students (both Mathematics and Biology groups- PCM/B), who have passed 12th standard board examination from a recognized board are eligible to pursue this course.

ADMISSION PROCESS

To get admission, candidates must satisfy the minimum marks criteria, which is 50% marks (in PCM/B subjects). Most institutes follow the merit based admission process, where deserving candidates are allotted seats based on the marks scored by them in board examination and entrance test. In case of some Deemed Universities and reputed private institutes, private entrance tests are used to allot seats to deserving students. Here are two such pharmacy entrance exams in India – GPAT & NIPER JEE.

COURSE CONTENT

To get a better idea about the syllabus and nature of the course, let us go through some important course content and subjects.

1st year subjects-

Pharmaceutical Chemistry (Organic, Inorganic and Physical)

Dispensing and General Pharmacy

Human Anatomy

Physiology

2nd year subjects-

Pharmaceutical Analysis

Advanced Organic Chemistry

Pharmaceutics

Health Education

Clinical Chemistry

Biochemistry

Molecular Biology

Mathematics

3rd year subjects-

Chemistry of Natural Products

Pharmacology 1

Industrial Management

Computer Applications

4th year subjects-

Pharmaceutics (Advanced)

Pharmacology 2

Pharmacy Practice

Pharmaceutical Analysis (Advanced)

 

Note: Only the important subjects have been mentioned in the above list. Many subjects are recurring ones, meaning that they will appear in more than just one semester! In case of last academic year, there also will be project work involved.

ALTERNATIVE COURSES

Since you are interested in the field of pharmacy, I must also present before you an alternative courses that you may pursue, instead of B Pharm. One such alternative course is D Pharm (Diploma in Pharmacy).

It is a 2 years long course. D Pharm is the minimum qualification required in India for one to become eligible to practice as a Pharmacist. Thus, D Pharm qualification too could help you become a Pharmacist!

 

I must also add that B Pharm course is more valuable than D Pharm. D Pharm course will be of help to those, who failed to secure admission in B Pharm program. On completion of the Diploma course, one may secure admission directly to the second year of Bachelor’s program (Lateral entry)!

Another (more valuable) course is Pharm D. It is a 6 years long integrated course (5 years academic program and 1 year internship). This course has much more content and value than the traditional B Pharm course!

PG COURSES

On completion of Bachelor of Pharmacy course, graduates have handful of postgraduate courses to choose from. The most natural step forward is the M Pharm (Master of Pharmacy) course. It is a 2 years long PG course. With the help of this PG course, graduates may specialize in a specific field within the sector of pharmacy. They may then do advanced course, such as PhD and venture into the Research and Development field too. After M Pharm, one may also star working as a Lecturer!

Trend among B Pharm graduates these days is to pursue an MBA course! Pursuing this management course helps them acquire key management skills. The combination of management skills and pharmacy studies makes them highly employable in the pharmaceutical manufacturing as well as marketing sectors!