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Medical Thesis Topics

MD · MSc Medical

50 MD Pharmacology Thesis Topics

Academic session 2026-2027  · 50 topics

This page lists 50 pharmacology thesis topics for MD and MSc Medical candidates in India for the 2026-2027 academic session. Pharmacology postgraduates rarely have access to clinical trials, so the practical territory is drug utilisation, adverse reaction monitoring, prescription auditing and prescriber behaviour — all of which use records and questionnaires rather than interventions.

The pharmacology thesis topics below reflect that. They apply established methodology such as the World Health Organization prescribing indicators, validated causality assessment scales and defined daily dose analysis to prescriptions and reports the institution already generates. Coverage includes drug utilisation, pharmacovigilance, antimicrobial use, self-medication, adherence, prescriber knowledge and pharmacoeconomics.

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  1. A cross-sectional study of drug utilisation patterns in a medicine outpatient department using the World Health Organization prescribing indicatorsGet protocol
  2. An observational study of drug utilisation in a paediatric outpatient departmentGet protocol
  3. A study of prescribing patterns in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus attending a tertiary care hospitalGet protocol
  4. A cross-sectional study of antihypertensive drug utilisation and its rationality in an outpatient populationGet protocol
  5. An observational study of drug utilisation in patients admitted to an intensive care unitGet protocol
  6. A study of drug utilisation patterns in a dermatology outpatient departmentGet protocol
  7. A cross-sectional study of drug prescribing patterns in an obstetrics and gynaecology outpatient departmentGet protocol
  8. An observational study of fixed dose combination prescribing in a tertiary care hospitalGet protocol
  9. A cross-sectional study of adverse drug reactions reported in a tertiary care hospital with causality assessmentGet protocol
  10. An observational study of the pattern and severity of cutaneous adverse drug reactionsGet protocol
  11. A study of adverse drug reactions in patients receiving antitubercular therapyGet protocol
  12. A comparative study of two validated causality assessment scales applied to reported adverse drug reactionsGet protocol
  13. An observational study of the preventability and severity of adverse drug reactions in hospitalised patientsGet protocol
  14. A cross-sectional study of adverse drug reactions among patients receiving cancer chemotherapyGet protocol
  15. A study of the pattern of adverse drug reactions reported in elderly patientsGet protocol
  16. An observational study of underreporting of adverse drug reactions and its determinants among prescribersGet protocol
  17. A cross-sectional study of prescription auditing for completeness and legibility in a tertiary care hospitalGet protocol
  18. An observational study of prescribing errors and their nature in inpatient prescriptionsGet protocol
  19. A study of adherence to the national essential medicines list in prescriptions at a teaching hospitalGet protocol
  20. A cross-sectional study of the rationality of prescriptions assessed by a validated scoring toolGet protocol
  21. An observational study of polypharmacy and its determinants among elderly outpatientsGet protocol
  22. A study of potentially inappropriate prescribing in elderly patients assessed by established criteriaGet protocol
  23. A cross-sectional study of drug-drug interactions identified in prescriptions using a standard databaseGet protocol
  24. A cross-sectional study of antimicrobial utilisation patterns in a tertiary care hospitalGet protocol
  25. An observational study of the appropriateness of surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis against institutional protocolGet protocol
  26. A study of antimicrobial prescribing in patients with upper respiratory tract infectionGet protocol
  27. A comparative study of antimicrobial utilisation between medical and surgical wardsGet protocol
  28. An observational study of antimicrobial prescribing against culture and susceptibility resultsGet protocol
  29. A cross-sectional study of the utilisation of reserve antimicrobials in a tertiary care hospitalGet protocol
  30. A cross-sectional study of knowledge, attitude and practice regarding rational prescribing among resident doctorsGet protocol
  31. An observational study of awareness of pharmacovigilance among healthcare professionals in a teaching hospitalGet protocol
  32. A study of knowledge and attitude regarding antimicrobial resistance among prescribersGet protocol
  33. A cross-sectional study of the sources of drug information used by prescribers in a tertiary care hospitalGet protocol
  34. An observational study of the influence of pharmaceutical promotional material on prescribing awarenessGet protocol
  35. A study of knowledge regarding essential medicines among undergraduate medical studentsGet protocol
  36. A cross-sectional study of the prevalence and pattern of self-medication among adults attending an outpatient departmentGet protocol
  37. An observational study of self-medication practices among undergraduate studentsGet protocol
  38. A study of the pattern of over the counter drug purchase from community pharmaciesGet protocol
  39. A cross-sectional study of awareness regarding the risks of self-medication among the general publicGet protocol
  40. An observational study of antibiotic use without prescription in a defined communityGet protocol
  41. A cross-sectional study of medication adherence and its determinants among patients with chronic diseaseGet protocol
  42. An observational study of adherence to antihypertensive therapy assessed by a validated scaleGet protocol
  43. A study of the reasons for non-adherence among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitusGet protocol
  44. A comparative study of medication adherence between patients on single and multiple drug regimensGet protocol
  45. A cross-sectional study of the cost of drug therapy and its variation between brands for common conditionsGet protocol
  46. An observational study of the economic burden of drug therapy among outpatients with chronic diseaseGet protocol
  47. A study of the availability and affordability of essential medicines in a defined areaGet protocol
  48. A cross-sectional study of the effectiveness of a structured teaching intervention on rational prescribing among studentsGet protocol
  49. An observational study of learning outcomes following a pharmacology practical exercise using simulationGet protocol
  50. A study of student perception of pharmacology teaching methods assessed by a validated questionnaireGet protocol

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Choosing a MD Pharmacology thesis topic

Are animal experiments still practical for a pharmacology thesis?

Rarely, and they should not be assumed. Approval from the institutional animal ethics committee is required, the animal house must be registered and functioning, and the timelines for approval are long. Most Indian departments have moved towards human observational research for postgraduate work, and a resident who chooses an animal study without first confirming that the facility is operational risks losing a year before starting.

What methodology should a drug utilisation thesis follow?

The World Health Organization prescribing indicators are the accepted framework and should be named explicitly in the protocol: average number of drugs per encounter, percentage prescribed by generic name, percentage with an antibiotic, percentage with an injection, and percentage from the essential medicines list. Defined daily dose methodology and anatomical therapeutic chemical classification add comparability with published work and are worth including.

How is causality assessed in an adverse drug reaction thesis?

Using a validated scale rather than clinical impression. The World Health Organization–Uppsala Monitoring Centre criteria and the Naranjo algorithm are both standard and freely available, and many studies apply both and report the agreement between them. Severity and preventability should be graded with named scales as well, and the protocol should state who will perform the assessment and whether two independent assessors will be used.

Thesis and protocol questions

How is a thesis topic different from a thesis protocol?

The topic is the title — the question a study sets out to answer, together with the population and the design. The protocol is the full document built around it: background, review of literature, aims and objectives, inclusion and exclusion criteria, sample size calculation, methodology, statistical plan, ethics considerations, consent documents and references. A topic is agreed with a guide first; the protocol is written afterwards and submitted to the institutional ethics committee.

When does a postgraduate thesis have to be submitted?

For most Indian postgraduate programmes the protocol is submitted within the first six months of joining, and the completed thesis is submitted at least six months before the final examination. Exact deadlines are set by the university, so the departmental circular for the current session takes precedence over any general timeline.

How is sample size decided for a postgraduate thesis?

Sample size follows from the primary objective, not the other way round. A prevalence study is powered from an expected proportion and an acceptable margin of error; a comparative study is powered from the expected difference between groups, the standard deviation, alpha and desired power. The figure should then be checked against the institution's actual case load for the study period, because a statistically ideal sample that cannot be recruited in the time available is not a workable plan.

Does a thesis topic need ethics committee approval?

Yes. Every postgraduate thesis involving human participants, human data or human samples requires clearance from the institutional ethics committee before data collection begins. Approval is granted on the protocol rather than on the title, and the submission usually includes the protocol, the participant information sheet and the consent form in English and in the local language.

What makes a topic realistic for a three-year postgraduate programme?

A workable topic can be completed at a single centre, with equipment and investigations that are already available in routine practice, within roughly eighteen months of data collection. Topics that depend on external funding, specialised assays, multicentre coordination or long follow-up tend to stall. Choosing a condition the department already sees in volume matters more than choosing a novel one.

Can a thesis be published as a research paper afterwards?

Yes, and it is generally expected. A thesis is usually condensed into a paper of around three to four thousand words, restructured into the standard introduction, methods, results and discussion format, with the review of literature shortened considerably. Journals differ in their requirements, and the ethics approval number from the original thesis is normally cited in the methods section.

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