Cherraan's College of Pharmacy: Training Generation of Pharmacy Experts

Cherraan’s College of Pharmacy: Training the New Generation of Pharmacy Experts

The pharmaceutical sector in India is huge! Supplying over 50% of the global demand of various vaccines, 40% of the generic demand for US and 25% of all medicines for the UK, India contributes the second largest share of pharmaceutical and biotech workforce in the world.

Truly, the pharmacy industry in India is an exciting place to be at. With the pharmaceutical sales reaching heights of Rs. 10,342 crores in May 2020, this country needs prominent and innovative institutions to enable optimal utilisation of such a high-yield field. Enter the Coimbatore-based Cherraan’s College of Pharmacy.

Cherraan’s College of Pharmacy was started in the year of 1993 in the Telugupalayam Privu area, Coimbatore district. The main aim of the institution is to provide a high quality of education to all, including the rural students. The college is approved and affiliated by the Pharmacy Council of India (New Delhi), Government of Tamil Nadu, and The Tamil Nadu Dr M. G. R Medical University (Chennai).

“We provide high quality education with global standards in the pharmacy field with goal of producing students who are not only leaders and achievers in the healthcare profession on global level but also responsible citizens,” stated the management.

The college has adequate facilities and is equipped with modern classrooms and all kinds of instruments (as prescribed by the Pharmacy Council of India), a wellstocked library, qualified teaching and non-teaching staff making it possible for students to reach their goals.

The college offers B. Pharmacy, M. Pharmacy (Pharmaceutical Analysis, Pharmaceutics, Pharmacology), Pharm D, and Pharm D (Post-baccalaureate) courses.

The Guiding Ideas

The Cherraan’s College of Pharmacy’s vision is:

To provide quality education, training, and research in pharmaceutical sciences so that its students may serve better in industry, environment, and society.
To train its students in leadership qualities, teamwork, and professional ethics.
To prepare the students to be globally competitive.
To produce quality pharmacists in hospitals, participating in the drug discovery process, research, and development.

To produce quality pharmacists in this pandemic world.
To encourage innovation and research to benefit the community and manufacture low-cost medicine with high efficacy to serve the community better.
To contribute significantly to national development.

Catering to All-rounder Development

The academic rollout of the Cherraan’s College of Pharmacy is truly unique as compared to other pharmaceutical institutes in the country. To give you a brief picture of how knowledge is disseminated in the college, here are a few pointers:

The college conducts theory and practical classes as per the norms of its affiliating university and the Pharmacy Council of India.
It organizes seminars and webinars regularly with guest speakers who are leaders in the research and development sectors in the industry.
It also provides a system for feedback to get regular input from students to resolve issues, if any, immediately.
It encourages students to participate in national and international conferences and seminars.

Apart from academics, the college also encourages its students to participate in sports at intra and inter-college competitions.
Several outreach programs are organized to provide students with real world experience.
Honouring the students who were excellent in academics and in sports, is an age-old tradition followed in this college.

The Steadfast Leadership

Cherraan’s College of Pharmacy was established under the chairmanship of Sri K.C. Palanisamy, is now under the guidance of Sri Karthick Palanisamy.

With two successful start-ups under his belt, Sri Karthick possesses vast managing directorship and CEO experience. With his clear vision and dynamic leadership, he has successfully guided this institution towards excellence by ensuring that necessary tools and training are provided to keep up with the changing dynamics of the industry.

When asked about the types of struggles a revered institute such as Cherraan College may have faced in its journey, Sri Kharthick explained, “Being pioneers in establishing the pharmacy college in the early 90’s, when engineering was at its peak, creating awareness and importance of a pharmacy degree was a Himalayan task. In the current pandemic world, where we have resorted to online teaching, it has a posed a challenge to both students and the staff. But with the feedback system, we are trying to constantly improve and reinvent ourselves to provide the best education to our students.”

Preparing Proficient Pharmacy Professionals

The college has a Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) with many reputed industries and companies for training and placement opportunities, while having a strong alumni network as well. Currently, it has a MoU with Kongunadu Hospital in Coimbatore which is incredibly useful to its students for their internship.

This access also enhances the practical applicability of pharmacy education in a patient-oriented approach and training for the betterment of the healthcare sector and service to society.

“We are working towards providing value-added courses to the students on medical coding, medical transcription and pharmacovigilance to help with their placements,” added Sri Kharthick.

Pandemic Times

Covid-19 has significantly affected all kinds of sectors. So, it is imperative for pharmacy professionals to be more prepared and aware with the changing world and medical requirements. To keep up with the current educational scenario, the college has proactively started using a Learning Management System (LMS) called CAMU software. This provides interactive and interesting content to ensure that the students are engaged at all times.

Standing Apart

Today, Cherraan’s College of Pharmacy is one of the premier institutions in pharma education and has set the benchmark globally. The institute has accommodated students from countries all over the world like Iran, Sudan, and Vietnam. This in turn created a cosmopolitan atmosphere for the teaching-learning process.

“Our alumni network is one of the largest in Tamil Nadu, with our alumni working all over the world. Year on year, our students have been university rank holders,” added the astute leader, Sri Kharthick.

The Future Plans of Cherraan’s College of Pharmacy

To be the leader in Pharmacy education.
To make spirited, self-motivated students.
To excel in the overall development of a student.

To work for ‘Total Quality Management’ and beyond in terms of infrastructure and education.
To establish an R&D (research and development) unit with state-of-the-art status and contribute to R&D in the field of pharmaceutical sciences.
To obtain more collaborative R&D projects.
To establish a formulation unit to provide quality medicines for cheaper prices.
To organize an international conference on emerging technologies.