A number of people aspire to work in the area of pharmacovigilance, but do you really know what pharmacovigilance is all about, what it takes to be a good pharmacovigilance professional and what it takes to get into this sector? Well pharmacovigilance (abbreviated PV or PhV) is the pharmacological science relating to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects, particularly long term and short term side effects of medicines. Almost all drug development companies have pharmacovigilance departments to cater to these requirements of the regulatory authorities. These drug development companies are supposed to maintain records of side effects of drugs that were reported during its development and even after the drug is available in the market. Every time an significant event is reported the same has to be forwarded to the regulatory authorities for evaluation. Throughout the course of drug development the pharmacovigilance teams also look for certain signals that may point out towards a certain potential toxic effect of the drug. All of you may have heard of certain drugs being taken off the market due to safety concerns. Such acts are possible only when proper pharmacovigilance systems are in place.
Now that you have decided that you want to contribute to this sector and want to make a career out of this fast growing industry, the first thing you must do is enroll yourself in a pharmacovigilance program. This will not only increase your understanding of pharmacovigilance and the whole drug development process but will also make you more employable. Employers are now a days looking to hire people who already have a good know how about the job profile and about the processes. They want candidates who will require minimal training. This is where pharmacovigilance programs offered by James Lind Institute come into play and provide you that extra edge to get past other candidates, both in terms of your knowledge as well as your performance during the interview. You must make a conscious effort to make yourself more competent if you wish to succeed. Take your first step to make a career in pharmacovigilance by knowing more about James Lind Institute and the different industry tailored pharmacovigilance programs that it has to offer.
