Dr. Pamula Reddy Bhavanam is the Head of the Department at Nirmala College of Pharmacy. He is a distinguished academician and able administrator with more than 15 years of experience. He has grown from the ranks at the institute, starting his teaching career as a lecturer in 2008, to his present role as HOD. Previously, he also worked as an Assistant Professor at Malla Reddy Pharmacy College, Secundrabad.

Dr. Bhavanam has obtained his PhD in Pharmaceutics from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam and a master's Degree from KVSR Siddhartha College of Pharmaceutics, Vijayawada. He has published 24 research papers in various reputed National and International journals and has a couple of patents to his credit.

Nirmala Pharmacy college

Being a HEAD OF DEPARTMENT of NIRMALA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY, what are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

My primary responsibility is to look after the academic quality and departmental vitality through the oversight, recruitment, and retention of faculty, staff, and students. It is also my duty to ensure the smooth daily operation of the department’s faculty, staff, and physical facilities and schedules. I also coordinate the department's schedule of course offerings.

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

I try to have conversations with each student or group of students to find out how they are progressing with the lessons and activities conducted. It helps to build a healthy channel of communication between the teacher and the student. I have an open feedback system because it is important to grow personal and academic relationships.

What are the best practices offered by the department to the students which help them gain necessary skills? 

The four best practises that teachers at our college follow include teaching a balanced curriculum, teaching an integrated curriculum, and differentiating instruction to meet individual student needs. We also provide active learning opportunities for students to internalise classroom learning.

How do you strategize the curriculum and how often it gets updated to make it befitting for the students? 

We personalise learning for each student so that they better learn the material. They make learning fun and interesting and also encourage students to ask questions and explore new ideas. We try to connect learning with the real-world setting and ensure we meet the individual needs of each student. We also allow them to choose what they want to learn.

Check Nirmala College of Pharmacy Placement

What are your views upon the placements and higher education about the students from your department or How does your department prepare students for Higher education?

We prepare our students to face campus interviews by imparting training in employable skills like aptitude, body language, resume writing, interview skills, and group discussions. We also look at polishing their overall personality development skills.

How do you help your student to cope up with the competition being so high in the outside world? 

We also look into teaching our students to deal with loss and disappointment. A strong mindset is key to success. We teach them to possess skills like teamwork and collaboration and encourage them to ask for help when needed. Seeking mentors and seniors for help does more than just provide answers to problems. We also teach them how to stay motivated and be mentally tough. Competition is tough, and these two aspects will help students stay on top of their game.

Do you have any extracurricular activities/ programs to enhance the skills of the students or expose them to the real-world challenges?

Students who participate in extracurricular activities get better grades because of the skills they learn from participating in these activities. Students learn to manage time, organizational skills and improved self-confidence and the learn to express themselves in a better way. We conduct several activities like World Students Day, National Science Day, Spardha Competition, and Sports for the betterment of students. We also have different clubs that organise their own activities.

What are the challenges you faced/ are facing to uplift the quality of education of your department? 

Our biggest challenge is providing regular professional development programmes for the teachers. We also face issues regarding access to regular skill development programmes for both our teachers and students. We also need to upgrade and maintain our infrastructure and facilities regularly.

When you came to the college, what was your vision and how are you trying to achieve the same? 

My vision is to strengthen the department by maintaining a good PG admissions record in every academic year. I am trying to achieve it by providing more opportunities to the students. Once the present student classes graduate successfully, more students will come in by word of mouth.

How does the curriculum of your department/college ensures the best practice of the industry? 

A well-planned curriculum aids in preventing or eliminating gaps in learning and ensures optimum coverage of all domains within the curriculum. We make sure to deliver the curriculum using high-quality tools and have a solid feedback process. We also have multiple evaluation processes in place so that students and teachers can identify areas for improvement. This also helps us identify slow learners so that we can give them more time.

What are the interventions and approaches you bring in apart from curriculum to train/teach the students? 

We have adopted several practises to train and better teach our students. For instance, we have classroom observation, student goal-setting and addressing mistakes as soon as they are found. We have also adopted experiential learning and cooperative learning methods that rely on providing feedback and having pre-correction conversations.

What do you see the department’s/ college’s greatest strengths and how it can be enhanced?

Our college's strength is our well-trained, research-oriented, experienced, dedicated, and energetic teaching faculty members. Besides them, we also have highly supportive non-teaching and laboratory staff. The college has set up excellent and well-maintained infrastructure that creates a good teaching and learning environment, supported by our well-stocked library.

What valuable advice would you like to the students for them to have a prosperous career ahead? 

I advise students to keep their skills up-to-date. Pursue your passion and stay focused on your goal. Get an early start and grow your skills and knowledge to stay competitive.

It is also important to find a balance between your work and your personal life.