The main criticism that the Indian pharmaceutical industry face today is the lack of unskilled labor. However, it is not the students’ fault that they aren’t given the proper training or the right environment to pursue their passion. Oftentimes colleges fail to provide industry-standard facilities to equip students to confidently face global challenges. Yet, Al- Ameen College of Pharmacy has been consistently setting the bar higher and higher by introducing several initiatives to ensure that the students are industry-ready.
Apart from encouraging students to be involved in industrial projects and organizing guest lectures by eminent personalities proficient in the industry, Al-Ameen College of Pharmacy (AACP) also organizes workshops to improve student capabilities, so that they are at par with developments in the field, and provides additional GPAT coaching to the students who are interested in pursuing their masters in pharmacy.
AACP also ensures that the students are provided with the state-of-art equipment and laboratories. For instance, the college houses 13 AV-equipped lecture halls, over 15 research laboratories distributed in each of the specialty department, a machine room with the recent manufacturing technology, an animal house approved by Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPSEA), discussion and seminar halls to cater the discussions of postgraduate students and research scholars, and an information center with an exhaustive collection of reference books and scientific journals.
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AACP also has a HELINET subscription with Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, which provides exhaustive access to e-journals. Further, the Pharmacy Practice department is housed in St. Philomena’s Hospital and is equipped with a state-of-art drug information center and pharmacovigilance center. The college takes special care to not only maintain these facilities but also to update it as the industry changes demand. These steps ensure that the students can benefit the most from the recent updates in scientific research.
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Fostering Successful Industry Relationships
Al-Ameen opened its gates wide to industry leaders to carry out revenue-generating research projects. Some of the pharmaceutical companies who work with the college are Navitas Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. and Wipro Cosmetics Division. “These projects allow companies to use our research infrastructure while our students receive training for the same. We also have tie-up other pharmaceutical companies that promote our students to pursue their dissertation research and internship. Our college has recently signed MOU’s with Institute for Drug Delivery & Bio-medical Research, Star Hi Herbs Pvt. Ltd., Vertias Research Incorporation, Mylan Laboratories Complex-I and Prakruti Products Pvt. Ltd.,” says Dr. Shobha Rani R. Hiremath, Principal and Head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, Al-Ameen College of Pharmacy.
Twice accredited by the National Board of Accreditation, AACP has received several grants by AICTE, ICMR, VGST and RGUHS. Similarly, the department of Pharmaceutics has received funds from various government and private organizations such as UGC, ICMR, DST, AICTE, RGUHS and Indena (Italy), VGST. The department works towards improving the skills of PG students by involving them in training and taking up projects from reputed private Pharmaceutical Companies.
Currently, AACP is an incubator for several kinds of research in departments like Pharmaceutics, Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmacognosy, Pharmacy Practice and Quality Assurance. For example, while the Pharmaceutics department is working on advanced drug delivery systems, nanoparticulate drug targeting approaches, and novel multiparticulate delivery platforms, the Pharmacology department is working on the evaluation of the effect of agents in diabetic cognitive impairment and Parkinson’s disease in rats.
Meanwhile, the Pharmaceutical Chemistry department is working in the area of computational chemistry, synthesis and studying the biological activities, molecular modeling of compounds like thiozolidine derivatives, pyridazinone derivatives, antioxidants and chemotherapeutic agents, etc. and the Pharmacy Practice department is actively working in the area of pharmacovigilance, Pharmacoeconomics and promoting rational use of medicines.
Blessed with a Capacious Team of Academicians
One reason why AACP is welcoming the multitude of research activities is because of its unwavering confidence in the ability of its faculty team. Al-Ameen appraises its faculty based on the decree of academic and research exposure. This methodology has helped AACP to retain the quality and competence among the faculty members over the years. “We also undertake periodic assessment for all faculty members based on confidential feedback taken from the students as well as their superiors. We ask our faculty team to attend the teachers training program, higher studies, conferences and workshops as a means of quality improvement and continuing education. They are also encouraged to share their expertise at various National and International forums,” adds Dr. Shobha.
Al-Ameen College of Pharmacy prides in a successful placement cell. Over 90% of AACP students have been placed in reputed companies and hospitals through campus recruitments. Most notable among the recruiters are Quintiles, Indegene, Novo Nordisk, Ranbaxy, Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, Torrent, Dr. Reddy’s Labs, Eli- Lilly India Ltd, Pasteur India Ltd, Cipla, Accenture, and leading hospitals like Apollo Hospitals, and Manipal Hospitals.
Having bestowed with awards from National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for Pharmacy Colleges by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India, Al- Ameen College of Pharmacy aims to set higher standards in pharmaceutical education and research, and toil hard to be recognized as the premier pharmacy institute not only in Karnataka, but in India and eventually the world.