Pharm-D admissions stopped at 14 universities and colleges after the Pharmacy Council of Pakistan (PCP) barred them from enrolling students in their Pharm-D programmes. The PCP has also issued show-cause notices to 29 other institutions, bringing the total facing action to 43. A show-cause notice is a formal letter asking an institution to explain why action should not be taken against it.
Institutions barred from admissions
According to the lists the council issued, the 14 barred institutions are six in Punjab, seven in Islamabad and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Among them are the University of Health Sciences (UHS) in Lahore, the Islamabad campus of Iqra University, and Abasyn University. The institutions where Pharm-D admissions stopped are the ones the council has now ruled out for new intake. Pharm-D is a doctor of pharmacy degree, and the PCP oversees pharmacy education and registration in Pakistan.
Notices and the Sindh cases
The 29 institutions that received notices include 22 in Punjab, four in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and three in Sindh. The Sindh institutions are the University of Sindh, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Dewan University in Karachi, and the Bharghari Institute of Pharmacy in Matli, district Badin. Other institutions that received notices include Bahauddin Zakariya University and Nishtar Medical University.
The action against the three Sindh institutions has drawn renewed attention to the standard of Pharm-D education in the province and to how pharmacy rules are followed. It also raises questions about how Pharm-D programmes are monitored and how academic standards are enforced.
Concerns the council raised
The council raised specific objections at several institutions. At the University of Sindh, it objected to a pharmacy building that also houses the Department of Eastern Medicine and Surgery. At Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Dewan University, it found the pharmacy laboratories small, other programmes running in the Pharm-D building, and no computer laboratory or pharmacy library. At the Bharghari Institute of Pharmacy, the council expressed a lack of confidence in the faculty and directed the institution to appoint qualified and professionally competent teachers without delay.
These points relate to individual institutions. The announcement does not give the same reasons for each of the 43 institutions, and it is not yet clear when the notices will be resolved. Students and families should check an institution's status with the council before making decisions.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pharmacy Council of Pakistan ne 14 universities aur colleges ko Pharm-D mein naye students lene se rok diya hai. 29 aur institutions ko show-cause notice diye gaye hain, yani unse wajah poochi gayi hai, aur total 43 institutions par action ho raha hai. Sindh mein University of Sindh, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Dewan University aur Bharghari Institute Matli par bhi notice hain. Agar aap Pharm-D ka dakhla lena chahte hain to council se institution ki status zaroor check karein.
