Industrial Pharmacy in Universities

Universities are now offering courses in Industrial Pharmacy in their syllabus.

I salute this effort as the industries has long been waiting for pharmacists with such skill and knowledge. Currently, industries have to 'adopt' the fresh graduate and train them in all aspects of industrial knowledge, especially on the GMP requirements. Where can you get 'free' training and being paid a handsome salary at the same time...!?

The sad thing is these 'lucky' pharmacists will just leave the company when offered a better pay job... although it is non-industrial related. All the time and effort spent is wasted, just like that. This is not cost effective at all to the industries.

Some of you may not realise that universities teaching industrial pharmacy have a big restriction, ie. getting their students to do practical work. Currently, they depend on local industries giving few places to their students. But how many of these industries are kind enough to do so......? We have many universities now offering this course and each with more than 50 students. Even if all the GMP aproved industries accepting 4 students; this is still inadequate for the universities' need. What more now with only a handful of these 'kind' industries around...?

One good university, International Islamic Univeristy of Malaysia has put forward a bold plan to set up their own GMP plant - just to ensure that their students will be trained in a GMP aproved facility. What a move..... Thanks to the NPCB's ful cooperation, this plant is almost completed and should be ready for legal use next year.

Other universities are following suit.... I know University Technology MARA is already setting up plans to have their own GMP approved facility at their new Puncak Alam site. Bravo to these universities.....!

And to the industries, give your lending hand until all universities can depend on their own GMP approved facilities.

AJ.