The Department of Pharmacy consists of the Out Patient Dispensing Section, The Preparation Unit, The Stores (Tablet, Injection, Antiseptics & Disinfectants and Chemical) and the units at the Urban & Rural Health Centres. At present there are 25 pharmacists and the clerical support staff to provide services.

The Outpatient Dispensing Section serves approximately three thousand patients per day. This consists of the General section and the Staff counter housed in the main OPD block. Medications are dispensed to patients attending the OPD of JIPMER Hospital, Special Clinics and the Emergency Medical Services in the General Section, whereas in the Staff Section, staff members of JIPMER hospital, CPWD, Kendriya Vidyalalyas and the retired staff of JIPMER are served. About 50 oral drugs, 4 paediatric formulations and 18 injectables are available for these patients. Drugs are dispensed for four days. (See hospital policy) In case of patients attending special clinics drugs are given for seven days. Patients attending the EMS are dispensed drugs only for one day. A team of highly committed and trained pharmacists man this section.

The Preparation Section is involved in the preparation of common oral liquid items such as cough mixture, potassium chloride mixture, antiseptic mouth wash and topical items such as Whitfield ointment, zinc cream, benzyl benzoate emulsion, calamine lotion, atropine eye drops and others. This section also prepares dressing saline, glycerine magnesium sulphate dressing etc., This helps in cost curtailment. These items are distributed to the wards and OPDs every alternate day.

The Pharmacy Office and Store are housed in the Pharmacy Block. All drugs, disinfectants and surgical dressings are stored here. There are separate stores for tablets and topical formulations, injection and liquid oral preparations, surgical dressings and antiseptics & disinfectants. Inventory and stock maintenance is computerised and done by a special software that was developed for the JIPMER pharmacy. All stores are soon to be linked by a network. The pharmacy office co-ordinates the procurement of drugs. All the communications with the drugs companies, inter and intra departmental correspondence, staff management is done through the office. All complaints regarding adverse effects, poor quality, non-availability are handled through the office.

There is a large walk-in-cooler to store the injectables and vaccines. On the day these items have to be distributed to the wards they are transferred in thermocool boxes to the stores where they are kept under refrigeration until they are collected by the nursing orderlies from the wards and OPDs. The cold chain is strictly maintained.

The Urban and Rural Health Centres cater to populations in and around the service area. Two pharmacisists each are posted in these centres for maintaining stock and dispensing drugs. Drugs are collected from the main store each week.