When the profession of pharmacy was developed in the country way back in 1960s, there was a demand for the qualified pharmacists, in order to cater to the needs of the then profession of pharmacy, a short version of pharmacy program namely Diploma in Pharmacy (D.Pharm) was developed and offered to the students with SSLC/Xth qualification. Later, in 1990s, the minimum qualification for D.Pharm admission was raised to PUC/Pre-degree/10+2. Thus a large number of students persuaded their interest in the profession of pharmacy through D.Pharm and registered themselves are pharmacists. These registered pharmacists confined themselves either to community or hospital pharmacy stores.

After D.Pharm, the students can pursue higher studies in Pharmacy by joining B.Pharm, B.Pharm-Lateral or PharmD programs.