In this dynamic environment of growing global demands for pharmaceuticals, the pharmacists should be able to reap maximum benefits in terms of employment and perks. But the ground reality is quite contrary, many freshly passed- out pharmacy students in India are sitting idle than ever before. Instead of cursing lack of infrastructure, the students can utilize available resources simply with a changed mindset. Here are a few points worth considering by budding pharmacists to build a better CV and make themselves “Job Ready”.
1. Students should start involving with the faculty members in their research pursuits at an early stage of their degree education. This activity would train the students in preliminary tools of research and development and open up their mind and thinking style by showing new avenues of their own field.
2. The budding pharmacists should develop a habit of reading at least one educational article/ research paper or article/ summary/ report etc. published in leading pharmaceutical magazine or journal every day. This will keep the student up to date with the latest happenings in field of pharmaceutical sciences.
3. The student should try to build good repo with his/her seniors and utilize these links to get trainings in pharmaceutical industry/ hospital based on individual interests. The summer/ winter vacations are the best time to go for industrial trainings to get the actual feel and experience of working. Faculty members also help students with getting in projects and trainings.
4. The pharmacy students should subscribe to conference alerts and try to attend some seminars and conferences in their region each year with due permission of college/ institution. Poster presentations involving review articles, original research etc. can be submitted by student pharmacists to the conference secretariat, and if allowed to present, they get a golden chance of presenting themselves and interacting with peers, guests from industry and academia present at the event.
5. Budding pharmacists should start expressing their views on different topics of interest by starting publishing their original articles in Pharmacy magazines/ journals as relevant. This would help improve their writing skills and they would also start gaining identity in the field.
6. The research students of pharmacy usually complain about non-availability of research papers at their institution. I recommend that the students should write directly to the authors of the research paper with a request to send it to their email. The student should write about specific interests in the paper.
7. Many pharmacy students have an inherent attraction towards government sector jobs, but most of them remain unaware about the status of vacancies and appointment procedures and schedules. The growing pharmacists should not wait indefinitely; instead they should take use of RTI Act and send an application to the concerned department asking relevant queries. This would help the students in making their future planning.
8. Some people treat pharmacy as a side-lined branch of science, but it’s time to wake up for the pharmacists and show to the world that a pharmacist knows drugs better than anybody else. I advise the budding pharmacists to join pharmacy associations and work united for the welfare of all pharmacists in the country.
9. Even if as a student you come from non-English speaking environment, shred all your hesitations and try to develop a command on written and verbal skills in English. At the same time students who are already doing well in English should start learning a foreign language such as French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Spanish etc. This gives international competence which is very helpful in gaining a job.
10. Last but not the least, the new-age pharmacist has to be of “Platinum Standard in Education”, and it should reflect in the transcripts, so never compromise with your study hours.
I wish all the subscribers of PharmaTutor Magazine a wonderful and worthy journey with its launch.
About Author:
Dr. Saurabh Dahiya
Apeejay Stya University,
Gurgaon, Haryana
saurabhdahiya@gmail.com
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