SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Aug 30: The Pharmacy Council of India is set to hold the first-ever national eligibility test (Diploma in Pharmacy Exit Examination) for registration in the Pharmacy Council of the state and for the license of retail drug sales in November. The Pharmacy Council of India has informed the state government to take necessary action regarding this.
Talking in this regard, Sachin Chaturvedi at the Jharkhand State Pharmacy Council (JSPC) said, “The Pharmacy Council of India has made this exam mandatory by implementing the regulation in February this year. After passing this eligibility test, diploma passed students will be able to become pharmacists.”
“Only after passing this eligibility test will students be able to get registration in the Pharmacy Council and a license to sell retail medicine. At present, only after passing the diploma, the students get registered in the council as pharmacists. Also, pharmacists get a license for retail drug sales.”
When further asked if present medical shop owners will also have to give the examination for renewal of the certificates, he said, “It is mandatory to have a pharmacist in every medical shop. If the shop owners themselves are pharmacists, then it is alright. However, if they are not pharmacists themselves, they need to hire one, if they don’t have one already.”
Notably, the eligibility test will be conducted twice every year. There will be no restriction on the number of attempts to appear in the examination. The exam will be of three papers in which multiple choice questions will be asked related to Pharmaceuticals, Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Hospital and Clinical Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Jurisprudence and Drug Store Management.
The exam will be taken in the English language. The exam for each of the papers will be of three hours duration and a candidate will be declared passed in this examination only if they obtain a minimum of 50 per cent marks in each paper. The candidate will have to clear the examination of all three papers in one go.
Pharmacists will then be issued a certificate of eligibility for registration and practice after passing the eligibility test (Diploma in Pharmacy Exit Examination). It will be mandatory to present this eligibility certificate for registration in the state-based council. Also, this certificate will have to be presented for practice and medicine shops.
