Public Health Research Initiative (PHRI) Research Grant: 2015-16

Dear Readers..!!! Thanks for visiting my blog...!!!

Dear Pharm.D Professionals,

Finally, the wait is over now its time to prove.. This is a challenging opportunity to prove the strength of Indian research in Global Public Health, If we get succeed in this.. there exists many more opportunities. 

All the Best.

Public Health Research Initiative (PHRI)

Public Health foundation of India (PHFI) in collaboration with Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB, A Statutory Body under Department of Science and Technology (DST)) aims to set up an extramural fund to provide the Indian researchers focused on public health from institutions of repute, as per an established process. PHRI will enable young Indian researchers to carry out clearly defined research project at a place of their choice up to a period of 36 months.

Project Duration and Cost:

These grants will be awarded for research studies of public health importance in India. The estimated amount of the available research grant is limited to 30 Lakh INR per fellowship. The total duration of the grant will not exceed more than THREE years.

Eligibility Criteria:

The applicant must possess a Postgraduate degree from an accredited institution in any domain related to public health, including medical and non-medical sciences, nutrition, physiotherapy, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, social sciences, law and humanities. It would be desirable if the applicant has a doctoral degree. (Applications related to Biomedical, Biophysics and biochemistry are excluded from PHRI fellowships)

Age Criteria:

The applicant must be40 years or less at the time of applying for the PHRI Research Grant, age relaxation of 5 years is applicable for female or if applicant belong to SC/ST/OBC then

Application procedure:

Candidates are requested to apply online

a) Online application formats with detailed guidelines are available at the website www.phfi.org Guidelines for Submitting a proposal

This should include the following:

Title of the study

Overall goal

Broad Objective

Specific objectives

Methodology

Analysis plan

Expected outcome

Timeline

Implications for future research

References

Dissemination and publication plan

Itemized budget along with justification for each item

Curriculum vitae of investigator listed in the grant application

Word limit: Not more than 3000 words (excluding references, Dissemination plan, Itemized budget and Curriculum Vitae) Font Style: Times New Roman Font Size: 12 with Line Spacing 1.5

Kindly note following should be mentioned while sending the grant application:

Area of work:

Area proposed by candidate should be clearly defined research area in any aspect of Public Health like Public Health Nutrition, Non Communicable Diseases, Infectious Diseases and Public Health Policy etc.

Place of work:

A project site in India, depending on the demand of the research study. The PHFI reserves the right to reject the fellowship application in case candidate DOES NOT FULFIL minimum qualification or supplies any false information.

Public Health Research Initiative (PHRI) Fellowship: 2015. Online submission will close by 15 June 2015 after 5:00 PM.

Click here to apply for Grants

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Happy Blogging...!!!

Regards,

Deepak Kumar Bandari,

Pharm.D Intern,

Vaagdevi College of Pharmacy - India

Elsevier Student Ambassador - South Asia

Vacancies as Junior Medical writer in Medeka Health

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Medeka is a professional media group focused on the health sector. It is an information services group, specialized in connecting health communities across strong inter-portable platforms of digital, print and live events. We are constantly innovating and exploring newer dimensions to promote enterprise, enhance knowledge and provoke action. Our proximal client base includes the pharmaceutical & allied healthcare marketers, medical professionals and patients/consumers. With delivery capabilities in Middle east, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan and other SEA countries, our aim is to emerge as a leading regional player in the healthcare ICT sector We specialize in connecting communities through strong inter-portable channels in print, live events and digital platforms. Our proximal client base includes the pharmaceutical & allied healthcare marketers, medical professionals and patients/consumers.

Position: Junior Medical writer

Job Description:

The Medical Writer is responsible for researching, writing, and editing monographs, booklets, review articles, slide kits, LBLs, compendium for the pharmaceutical industry.

Job responsibilities:

1. Understanding requirement of the clients
2. Conducting reference searches
3. Writing articles suiting to the requirement.
4. Reviewing and amending work in response to feedback
5. Communicating with designers and business development executives
6. Delivering projects meeting minimum standards

Skills Required:

1. Good medical and pharmacology knowledge
2. Analytical and interpretation ability
3. Basic writing competency
4. Ability to generate ideas and interpret complex documentation
5. Ability to learn quickly and manage a high volume workload
6. Creativity
7. Interpersonal and relationship attributes
8. Organizational and multitasking capabilities

Additional Information:

Qualification: M.Pharm, Pharm.D

Location: Bangalore

Industry Type: Pharma/ Biotech/Clinical Research

Functional Area: Medical Writing

End Date: 30th May, 2015

Forward your professional resume attested with  a cover letter to: vishva.matad@medekahealth.com

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Happy Blogging...!!!

Regards,

Deepak Kumar Bandari,

Pharm.D Intern,

Vaagdevi College of Pharmacy - India

Elsevier Student Ambassador - South Asia

Need for PharmD in India : An exploratory insight

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Today I would like to address the most common questions by other health care professionals "Is Pharm.D valuable?", "Is there a need to study this course", which makes us feel embarrassing. Keeping these questions in mind, I would like to address the importance of PharmD in India and its impact on Global health care system.

If you have come across such situation, don't forget to share this post...

Is there a need to study PharmD? Is it valuable??

Yes, PharmD is a life saving course. A saying that "doctors can save lives" is an old version. "Saving lives with better quality" is newer and is possible only by a well trained pharmacist. The various activities of pharmacists like optimization of drug therapy, medication therapy management doesn't only save the lives of the patient and improve the quality of well being but also adds credits to the Indian economy. PharmD is a collective of all integrated pharmaceutical services offering the patient's well being with safe, effective and economical therapeutic interventions. Right from the community level and individual based to population based approach can be done effectively through these integrated services that adds upon an healthy living irrespective of age, gender, race and ethnic groups, and hence Pharmacy is the world's 2nd most respectable profession in existence now and forever. 

Why there is a need of Pharm.D in India??

I would like to precise the importance of such doctoral programmes in developing countries like India, for the betterment of health care system. 

Refill the gaps:

It is evident that In India, the doctors to patient ratio is just 0.31/1000. in such a huge populous country like India, definitely there is a need to fill the gaps between the patient and the physician. As pharmacists is totally concerned with all the provisions of drug therapy, the services can be utilized at the primary health care centre's under the supervision of the well trained health care professional. this would make a difference in the lives of the people living mostly in rural and tribal areas. India needs reforms and implementations of strategies by the Government, taking the health of the entire population into consideration.

Addition of credits to Indian economy: 

The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) says worldwide 500 million dollars can be saved per annum through "Responsible Use of Medicines", this can be achieved only by pharmacists. The World Health Organization's integrated approach of 8 - Star Pharmacist can be a model to practice to achieve the responsible use of medicines. If the Pharmaceutical services are utilized in the manner they are ought to be the debts of India from the World bank can be cleared in a couple of years. Every Primary Health care Centre to the Super Multi specialty hospital should be accompanied with well qualified and well trained pharmacists this improves the quality of patient's life and also decreases the economic burden to the respective state and Central Government's. utilization of Pharmacist's services in programmes like ArogyaSri can help in the proper utilization of finance by monitoring the necessities of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Hospital Pharmacy:

Pharmacists are the key to patient safety with regard to medication. Hospital pharmacists can play a major role in the fight against counterfeit medicines. The major tasks include follow up of medication orders, formulary development, medication administration,  compounding sterile products, unit dose packaging, medication storage, minimizing Adverse Drug Reactions and eliminating medication errors. Medication distribution and control of cytotoxic and hazardous drugs, controlled substances, Non-approved substances, medication storage area inspections, floor stock, medical emergency management, drug delivery systems.

Optimization of medication therapy through processes like medication history interviews, follow-up of medication orders, medication therapy monitoring, minimizing bacterial resistance, collaborative pharmacist consultations, medical record documentation, medication use evaluation, medication use policy development, pharmaceutical care provision, continuity of care, clinical care plans, immunization programs, conducting teaching and training programmes and research.

Self Medication and Quality assurance:

As the experts in medicines, pharmacists have always been known as an accessible and trusted source of advice and treatment. Today, the contribution to health care is developing in new ways to support patients in their use of medicines and as a part of clinical decision-making across the range of specialisations.

Self-treatment of common ailments is becoming more popular as a growing range of safe, effective medicines becomes available from the pharmacy without the need for a doctor’s prescription. Pharmacists have the expertise to advise both on the choice of medicines and their safe and effective use. The right choice of self-treatment can prevent some conditions from developing or help others clear up more quickly.

Community Pharmacy:

Most of the people visit a community pharmacy first for think Pharmacists are the sales persons behind the counter with employment in either pharma companies or retail pharmacies. This is because most of the retail pharmacies, have been run by a lay person without a well-qualified pharmacist. If such pharmacies are accompanied by a well-qualified pharmacist the dispensing, monitoring of the drug sale, over-the-counter advise on usage of medicines, drug information, patient counseling, medication adherence through proper communication, managing the medication therapy, giving better suggestions on prescribed therapy and lifestyle changes.

Community pharmacists can also provide specialized services in managing the health conditions in chronic cases like Diabetes, Hypertension, Tuberculosis, HIV, asthma, smoking and alcohol cessation; maintenance of health records of the patients, quality advice on prescribed and non-prescribed drugs, suggestions on generic medicines and recommendations on other AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) medicines. This fact has to be brought into light and the public from rural and urban areas needs to understand the importance of a well-qualified pharmacist in retail and community set up.

Clinical Pharmacy:

A detailed description on role and responsibilities of a clinical pharmacist has been posted earlier kindly go through the link provided below:

Roles and Responsibilities of Clinical Pharmacist

How to achieve this??

The World Health Organization has proposed an 8 - star Pharmacist model to describe various roles of Pharmacist in providing better pharmaceutical care and decision making. Taking this into account, if practiced under a well trained pharmacy professional, there is a possibility of achieving a better impact in the healthcare system.

View Complete details of 8 Star Pharmacist Concept here

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Happy Blogging...!!!

Regards,

Deepak Kumar Bandari,

Pharm.D Intern,

Vaagdevi College of Pharmacy - India

Elsevier Student Ambassador - South Asia

8 Star Pharmacist : A WHO integrated model

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The World Health Organization has proposed an 8 - star Pharmacist model to describe various roles of Pharmacist in providing better pharmaceutical care and decision making. Taking this into account, if practiced under a well trained pharmacy professional, there is a possibility of achieving a better impact in the healthcare system.

Concept from World Health Organization

Caregiver: Pharmacists provide caring services. They must view their practice as integrated and continuous with those of the health care professionals with highest quality.

Decision-maker: The appropriate, efficacious, safe and cost-effective use of resources should be the foundation of the pharmacist’s work. At the local and national levels, pharmacists play a role in setting medicines policy. Achieving this goal requires the ability to evaluate, synthesize data and information and decide upon the most appropriate course of action.

Communicator: The pharmacist is in an ideal position to provide a link between prescriber and patient, and to communicate information on health and medicines to the public. He or she must be knowledgeable and confident while interacting with other health professionals and the public. 

Manager: Pharmacists must be able to manage resources and information effectively; they must also be comfortable being managed by others, whether by an employer or the manager/leader of a health care team. 

Life-long-learner: It is impossible to acquire in pharmacy school all the knowledge and experience needed to pursue a life-long career as a pharmacist. The concepts, principles and commitment to lifelong learning must begin while attending pharmacy school and must be supported throughout the pharmacist’s career. Pharmacists should learn how to keep their knowledge and skills up to date.

Teacher: The pharmacist has a responsibility to assist with the education and training of future generations of pharmacists and the public. Participating as a teacher not only imparts knowledge to others, it offers an opportunity for the practitioner to gain new knowledge and to fine-tune existing skills.

Leader: In multidisciplinary caring situations or in areas where other health care providers are in short supply pharmacist should assume a leadership position in the overall welfare of the patient and the community. Leadership involves compassion and empathy as well as vision and the ability to make decisions, communicate, and manage effectively. A pharmacist whose leadership role is to be recognized must have vision and the ability to lead.

And the added function of:

Researcher: The pharmacist must be able to use the evidences effectively in order to advise on the rational use of medicines in the healthcare team. By sharing and documenting experiences, the pharmacist can also contribute to the evidence base with the goal of optimizing patient care and outcomes. As a researcher, the pharmacist is able to increase the accessibility of unbiased health and medicines-related information to the public and other healthcare professionals.

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Happy Blogging...!!!

Regards,

Deepak Kumar Bandari,

Pharm.D Intern,

Vaagdevi College of Pharmacy - India

Elsevier Student Ambassador - South Asia

Vacancies in Novartis as Pharmacovigilance scientist

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Novartis is a world leader in the research and development of products to protect and improve health and well-being. The company has core businesses in pharmaceuticals, vaccines, consumer health, generics, eye care and animal health. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs nearly 1,15,000 people in over 140 countries worldwide to help save lives and improve the quality of life.

Eligibility: Life sciences degree /Nursing background Good knowledge/fluency in English. Knowledge of other languages desirable. Experience in drug safety / Development or closely related areas of responsibility Experience of safety document writing Good negotiation and oral communication skills will be an added qualification.

Job description: 

1. Evaluation and QC of Serious Adverse Event / Post Marketing Adverse Event to ensure accurate and consistent data entry and processing from source documents, with emphasis on timeliness and quality.
2. Ensure accurate and consistent coding of medical history, drugs and adverse event terms.
3. Assess adverse event reports for seriousness, causality and expectedness as per the Investigator Brochure/Basic Prescribing Information/US package insert, consulting the Medical Safety Expert whenever needed.
4. Determine the necessity for follow-up and prepare follow-up request as needed.

Other responsibilities:

1. Evaluation and QC of Serious Adverse Event / Post Marketing Adverse Event to ensure accurate and consistent data entry and processing from source documents, with emphasis on timeliness and quality.
2. Ensure accurate and consistent coding of medical history, drugs and adverse event terms.
3. Assess adverse event reports for seriousness, causality and expectedness as per the Investigator Brochure/Basic Prescribing Information/US package insert, consulting the Medical Safety Expert whenever needed.
4. Determine the necessity for follow-up and prepare follow-up request as needed.
5. Work in conjunction with Clinical Safety Associates, Clinical Safety Scientists from other processing sites and Medical Safety Physician (Pharmacovigilance Leader and Brand Safety Leader) to ensure that reports are accurately evaluated and databased.
6. Triage literature cases for databasing or pass them on to the Team Leader for approval of rejection.
7. Co-author, together with the Medical Safety Physicians, all required regulatory periodic reports, collecting, organizing and presenting the available data.
8. Work with external partner groups, e.g. co-licensing partners and Clinical Research Organisations to meet joint accountabilities
9. Represent DS&E at internal and external meetings
10. Assist the Medical Safety Physicians with project activities in specific therapeutic areas, compatible with the timely processing/production of individual case reports and regulatory periodic reports.
11. Assist the Medical Safety Physicians in monitoring the safety profile of product
12. Be involved in development and testing of safety systems/IT applications and in the preparation of relevant manuals.
13. Participate in cross-functional teams on safety matters/DS&E special projects relating to investigational and marketed drugs Impact on the organization.
14. Ensure that Serious Adverse Event / Post Marketing Adverse Event are evaluated accurately and within the required timeframes to meet regulatory requirements.
15. Alert the Medical Safety Physicians to potential safety issues.

Click here to apply

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Happy Blogging...!!!

Regards,

Deepak Kumar Bandari,

Pharm.D Intern,

Vaagdevi College of Pharmacy - India

Elsevier Student Ambassador - South Asia

Vacancies in Parexel as Associate

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PAREXEL is one of the leading Pharmaceutical industries helping the development of new drugs and treatments on a global basis with branches in more than 50 countries around the world. As a leading global biopharmaceutical service provider, they supply knowledge-based contract research, medical communications and consulting services across a broad range of therapeutic areas to the worldwide pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. 

Eligibility: Recognized Postgraduate or PhD degree in Pharmacy/ life sciences with 0-2 years of experience with Good verbal and written English Communication skills. Freshers may apply

Job description:

1. Review scientific evidence emerging from clinical efficacy and safety studies
2. Develop, run and validate literature searches for efficacy and adverse event data
3. Analyze evidence based on standard network meta-analysis techniques
4. Development of evidence based reports on clinical efficacy and safety to support reimbursement and regulatory requirements
5. Independently work on a range of scientific deliverables ranging from abstracts, to detailed reports following a clear, concise and scientific style with attention to detail on the depth of the scientific content.
6. Ensure deliverables meet Parexel quality or best practice standards in medical writing of accuracy, clarity and neatness
7. Communicate project outcomes clearly and concisely both internally and externally to the clients with support from project managers

Required Skills :

1. Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
2. Client focused approach to work
3. A flexible attitude with respect to work assignments and new learning
4. Ability to manage multiple and varied tasks with enthusiasm and prioritize workload with attention to detail
5. Willingness to work in a matrix environment and to value the importance of teamwork.
6. Strong writing skills in terms of clear, accurate and concise scientific content writing; demonstrated track record of quality publications, presentations, and research or prior experience in medical content writing.
7. Prior experience in client interaction will be preferred.
8. Hands on knowledge of computers especially Microsoft Excel & Microsoft Word.

Click here to apply

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Happy Blogging...!!!

Regards,

Deepak Kumar Bandari,

Pharm.D Intern,

Vaagdevi College of Pharmacy - India

Elsevier Student Ambassador - South Asia

Pharm.D and the Expected Outcomes

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Many a times when I say Pharm.D, the most common questions people asked me - "Is it Diploma??" What do you guys do in hospital?? Do you only review the case sheets?? What's your future career?? 

Just like me, if you have come across this situation. Don't forget to share this post

Before I answer the lay people let me first address the well educated. So that it can reach everyone with better understanding. Let me concise all these into few:

1. What is Pharm.D??
2. What are the expected outcomes of Pharm.D??

What is Pharm.D??

Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) is a professional doctoral degree adopted from the West and introduced in India by the Pharmacy council of India and Government of India in 2008 to provide high quality pharmaceutical care that has the patient as its focus and optimal drug therapy and health. To be clear, this clinical course majorly focuses on population based and individual based pharmaceutical care. Pharm.D is a 6 year course (5 years of academics +1 year internship) for those who opts after Intermediate or Higher secondary Grade and it is a 3 year Post-baccalaureate (2 years academics +1 year internship) for those who opt after a graduation in pharmacy (B.Pharm).

What are the expected outcomes of Pharm.D??

Pharmacists are the important health care providers - drug experts; whose primary job is to interact with the health care team, interview and assess patients, make specific therapeutic recommendations, monitor patient response to drug therapy and provide an evidence based drug information for better pharmaceutical care. In Pharm.D program, the pharmacists are expected to gain expertise knowledge on drugs, disease conditions, patient factors, health outcomes and more importantly they are trained to deal with the health sufferings and intervene with Evidence based practice for better patient care. 

All the students who have completed this doctoral course is expected to be an expertise in the following areas to excel in this competitive global world. 

1. Drug factors: Able to apply knowledge of pharmacology and therapeutics to in various disease states for better patient care. Differentiate among the major therapeutic drug classes based on mechanisms of action, clinical use and adverse effects, contraindications, drug interactions, dosage forms, and dosing regimens.
2. Patient factors: Collect, integrate and apply knowledge of a patient’s disease states and develop an individualized patient care plan to improve therapeutic outcomes, minimize drug reactions, reduce adverse events, and increase adherence.
3. Information processing: Retrieve, analyze, and interpret the scientific literatures and provide drug and health information (evidence-based information) to healthcare professionals and the public.
4. Drug kinetics: Design best dosage regimens using patient-specific or population pharmacokinetic data, plasma concentration-time profile of drugs, and factors that alter them.
5. Public Health: Identify and address public health problems and promote health. Design individual and population-specific, evidence-based disease prevention and disease management programs (such as medication therapy management) and protocols based on epidemiologic and pharmacoeconomic data, medication use criteria, medication use review, and risk reduction strategies. 
6. Professional awareness: Identify emerging health-related issues, and analyze their implications for disease prevention and/or treatment services, management of medical information, involved in providing patient care; and patient-specific and population-based therapeutic outcomes.
7. Communication: Communicate effectively with patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and others. Demonstrate empathy, listening skills, and altruism in interactions
8. Management principles: Use management principles to analyze and evaluate and optimize physical and technological resources, to assure safe, efficient and effective management of medication distribution, control, and use systems.
9. Practice evaluation: Apply patient and population-specific data, quality assurance strategies, and evaluation to develop and implement practice-based drug use strategies and public health policies to assure that medication use systems minimize drug misadventuring, optimize patient outcomes, and address public health problems.
10. Professional standards: Apply relevant legal, ethical, social, historical, economical, and professional principles to perform all professional activities.

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Happy Blogging...!!!

Regards,

Deepak Kumar Bandari,

Pharm.D Intern,

Vaagdevi College of Pharmacy - India

Elsevier Student Ambassador - South Asia