The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7422 p450
14 October 2006

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· E-commerce
· EPS
· Pfizer products (3)
· Drug misuse
· Pharmacy ownership
· Statutory Committee
· The profession
· Superdrug
· Retention fee
· Job satisfaction

Letters to the Editor

The profession

Are students being led away from industrial and academic pharmacy?

From Mr D. P. Sharma, MRPharmS

The paper by Wilson et al (PJ, 23 September, p369) that assesses curricula for schools of pharmacy raises an important question about the final-year research project. The authors suggest that if the intention is to develop an appreciation and understanding of research methodologies and to encourage critical thinking “then there are well established alternative approaches”. What are they?

I can think of no better way to develop such important skills. And, if it is completed in an area of interest, one would hope the student will gain sufficient motivation to complete such a challenge.

Of particular interest to myself was the fact that 92 per cent of students consider dispensing practice useful compared with less than 30 per cent for pharmaceutics, pharmacology or medicinal chemistry practicals. It becomes increasingly clear to me, as an industrial pharmacist, why there are so few pharmacists in the industry. The naivety of students or, more correctly, the lack of critical skills, could result in a significant number of students believing that community and hospital pharmacy are the only career paths. If schools of pharmacy seek accreditation from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and the Society is led by individuals from these two sectors, what chance does the industry have to make a mark? Perhaps those who design and accredit courses need to undertake a research project to investigate whether young students are being led away from industrial or academic pharmacy?

Dave Sharma
Qualified Person (Investigational Medicinal Products)
LCG Bioscience,
Cambridge

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