The Higher Education Review

Dr. Manohar J. Patil, Principal

Holding the position of Principal in Marathwada Mitramandal's College of Pharmacy, Dr. Manohar J. Patil has a unique blend of 29 years of experience in professional as well as academics. His research areas are Phytochemistry, Pharmacological screening of Herbal Drugs (Asthma & Diabetes) and Standardization of Herbal Drugs. For his valuable contribution, Support excellence service and tireless effort in the field of Pharmaceutical Education, he received appreciation by Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India, Maharashtra State Branch, 3E Scholar Excellence Award in 2017 by 3E Innovative Foundation, New Delhi and The Educational Leadership Award by the Indus Foundation, Mumbai.

Industry reports show that India is likely to be among the top three pharmaceutical markets by incremental growth and sixth largest market globally in absolute size by 2020. Indeed, Indian pharmaceutical market grew 5.5 per cent in 2017 in terms of moving annual turnover and in March 2018, the market grew at 9.5 per cent year-on-year with sales of Rs. 10,029 crore. While this phenomenal growth of Indian pharmaceutical market has instigated the inception of numerous pharmacy colleges in the country, many of these newly minted institutions fail to match with the industry expectations.

Apparently, Marathwada Mitramandal, Pune, a public charitable trust established in 1967 had already foreseen that the industry would require a large number of qualified and talented pharmacists to aid its high growth trajectory. Since 2006, Marathwada Mitramandal's College of Pharmacy (MMCOP) has been imparting excellent and comprehensive education to blossoming pharmacists by putting quality as its foremost priority. Today, MMCOP is a renowned destination for aspirants who dream to leave a mark on the pharmaceutical industry.

Presided by Hon. Shri. Shivajirao D. Ganage, the trust that comprises of

distinguished visionaries on its Executive Board spanning from academicians to socialists and industrialist to philosophers, is marching towards a common goal of providing the student community a comprehensive educational experience. The institute is located in a beautiful campus at the banks of river Pawana in the heart of Pimpri-Chinchwad city, Pune. "Our vision is to evolve as a premier pharmacy institute achieving excellence in teaching, value education, research, and consultancy in core areas and be engaged in the service in promoting continued education," says Dr. Manohar J. Patil, Principal, MMCOP.

Owing to the institute's implementation of the total quality management (TQM) concept, it has been able to earn the accreditation by National Board of Accreditation (NBA), New Delhi for its B. Pharm. Course, received recognition under section 2 (f) & 12 (B) of the UGC Act, 1956 and Permanently Affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, in a very short span of time. Initially started with offering a four-year B. Pharm. course, today the institute offers M. Pharm. in Pharmaceutics, Pharmacognosy, and Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance and Ph.D. in Pharmacy affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune coupled with D. Pharm. affiliated to Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education, Mumbai "All the graduated batches of MMCOP are placed in eminent companies and hold leadership positions. The 600 plus strong alumni base are the ambassadors for our institute," opines Dr. Patil. The Institute's Alumni Association 'Samanvay', which was commenced in 2011, has helped in laying a sound foundation for future graduates. Samanvay also closely works with the Industry Advisory Board and Student Advisory Board of the institute to build and enrich relationships among the groups. Dr. Patil adds, "We have a very popular e-networking system; Samanvay App through which student can identify an "Alumni Expert" and can seek assistance regarding placements."

For a Rewarding Career

Considering research as an integral part of Pharmacy, MMCOP inculcates an immense research spirit among the faculty and the students. Given which, till date, the faculty members and students have filed nine Indian Patents, authored 10 scientific books, presented 178 research papers in National, International Conferences and published 247 research articles in reputed national and international journals in the areas of their specialization.

"The collaborative efforts of our faculty members' have fetched them an amount of Rs. 2.02 Crore of Research, QIP and other grants from various state and national funding agencies," claims Dr. Patil. The faculty members prepare various modules, which cover content beyond the syllabus and give the students firsthand experience in using various equipments. Students are taught using almost all the modern techniques ranging from ICT tools to regular industrial visits and projects to in-house and industry-based collaborative projects.

The students of MMCOP also get to utilize state-of-the-art laboratories present in the campus, including Industrial Pharmacy Laboratory (pilot plant), Aseptic Room, CPCSEA approved Animal House, Central Instrumentation Room with sophisticated equipment and so on. "For molding a fruitful career of the students, our Corporate Advisory Board initiates communication, networking and relationship building with the potential recruiters and train the students via mock Interviews, group discussions, professional resume writing, cracking aptitude tests, and online employability tests," pinpoints Dr. Patil. Alongside, the Training and Placement Cell arranges on/off campus interviews with leading pharmaceutical as well as health care industries and conducts continuous placement activities after the stipulated period, till all the students are placed, in fact, they take follow-up, joining formalities and other administrative activities as well.

In an attempt to strengthen the relationship with the industry, MMCOP has established Industry Institute partnership cell (IIPC), sponsored by AICTE with a grant of Rs. 8 lakhs.On an account of this, the institute has signed MoUs with Industries and various research organizations such as NuLife Pharmaceuticals, Pune, SG Phyto Pharma Pvt. Limited, Kolhapur, M/S Sanjeevan Foundation, Pune, Chakan Life Sciences Pvt. Limited, Pune and many more. "For the students who are interested in continuing their further studies in overseas, we render training and career guidance sessions for the preparation of entrance exams such as, GRE, TOEFL, IELTS," states Dr. Patil. Setting a benchmark in pharmacy education, MMCOP graduates are highly preferred by the recruiters and gets placed in diversified sectors of pharmaceutical industry in core pharma companies like Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd.,Lupin Ltd.,Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Cognizant, Larsen &Tubro Limited Insurance Division,Bilcare Ltd. and Vision Life Sciences, to name a few.