Pharmacovigilance, known as drug safety in simpler terms, is related to the detection, assessment, prevention and reporting of adverse reactions that result from the use of medicines. Adverse reaction can be defined as an unintended response to a drug or a medical device that is meant for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of a disease. Pharmacovigilance educates patients on side effects of medicines, biological products like vaccines and herbal medicines.

Pharmacovigilance is an emerging branch of science and offers unlimited prospects for life science and pharmacy graduates. It offers work opportunities in pharmaceutical companies such as Dr. Reddy’s lab, Aurobindo pharma, Glenmark pharmaceuticals, etc; Contract Research Organizations (CRO); biotechnology companies; IT giants like Accenture, TCS, Wipro, iGate, Deloitte, Cognizant etc; pharmacovigilance units in hospitals such as Global hospitals, Apollo hospitals etc and regulatory bodies such as Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) etc.

A pharmacovigilance professional collects, processes, monitors and reports adverse events of drugs that are under clinical trials as well as those already in the market and assures timely submission of the reports to the concerned regulatory authorities with the help of relevant databases. Stringent guidelines issued by the regulatory authorities such as DCGI, US FDA, CDSCO, EMAE etc have given rise to systemic pharmacovigilance network globally resulting in the creation of countless job opportunities in this field. Global pharmaceutical market is expected to reach USD 5.51 billion by 2020.

Currently, India stands fourth in pharmaceutical production in the world with 6000 licensed drug producers and over 60000 branded formulations. India is home for highly skilled healthcare professionals and largest patient pool. In addition to that, advanced technology, decent infrastructure, cost effectiveness and robust set of regulatory guidelines have driven pharmacovigilance market towards India.

Pharmacovigilance courses in India:

There are certificate and diploma courses available for the aspirants. You may be eligible for the course if you are a graduate in medicine, life sciences (with any one or more of the following subjects: Botany, Zoology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Genetics, Biotechnology), pharmacy or working in the relevant field in clinical research organizations or pharmaceutical/IT industries. The industry offers an attractive starting pay package of Rs.3.5-8 lakhs per annum to the pharmacovigilance professionals. These courses can be taken up online whenever and wherever possible at your own convenience.

James Lind Institute is a leading global education institute that provides online training and educationprograms in pharmacovigilance. The institute has information centers in India, Singapore, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia etc with students from more than 40 countries enrolled into various training programs. Currently available online professional training programs in pharmacovigilance are:

• Advanced PG Diploma in Clinical Research and Pharmacovigilance
• Advanced PG Diploma in Pharmacovigilance and Regulatory Affairs
• Advanced PG Diploma in Pharmacovigilance and Medical Writing
• Advanced PG Diploma in Pharmacovigilance and Quality Assurance
• Advanced PG Diploma in Pharmacovigilance and Data Management
• Advanced PG Diploma in Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacoepidemiology

The institute offers an online campus tutoring centre which serves as a forum for the interaction of students with the faculty and fellow students. Also, each student undertaking the course is assigned a mentor throughout the course. James Lind students are employed in some of the leading global organizations such as Novartis, Cognizant, Biocon, Pfizer, Accenture, GlaxoSmithKline, GE healthcare, TCS, Dr. Reddy’s, iGate Patni, Ranbaxy, Quintiles, Thomson Reuters, Global Hospitals, TTK healthcare, Wockhardt etc to name a few.

Feel free to contact us to know more about these programs and how they can propel your career.