Did you know that almost everybody is a practising pharmacologist? “If you have a throat infection, what does your mother advise you?” asks KK Pillai, head and professor, department of pharmacology, Jamia Hamdard. She will most probably tell you to gargle with saline water. “Sodium chloride (table salt) is antiseptic and works in the case of a throat infection. Your mother is practising pharmacology though she may not know it,” says Pillai. Animals who treat themselves by licking their wounds, are using tried and tested pharmacology. “The zinc in a dog’s saliva has antiseptic properties,” says the professor.

That’s pharmacology in nature. In the hi-tech world, it’s a specialised area of study which accommodates people from diverse disciplines, including medicine (MD/DNB in pharmacology), dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary science, microbiology, virology, and certain basic sciences as well.

 “Pharmacology is a very broad area,” says BP Srinivasan, officiating director and professor of pharmacology, Delhi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research (DIPSAR). Even professionals in allied sciences such as physiotherapy have to be familiar with this discipline. “They must know about, for example, analgesics, muscle relaxants etc,” adds Srinivasan.

 The major career avenue for those with an MPharm degree in pharmacology is the pharmaceutical sector, where they hold lab and nonlab profiles.

 “In R&D, they are involved in the area of drug discovery. And they do both basic and applied research,” says Pillai.

 In the pharmaceutical sector, pharmacologists also undertake medical writing, which would mean preparing product profiles for physicians and product information (inserted into drug packets). They train people for sales and marketing and can later move to managerial positions.

 Pharmacologists also work with the Drug Controller General of India, (under Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation), which is responsible for approval of licences of specific categories of drugs such as blood and blood products, IV fluids, vaccines and sera. “Many of our students find jobs there,” says Srinivasan.

 Pharmaceutical companies requiring clinical research, and contract research organisations (CROs) offer many opportunities. “So many companies want to launch their products in India. (Before launching a drug), clinical trials have to be done on the Indian population,” says Srinivasan.

 “They are important members in teams conducting all kinds of clinical trials, from phase 0 to 4,” says Pillai.

 Pharmacologists can also get into drugs database preparation. “You prepare databases which are in high demand by physicians,” says Srinivasan.

 Adds Pillai, “They can set up drug information centres. This is a new area. They can join hands with IT professionals and make drug information software.”

 In recent years, the knowledge process outsourcing industry, too, has started absorbing pharmacologists.

 Another field is intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, where MPharms in pharmacology can provide technical expertise to patent attorneys.

 For teaching as well as research, one can get into not only pharmacy colleges but also other, sister-discipline institutions.

 “I have a former student (in a management position) earning a package of more than a crore a year. If you are good, there is no dearth of jobs,” says Pillai.

 How do I get there?

• Opt for science in Classes 11 and 12. Take a BPharm degree, followed by an MPharm degree in pharmacology. There are also MD and DNB programmes in pharmacology, which require the MBBS route. Plus, some institutes admit students of related basic sciences as well. A PhD degree is desirable, though as BP Srinivasan, professor of pharmacology at DIPSAR, says, “Once you get into the industry, what matters is your output”

 Institutes & URLs

• National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Mohali (Punjab) www.niper.ac.in
• Delhi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, Delhi www.dipsar.in
• LM College of Pharmacy, Ahmedabad www.gujaratuniversity.org.in/w eb/WebPharmacy.asp
• Jamia Hamdard, Delhi www.jamiahamdard.edu
• University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Panjab University, Chandigarh www.puchd.ac.in

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