M.Pharmacy
M.Pharm. or Master of Pharmacy is a postgraduate Academic Degree which is awarded for a course or program in the medical field of Pharmacy. Pharmacy is the branch of the health sciences dealing with the preparation, dispensing, and proper utilization of drugs. Some Institutes offer it as M.Pharma. Course. The duration of Master Degree in Pharmacy is 2 years. M.Pharma. is divided into a number of semesters. At the end of the each semester, there is an examination wherein candidates are examined in the courses prescribed for that semester. Students are also required to submit Thesis at the end of the last semester. Master Degree in Pharmacy provides a candidate with various practical aspects of the research methodologies, instrumental techniques, emerging areas and industrial operations. There are various Pharmacy Schools in India which provide Master of Pharmacy course. M.Pharm. through distance education or correspondence is highly unlikely to be provided by any Indian Medical Institute.
Candidates who have passed Bachelor of Pharmacy Programme with not less than 50% of marks, of any recognised University or any other Institute equivalent thereto the University, are eligible for admission to the Master of Pharmacy Programmes.
For SC/ST candidates, the eligibility is a pass in the B.Pharm. degree Programme.
An entrance examination Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) and interview is also conducted for admission. GPAT is an all India Examination to be conducted by the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara on behalf of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi.
The Scores in Graduate Aptitude Test for Engineering (GATE) were in use till the year 2009 for admission in Masters Programme in Pharmacy (M.Pharm) and also for awarding fellowships/scholarships to Pharmacy graduates along with engineering graduates.The Organizing Committee for GATE expressed its inability to include Pharmacy graduates in GATE with effect from the year 2010, owing to operational problems due to large number of candidates appearing for GATE examination. Therefore, in order to facilitate admission of Pharmacy graduates in M.Pharm. as also to award fellowships/scholarships to Pharmacy graduates, AICTE decided to organize and conduct an examination in the name of Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) with effect from academic year 2010-11. Accordingly, a National Monitoring Committee (NMC) was constituted for monitoring the issues pertaining to the policy as well as conduct of GPAT examination.