FAQ’S
At XCEL CAREER believes in solving queries and bringing in more clarity to take an informative decision on a career.
Do you want to become a Drug Safety Associate?
We are providing you with the support here, yes you can utilize and achieve your dream job role.
1. Why people are crazy about Drug Safety (Pharmacovigilance) career nowadays?
People are very crazy about Drug safety career as it’s almost reflecting the IT culture to the health sector and it’s dealing with clinical software databases like ARGUS. The other reason is the jobs with good pay, most of the PV projects are handling by the IT/ MNC companies where there is no much deviation from the software salaries.
2. Is there any growth in the Pharmacovigilance field?
Yes of course, Pharmacovigilance Jobs are increasing day by day as the outsourcing of Pharmacovigilance activities are outstanding in India by the reputed pharma companies. But try to remember one good point that “growth will never come from the organisation it should come from the employees effort”s.
3. Are you in dilemma, as a Fresher to choose your pharma profession?
Unlike the past traditional situations (production industries) there are many opportunities in the pharma field like
- Clinical Trial Management: Clinical Research Coordinator, Clinical Research Associate, IEC assistants, Digital Patient counselling, Clinical Data Coordinators, eTMF management, etc ….jobs are available.
- Clinical Data Management: Clinical Data Analyst, SAS programmer, Clinical Data Designers, etc…
- Pharmacovigilance: Drug Safety Associates, after gaining experience you can become Sr DSAs, Quality Control Reviewers, Subject Matter Experts and Team Leads.
- Regulatory Affairs and Medical Writing are the most booming career nowadays.
4. What are the best technical skills for Drug safety Associate in Pharmacovigilance profession?
Having Pharmacology knowledge is the mandatory skill of a Drug Safety Associate. Therapeutic area knowledge, disease and drugs classification, knowledge on ethical guidelines and Adverse Drug Reactions.
5. The possible qualifications for a Drug Safety Associate?
B. Pharmacy, M. Pharmacy, M.Sc (Biotech & Microbiology), MBBS, Pharm. D, B.Tech & M. Tech (Biotech), BDS, BHMS, BAMS, Nursing and B. Sc and M. Sc (Life Sciences like Microbiology) course as qualification can join Pharmacovigilance job.
6. Do you know the 3 W’s (What, Why and Where) of Pharmacovigilance course?
What: Pharmacovigilance course is to train you on the basic concepts (to make you understand the PV process, ethics, and jargons, etc….)
Why: By learning these courses you will be familiarised to the PV profession and the course knowledge definitely reflects on your job role. You can see the difference between the very freshers who are not having the PV course knowledge.
Where: Certified PV course is offering the by the institutions like XCELCAREER.
7. Do you know the 4 W's (What, Why, Where and When) of Drug Safety?
What: The science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding, and prevention of adverse effects or any other drug-related problems.
Why: PV activities can be done to assess the benefit, harm, effectiveness, and risk of medicines, encouraging their safe, rational and more effective use.
Where: PV activities are conducting in Sponsor’s site, MNCs, IT companies, CROs and AMCs also.
When: It was started in the 1960s but from 2007 onwards its running efficiently.
8. Where I can learn my certified Pharmacovigilance course?
You can learn from the good institutions who provide genuine knowledge transfer. Click here to know more details.
9. The importance of the Drug Safety associate’s role?
Drug Safety Associate plays an important role in the society as the patient safety always there in their hands and they are the safety nets to filter the unsafe medications.
10. Is this job flexible in terms of timings?
If you commit to performing the job, you should be very flexible for the organization timings. Mostly the timings are comfortable but depend on the organization. If the organization having US client, the shifts are like 6 AM to 3 PM or 2 PM to 11 PM (this may vary company to company and project to project).
Work from home option Pharmacovigilance jobs are also available and its purely depends on the company and sponsor you to work for and the kind of emergency the employees are with.
11. How long should I commit to an organization?
If you spend a minimum of 2 years you can get good recognization in any other company.
12. Does this field support female Drug Safety Associates or what is the scope of female strength in PV?
The work culture is good so as a female employee you can get security and additional benefits in corporates. If you see any organization the female strength is equal or high when compared to the male strength.
13. Can I switch to Pharmacovigilance profession from the other fields like CDM, SAS, Medical Coding?
Yes, you can switch the job profiles, more chances are there but some times depends on the next company you are going.
14. Is this the best field as compared to the other professions like CDM, CR, RA and MW?
Definitely, this is the best career where you can utilize the maximum medical or core knowledge.
15. What is the Minimum Requirement needed for a Drug Safety Associate?
The minimum requirement of Drug safety Associate to understanding the medical information and having knowledge on pharmacology, drug and event coding, pharmacovigilance guidelines and narrative writing skils.
16. What are all the Interview rounds for Pharmacovigilance jobs?
1.Written tests: including Aptitude and Essay writing test to findout your narrative writing skills, 2. Group Discussion or Just A Minute: to check the verbal communications 3. Technical: Face to facing interview/telephonic phases to screen your pharmacology, pharmacovigilance knowledge, 4. HR to discuss the payscale and benefits.
The interview varies from company to company, along with the above skills sets strong communication skills are always an added advantage.
17. Do we get any government job opportunities in PV?
The Technical associate-Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacovigilance Technical associates were offered by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). Both the permanent and contractual positions are available. Currently, in India, the Pharmacovigilance Program of India (PvPI) is also running efficiently.
18. Can I enter into the Pharmacovigilance profession as a life science background person?
The career in pharmacovigilance is good and apt for all life science graduates and postgraduates to choose. Maximum companies ask for the Registration numbers for those medical students and pharmacy students. Only limited companies will accept lifescince background persons without having registration numbers.
There are institutes (again it should direct to our institute where we can advertise life scince students by offering pharmacoogy knowledge) to train you on that and you can be the equlent knowlegdable person like pharma or medical backround person.
19. What about the salaries of DSA jobs?
For any Drug Safety Associates the organisations are offering minimum 1.8 lacks to 3 lakhs per annum at entry level (for fresher) irrespective of their qualifications.
20. How can I select PV jobs?
One should select the job based on the job nature (for this you should check Job Description or Job Responsibilities) and organisation type, if you are a fresher you can select Data entry also then you can expose to PV database. If it is end to end Case processing a lot of scope will be there to learn complete PV.
21. What is the role of ADR in PV?
Pharmacovigilance is nothing but dealing with adverse drug reactions (ADR), it heavily focuses on monitoring of ADR and Reporting. Having knowledge of ADR s and its classification is an added advantage to the DSA role.
22. CR vs PV?
Clinical Research and Pharmacovigilance are the inter-related branches and CR is the basic foundation of PV. You can play efficient Drug safety associate role if you have Clinical research experience.
In CR the PV activities can be performed but in normal level, bcoz we will control the situations up to one level by setting Inclusion and Exclusion criteria, whereas in Post Marketing Survivalence we will see a wide range of PV activities as various unrestricted conditions support unexpected Adverse Drug Reactions.
23. Why IT companies in the PV field?
Pharmacovigilance activities can be handled through the clinical database platform like ARGUS mostly. Nowadays all IT companies are handling with these clinical software and they are getting outsourced projects from the MNC and Pharma company.
24. How to improve my narrative writing skills?
One should develop his/ her English language writing skills like maintaining spellings, sentence construction, grammar and the essay writing.
25. What is the scope of PV in drug development?
Pharmacovigilance is a mandatory procedure to develop a safety and effective drug. Before and after getting drug Licence, one manufacturer must and should conduct the PV activities to manage the signals.
26. Is there any relationship between Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacology?
Yes, there is a strong relationship we can find in between pharmacology and Pharmacovigilance. Pharmacovigilance is dealing with the drugs and their related adverse events whereas pharmacology is nothing but the study regarding the drugs and their effects. So one can achieve PV knowledge by knowing the pharmacology.
1) What is Clinical Research?
A Clinical Research is a systematic study of new drugs in human subjects to generate data for discovering or verifying the Clinical, Pharmacological (including pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic) or adverse Effects with the objective of determining safety and efficacy of the new drug.
2) Since Clinical Research deals with Drug Development Process. I’m a Life Science Graduate, am I be eligible to enter into the industry?
Yes, you are eligible. People with B.Pharmacy, M. Pharmacy, Pharm D, B.Sc, M.Sc, B.Tech(Biotech), M.Tech(Biotech), MBBS, BDS, BHMS, BAMS, BMS, BPT, Nursing etc are all eligible.
3) I’m a Pharmacy graduate; can I enter into IT Industry?
Yes, very much my dear friend. You can work in IT Companies through Clinical Data Management and Pharmacovigilance Domains
and enjoy the perks like Pick up & drop CAB facility , Saturday’s and Sunday’s(weekend) off, MNC (Multi National Company) perks(benefits) like Annually ONE month paid leaves, a secure and Safe Desk job, you can go abroad for an onsite project.
4) Where is XCEL CAREER Located?
We are located in Hyderabad at Begumpet besides Chief Minister camp office.
5) What is the duration of the Course offered by Xcel career?
One and a half to three months
6) ISEPC stands for?
ISEPC stands for Industry Skill enhanced Professional Certificate course which is first of its kind Program in the Training Industry.
After extensive research & Analysis and Industry Feedback, this course is been formulated for the optimum results.
7) How much have I to spend for the course?
The fees vary from course to course. You should rest assured that the XCEL CAREER course fee is within the affordable range to justify in quality learning without compromising on your success.
6) Do I need to wait for 2.5 Months to get Placement Assistance from XCEL CAREER?
No, Your Placement Activity starts from one and half month itself.
7) Will XCEL CAREER provides accommodation for Girls?
Students join XCEL CAREER within the state as well outside the state.
Hence we assist with the nearby Hostels which are convenient in terms of location and within the budget of an individual.
8) I have done my B. Pharm and working as a Medical Representative. I want to shift the career. Can I opt for this course?
Yes, you are eligible. You can opt for this course and you will have better career options from what you have now.
9) I’m working professional; I can’t attend the classes on Weekdays. Do you have the alternate option?
Yes, of course. You can opt for course on Weekends. We have weekend batches too.
10) Do I have to pay extra for study materials?
No, your course fee covers expenses including Notes and certification as well.
10) Where does XCEL CAREER provide placement assistance?
We provide placement assistance in IT Companies / Pharmaceutical Companies and CRO’s.
11) How will be faculty at our academy?
100% Industry Experts training with live case scenarios for better understanding.
12) My husband works overseas. After doing this course, will I have equal opportunities there?
Yes, after taking up the course. You can explore the opportunities abroad based on your academic qualifications and skill sets along with couple years of experience.
13) Can I take single domain training like only Pharmacovigilance?
We don’t encourage single domain training as all domains are interlinked with each other and also if you take up single domain training you will be entitled to single career options.
14) Which are the geographic locations where I can start my career in Clinical Research Industry?
Hyderabad , Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Ahmedabad etc
15) What is the basic pay structure for fresher’s in this industry?
It completely depends on your candidature and the company. But for your understanding, it will be somewhere around 2 Lakhs – 3 Lakhs per annum.
16) Will I be getting certification after the course?
Yes, you will be getting the certification after successful completion of course.
17) My native is Hyderabad, as I ‘m fresher I’m ready for relocation but after some years I want to come back to native. Will you help again in securing a job for me?
Yes of course, we will. The association with Xcel career is lifelong. So we will also help with experienced opportunities also. Need not to worry.
18) Sir, I’m from Telugu medium background. My English communication is not very fluent, am I eligible for these jobs?
We will address your problem. In our course, we have included sessions on Communication skills, Presentation skills, Interview skills, Personality development, Resume Development and most Importantly MOCK INTERVIEWS and also special Orientation classes before any company Interviews etc.
19) Do I need to prefer the institutes which are UGC (or) AICTE approved?
AICTE accreditation is meant for technical courses and to that extent you have your degrees from AICTE/ UGC. Academies like us are meant to enhance your skills and knowledge which are already embedded in you. So go by the institutions existence, its placement record and most important the quality of training.
20) Does recommendations (or) references from any Institutes help me in securing the job?
PLACEMENT cell at XCEL CAREER tries to source out interviews from small company to MNC openings. Here in XCEL CAREER, we have 3 kinds of interview pattern for our students i.e., Scheduled Walking, Referral based Interview and General Walking.
21) Tell me about XCEL CAREER Institute?
Started by seasoned and experienced professionals from Clinical Research industry and Pharmaceutical Industry. XCEL CAREER Institute has close to 20 years of combined experience of Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare with coaching and mentoring experience.
22) Do I need to choose 3 months (or) 6 months (or) 12 months course of Course?
Very good question, as most of the institutes have a different pattern of courses for students. But here we are insisting you to go ahead with the course duration of minimum of 2 – 3 months, not more than this and not less than this so that you can be equipped enough with the knowledge and skills required to make your career success.