Pharmacy is a life saving and a noble profession dealing with various aspects of drugs. Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm-D) is a 5 year degree program, approved by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and accredited by Pakistan Pharmacy Council of Pakistan. The University of Faisalabad is focusing on Pharm-D program both for females in Saleem campus and for males in Amin campus in order to contribute its share in developing health care system in the country.

We have well equipped industrial, pharmaceutical technology, quality control labs, competent and proficient faculty that are capable of tailoring the dosage forms according to the latest requirements of healthcare system. Pharm-D is a hospital based extensive training programme regarding patient care at Madina Teaching Hospital, which will enable us to present the professionally knowledgeable pharmacists for national and international health care settings. Training in extemporaneous and non- extemporaneous pharmacy, will meet the needs of classical and modern schools of thought for patients care, exposure to forensic pharmacy and strapping knowledge of management skills will enable our graduates in handling of controlled products as well as sales promotion of the pharmaceuticals.

Pharm-D is a semester based program comprising of 10 semesters and 192 credit hours. It consists of 35% practicals and almost 65% theory. Well qualified and capable faculty is running this program for preparing professionally skilled and legally qualified pharmacists. In addition to this nationally or internationally recognized experts are invited to address seminars and conduct workshops at least once a month. The faculties as well as students share their experiences and wisdom for updating their professional skills and knowledge. Industrial visits and internship are also part and parcel of the Program.

Pharmacist’s role in the healthcare system is increasing with the development of new drugs, emergence of new resistant microbes, and the changes in healthcare delivery systems. With increasing healthcare costs, pharmacist’s role in providing cost effective medicines is becoming vital. Pharmacists constitute third largest professional healthcare group in the world but they still have a long way to play a significant role in the healthcare milieu of Pakistan. According to an estimate, there are about 8000 pharmacists in the country while WHO recommends a pharmacist/population ratio of 1:2000 for optimal healthcare delivery. The country needs more than 82,000 pharmacists for a population of above 180 million a target that is still too far from being achieved.

Pharmacy is an emerging field in health care system. It is Multidisciplinary profession and many opportunities are available for the legally qualified and professionally competent personnel. It is an obligatory requirement to run the system under the supervision of qualified and registered pharmacists. Pharmacy graduates have numerous opportunities to develop their careers in the following fields:

Pharmacists are offered services for dispensing and compounding of the medicines, drug procurement, distribution and therapeutic monitoring. They advise rational use of drugs and patient managed care with proper training in the relevant fields. They are also working in Army Hospitals in Pakistan and pharmacy cores outside the country.

In the manufacturing units, the Pharmacists have to work in procurement of raw material, quality control, production and quality assurance departments for the development of safe and efficacious pharmaceutical products.

With a strong knowledge of administration and management skills, the pharmacists have risen to the high profile executives at the country level. They are also working and holding top positions even outside the country. This is highly paying field which adds to the sales promotion of pharmaceutical products for the generation of foreign exchange. Three courses on marketing, management and quality management in pharmaceutics in this program of studies would help to develop a good background to achieve this end.

The pharmacists are also working in Provincial as well as in Federal Regulatory Departments to maintain stringent control of in the quality, pricing, import and export of drugs and raw materials which are used in the pharmaceutical industries.

Pharmacists are also rendering their services in community pharmacies for handling Extemporaneous and Non- Extemporaneous pharmaceutical products. They are relieving the burden on physicians and surgeons. The patients counseling and guidance is also looked by them. They are also contributing in EPI and emergency services i.e. poison control, etc.

It is a very vital field and needs high expertise for the development of drug delivery systems. It is meant for rapid recovery technique, safety of the host and places less economic burden on patients. Our physical facilities and faculty are fulfilling the requirements to train such professionals.

The rational use of the drugs is need of the time and the pharmacist in this regard can play very vital role by establishing these centers. People sitting any area of this Global village may share and have an opinion from the experts. This is surely a new venue for E-commerce as well as service to humanity.