Pharmaceutical medicine is new but rapidly growing academic discipline providing promising potential in healthcare industry. This discipline came into existence to support safe and ethical promotion of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, medical devices and diagnostics. A career in this discipline is diverse and challenging but fulfilling and rewarding.
Pharmaceutical Medicine
Pharmaceutical medicine is a pharmaceutical industry-oriented medical speciality concerned with development of drugs that areused to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent disease. New drugs are developed and marketed in coordination with research organisations, pharmaceutical industries and regulatory bodies. This covers all types of medically active agents like cosmeceuticals, nutraceuticals, over-the-counter (OTC) products, pharmaceuticals and prescription drugs. This discipline of medicine oversees the drug development process of new therapeutics to improve quality of life and health standards. Along with maximizing patient benefits, the other objectives are to increase product life cycle and improve marketing goals.
The existing healthcare requirements are evaluated before the appropriate measures are developed to solve various health related problems, thus, better understating of disease is essential for development of new drugs. This involves the steps of evaluating the disease by medical sciences, cost effectiveness by economic sciences and utility of new drug by ethical and social sciences. The process involves good manufacturing techniques to develop new drugs; preclinical and clinical trials of the new medicine; regulatory compliance and utilising suitable marketing methods. This process is deemed successful, if the new therapy ensures safety and efficacy, meets the public demand and provides complete satisfaction to the patient. Also, managing political and social issues associated with establishing the new drug into global market is important. Physicians, clinical management organisation, regulatory bodies, pharmaceutical and diagnostic industry play a vital role in this process.
The expenditure on research and development of innovative drugs has grown over the last few decades. The process of drug development is expensive, time consuming, risky and difficult, thus, most of these drugs do not reach the market. These challenges need to be eliminated for future promotion and development of new pharmaceuticals.
Pharmaceutical medicine Training Programs
Pharmaceutical medicine training is concerned with the discovery, research and development of drugs to provide relief to the patients. The process from research and development to marketing new products requires experts in the field of molecular biology, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, genomics, toxicology, clinical research, regulatory, etc. These experts are generated by well defined training programs to ensure safe and efficacious products enter the market. There are many specialised courses, diploma and university degrees that can be obtained in this discipline.
The training programs enlightens about the process of translating clinically tested research drug into safe and efficacious medicines. The program provides medical and scientific information for evaluation, monitoring, registration and other medical or marketing aspects of medicines. Along with drug development, other areas covered in these programs are pharmacoeconomics, business administration and the social issues of healthcare products on patients and public health. Many courses and training programs are available that produce pharmaceutical physicians with specialized knowledge and skills required for the development and maintenance of medical products. They are made more competent to practise with professional standards and ethics for the safety and benefit of the public.
Online Course in Pharmaceutical medicine
James Lind Institute (JLI) provides an online program – Post Graduate Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine for acquiring the requisite skills and knowledge to work in the clinical drug development industry. JLI also conducts online trainings in allied specialties of clinical research, medical writing, pharmacovigilance & pharmacoepidemiology, clinical data management, medical journalism and medico-marketing.
For more information please visit: www.jliedu.com
