JPSC Drug Inspector Syllabus & Exam Pattern: Complete Breakdown

Detailed Subject-Wise Syllabus

Paper I: General Medicine

• Fundamentals: Art & science of medicine, principles of disease prevention, clinical pharmacology.
• Metabolic & Fluid Balance: Nutritional & metabolic disorders, water, electrolyte, and acid-base imbalance.
• Critical & Psychiatric Care: Critical care medicine, physiology of critically ill patients, pain management & palliative care, medical psychiatry, poisonings.
• Infections & Immunology: Immune response, epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of:
  • Protozoal, bacterial, viral, fungal, mycoplasma, chlamydial, and helminthic infections.
• System-Based Diseases:
  • Cardiovascular system, respiratory system, kidney & genitourinary system.
  • Gastrointestinal tract, liver, pancreas, and biliary tract diseases.
  • Endocrinology, metabolism, diabetes mellitus, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, and reproductive system disorders.
  • Connective tissue, joint, and musculoskeletal disorders.

Paper II: Pharmaceutics

• Micromeritics & Powder Rheology: Particle size distribution, optical microscopy, sieving, sedimentation, surface area determination, porosity, packing, density, and flow properties.
• Surface & Interfacial Phenomenon: Surface tension, spreading coefficient, HLB classification, solubilization, detergency, adsorption at interfaces.
• Viscosity & Rheology: Newtonian/non-Newtonian systems, pseudoplastic, dilatant, thixotropy, capillary and rotational viscometers.
• Dispersion Systems: Colloidal dispersions, suspensions, emulsions, flocculation, sedimentation parameters, and physical stability.
• Kinetics & Drug Stability: Half-life determination, effect of temperature/light/solvent, accelerated stability studies, expiration dating.
• Liquid & Semisolid Dosage Forms: Additives, vehicles, preservatives, clear liquids, gels, creams, ointments, packaging, and evaluation.
• Suppositories & Aerosols: Ideal bases, manufacturing methods, propellants, aerosol formulation, and applications.
• Ophthalmic & Cosmetic Preparations: Formulations, eye care, cosmetic science for skin, hair, manicure, dentifrices, baby care products.
• Biopharmaceutics & Pharmacokinetics: Formulation development, absorption mechanisms, clinical settings.
• Solid Dosage Forms (Capsules & Tablets): Hard/soft gelatin capsules, tablet granulation, compression machinery, coating processes, stability kinetics, and quality control.
• Micro-encapsulation & Parenterals: Microencapsulation techniques, sterile powders, WFI, pyrogenicity, aseptic techniques, laminar flow bench design, sterility testing.
• Surgical Products & Packaging: Primary wound dressings, sutures, ligatures, catguts, prosthetics, packaging components, package testing, and controlled-release dosage designs.

Paper III: Pharmacology

• General Pharmacology: Routes of administration, drug action mechanisms, pharmacogenetics, ADME processes, pharmacokinetics, bioassays, adverse drug reactions (ADR), new drug discovery.
• Peripheral Nervous System: Parasympathomimetics, sympathomimetics, ganglionic blockers, neuromuscular blockers, local anesthetics.
• Central Nervous System: General anesthetics, sedatives, hypnotics, psychopharmacological agents, anti-epileptics, anti-Parkinsonian drugs, CNS stimulants, narcotic analgesics, anti-inflammatory/anti-gout agents.
• Cardiovascular & Hemopoietic Systems: Digitalis, antihypertensives, antianginals, antiarrhythmics, hematinics, anticoagulants, fibrinolytics, plasma volume expanders.
• Autocoids & Respiratory System: Histamines, 5-HT, prostaglandins, leukotrienes, anti-asthmatic drugs, expectorants, antitussives.
• Gastrointestinal & Endocrine Systems: Antacids, laxatives, anti-emetics, thyroid/anti-thyroid drugs, insulin, oral hypoglycemics, corticosteroids, oral contraceptives.
• Chemotherapy & Toxicology: Antibiotics (penicillins, cephalosporins, quinolones, etc.), anti-TB, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-neoplastic, immunosuppressives, poisoning management (barbiturates, opioids, atropine, heavy metals).

Paper IV: Pharmaceutical Chemistry & Biochemistry

Part A: Pharmaceutical Chemistry

• Medicinal Chemistry Principles: Physico-chemical aspects (optical, geometric, bioisosterism), drug-receptor interactions, QSAR, and mechanism-based drug design.
• Synthetic Procedures & Drug Classes:
  • Drugs for ANS, CNS, Autocoids, Steroids, Diuretics, Cardiovascular agents.
  • Chemotherapeutic agents, anti-neoplastics, anti-virals (anti-HIV), immunosuppressives, peptidomimetics, diagnostic agents.
• Drug Metabolism: Prodrug concepts and metabolic pathways.
• Analytical Techniques & Quality Control:
  • Non-aqueous, acid-base, redox, complexometric titrations.
  • Kjeldahl method, Karl-Fischer titration, gasometry.
  • Chromatography: TLC, HPLC, GLC, HPTLC, Paper & Column chromatography.
  • Spectroscopy: UV-Vis, IR, Mass spectrometry, Emission spectroscopy, Potentiometry, Polarography, Radioimmunoassay (RIA).

Part B: Biochemistry

• Cell Architecture & Biomolecules: Cell membrane transport, structure & function of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, amino acids, hemoglobin/myoglobin, sickle cell anemia.
• Enzymology: Enzyme kinetics, catalysis mechanisms, activators/inhibitors, clinical enzymology, isoenzymes.
• Metabolism & Pathways:
  • Glycolysis, HMP shunt, gluconeogenesis, glycogen storage diseases.
  • Transamination, urea cycle, amino acid degradation.
  • Fatty acid synthesis/degradation, cholesterol, lipoproteins, ketoacidosis, TCA cycle.
  • Regulation of blood glucose, metabolic adaptations in fasting/starvation, diabetes mellitus.
• Nutrition & Hormones: Digestive enzymes, vitamins, iron metabolism, hormone signal transduction (pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, pancreas), calcium homeostasis.
• Molecular Biology & Immunology: DNA/RNA structure, replication, transcription, translation, recombinant DNA technology, gene expression regulation, innate/adaptive immunity, immunoglobulins, complement system, hypersensitivity, vaccines.

Paper V: Pharmaceutical Jurisprudence & Ethics

Comprehensive study of pharmaceutical laws, rules, and ethics:

• Pharmaceutical Ethics & General Laws: Code of ethics, Pharmacy Act 1948.
• Core Acts & Rules:
  • Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 & Rules 1945 (including Medical Device Rules 2017, New Drugs & Clinical Trials Rules 2019, Cosmetics Rules 2020).
  • Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985 & Rules.
  • Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013.
  • Medicinal & Toilet Preparations (Excise Duties) Act 1955.
  • Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954.
• Healthcare & Related Acts:
  • The Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010.
  • Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994.
  • Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971.
  • The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994.