Pharmacy profession in Goa is the oldest in the Indian subcontinent. The first ever Pharmacy course was introduced along with the medical course in 1842 at the Old Portuguese school known as “Escola Medica de Goa” and later named as “Escola Medica Cirurgica de Goa”. The Pharmacists (farmaceuticos) and Doctors (Medica Cirurgiao) were educated and trained in the same medical school and they had almost the same status in the Goan Society.
In the year 1963, after liberation of Goa in 1961, the institute was renamed as “GOA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY” and shifted to the present premise which was formerly a Portuguese school. This pharmacy course was upgraded to a full-fledged degree course of Bachelor of Pharmacy under University of Bombay. Diploma in Pharmacy course was started in 1966. Later in 1970, the college was recognized for Master’s degree in Pharmacy entirely by Research, under University of Bombay.
After the formation of Goa University in the year 1985 ? Goa College of Pharmacy since then is affiliated to Goa University. Goa College of Pharmacy runs under the aegis of Directorate of Technical Education, Government of Goa. It is approved by Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
Goa College of Pharmacy offers Diploma in Pharmacy, Bachelors in Pharmacy, Master in Pharmacy (Quality Assurance being introduced in 1992; Pharmacology introduced in August 2003 and Pharmacognosy in 2010). Goa College of Pharmacy in now a recognized Center of Ph. D. Program having to offer Doctorate in Pharmacy (Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmacognosy.
PHARMACY EDUCATION COMPLETES 174 YEARS (1842-2016) IN INDIA
GOA HAS BEEN FIRST IN IMPARTING PHARMACY EDUCATION IN INDIA AND IN ASIAN CONTINENT________________________________________
Pharmacy profession in Goa is the oldest in the Indian subcontinent. The first ever pharmacy course (course Farmacèuticos) was introduced along with medical course on 8th November 1842 at the old Portuguese medical school known as “Escolar Médica de Goa” and later named as “Escola Medico de Cirùrgica de Goa”. The pharmacist (Farmacèuticos) and doctors (Medico Cirùrgioes) were educated and trained in the same medical school and had equal status in Goan society.
Goa is also pioneer in pharma research and scientific publication. Gracia d’ Orta the renowned Portuguese physician published his world famous work on indigenous medicinal plants, in 1563 and named “Os Colloquios dos simples e Drogas”. In 1860, monthly pharmacy Journal was published by name “Archivo de Pharmacia e Science Accessories da India Portuguesa”. It was closed in 1871, edited by Antonio Gomes Roberto. It contained information on several medicinal plants and minerals. This was the first journal in Asia. Another journal “Archivo Medico da India” a monthly Journal of medical and Pharmacopic science was edited by Pantaleao Ferrao of Bastora. The journal was started in July 1894 and continued up to May 1896. It contained information about the medicinal plants.
In the year 1961, the institute was renamed as Goa College of pharmacy and shifted to present premise which was formerly a Portuguese technical school. The old pharmacy course was upgraded to a full-fledged degree course of Bachelor of Pharmacy under the Bombay University. Later in 1970, the college was recognized for Master’s degree in Pharmacy entirely by research under the same university. Since 1985 college is affiliated to Goa University and is approved by Pharmacy council of India (PCI) and all India council for Technical education (AICTE), New Delhi and is run by Government of Goa. In 1992, college was recognized for Post Graduate course in Quality Assurance. Post graduate course in Pharmacology was also started in 2003. In 2010, Post graduate course in Pharmacognosy was added to the Master Degree Program.
In the year 2004, Goa College of pharmacy has been selected to be replication institute under Canada India institute Linkage project (CIIILP) in order to bring about an all-round development, to respond to the changing needs of pharma industry and health care sector effectively.
2016. Goa College of Pharmacy was ranked 23rd in the National Institutional Ranking Framework, a methodology adopted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India to rank all institutions of higher education in India.
