SHCP Associate Professor: Mr G.Mallikarjuna Interview

Mr G. Mallikarjuna is the Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Seven Hills College of Pharmacy (SHCP), Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. He completed M.Pharmacy in Pharmacology. He has 2 years of clinical research experience. and 6 years of teaching experience in SHCP. Currently, he is pursuing a Doctoral programme with the guidance of Principal, SHCP in the field of molecular pharmacology and nanotechnology.

What are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

“To stimulate, encourage and educate learners”

As a teacher, I am expected to engage students in learning content through activities, assignments, materials, resources, structure and pacing. They will learn and implement questioning and discussion techniques that promote student participation and knowledge acquisition. The role of a teacher is to inspire, motivate, encourage and educate learners. Learners can be of any age and from any background.

How do you tend to establish healthy relations with the students?

“Building a feedback system and maintaining transparency is essential”

These needs can be met with the help of positive relationships between students and teachers. Teachers offer feedback to students to support their feelings of competence. Teachers who know their students' interests and show regard and respect for these individual differences, bolster students' feelings of autonomy.

How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards subjects?

“Teaching with a practical approach is essential for this domain”

Practical orientation requires students to be able to navigate their learning environments (physical and virtual). As a pharmacy background, a practical approach is a must to acquire theoretical applications into society and beneficial for humankind. 

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What are the best practices offered by the department to the students?

“Tissue sample analysis and research-based approach to studies”

• Engaging students in research-oriented projects 
• Hands-on training with laboratory equipment
• Preparation of tissue samples for analysis and handling of animals 
• Using software based experimental approach (Simulations)
• Engaging the student in research and publication of review papers.

How do you strategize the curriculum?

“Standardized concepts and an approved curriculum by PCI”

Presently, we are following the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) curriculum for the UG and PG programmes. The curriculum is completely framed on standardizing the concepts to correlate with the industrial aspects. We want to provide the most modern and updated education to our students.

How does your department prepare students for Higher education and Placement?

“Pre-placement training and coaching for entrance exams is provided”

We mainly focus on research oriented learning for the student to gain the industrial skills from the beginning of the academic year. The students from the department will be provided with pre-campus training programmes on how to face the interviews.

The students are encouraged and motivated to attempt the national and state competitive examinations like GPAT and PGECET for their higher education.

How do you help your student thrive in the competitive academic world?

“Encouraging students to stay updated with the developments in the field”

By utilizing multimedia resources like news boards, journals, and college magazines, the student will learn about the updates on subjects and pharma with the outside world. Remaining updated with the latest discoveries and new drugs is essential for this field. 

Do you have any extracurricular activities to enhance the skills of the students?

“Participation of students in various social, cultural and academic programs”

As a part of the curriculum, we are promoting the students to organize and participate in various programmes like Graduation day, Annual day, Freshers day, Orientation programmes, social and community activities like swachh bharat missions, awareness programmes, etc. The purpose of this course is to make the students interact with society in order to develop social bonds, as well as to promote the knowledge and skills acquired.

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How does the curriculum ensure the best practice of the industry?

“Inclusion of preclinical research and simulation experiments in the syllabus”

For the UG course, a balance between industry-oriented pharmacology and clinical pharmacy has been recommended. Redundant animal experiments were replaced with the simulation experiments or those which are feasible in the light of stringent regulations of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA). It is recommended that the PG curriculum focuses on preclinical research with the inclusion of molecular biology and experiments on gene expression, proteomics, pharmacogenomics, cell culture and tissue culture.