The Bachelor of Pharmacy degree is popularly known as B-Pharm in India. It is a four-year program with both annual and semester schemes available. In order to be eligible, one must pass with at least 50% marks in 10 + 2 (or an equivqlent examination) with biology/biotechnology as one of the subjects. In some states it is mandatory to give an additional pharmacy entrance examination in order to be eligible for the course. D.Pharm (Diploma of Pharmacy) holders are eligible for admission into B.Pharm (Bachelor of Pharmacy) into the second year directly via Lateral entry in india.
Colleges imparting pharmaceutical education (D.Pharm, B.Pharm, M.Pharm or Pharm D) must be approved by All Indian Council of Technical Education (AICTE) or Pharmacy Council Of India (PCI).
For a student to be eligible for registration as a pharmacist in India, the college from which he/she graduated must be approved by the PCI. B-Pharm is often superseded by M-Pharm and PhD level courses although the minimum qualification required for registration as a pharmacist is D.Pharm.
Pharm.D course introduced by the Government of India and the Pharmacy Council of India in 2008. The Pharm.D program is a pre-PhD, post-graduate professional doctoral program. It was introduced to improve clinical pharmacy services in India and it is the only pharmacy service which is in direct contact with patient health care system. The first batch of Pharm.D post baccalaureate students graduated in August 2011 and 1st regular batch graduated in 2015. The Pharm.D degree requires five years of classroom and hospital based didactic study (two years didactic post-baccalaureate course), followed by one year of internship training in addition to ongoing practicals and research project.[4] With reference to Clarification on Pharm.D qualification,[5] it is clarified to all universities that Pharm.D is a post graduate degree and passed out students can directly register for Ph.D From 2012