Publications

Abstract : Many a child dreams of mixing chemicals and going on to become a renowned scientist. We enter college to pursue our favorite degree and have a lot of aspirations as we begin our academic journey. Inevitably, we are bombarded with organic chemistry in the very first year which brings with it a whole lot of anxiety and gives us sleepless nights. Over time, most students tend to stay away from chemistry and gradually develop an aversion towards the subject. This phenomenon occurs across disciplines and cultures. As one would expect, it is very much prevalent in our pharmacy colleges where organic chemistry is a terror at the undergraduate B. Pharm level. This situation has now escalated to such alarming proportions that there are no takers for the chemistry-based M. Pharm specializations at the postgraduate level all over India in many institutions. Many amongst the current crop of young teachers have trained in this environment and are afflicted by this phobia. As a result, effective chemistry teachers are few and far between. This opinion piece is intended to serve as a wake-up call for all those concerned with addressing the issue of undergraduate organic chemistry in the pharmacy educational setup in our country lest we completely lose touch with this fascinating stream of basic science.