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Medical Thesis Topics

DM

40 DM Clinical Pharmacology Thesis Topics

Academic session 2026-2027  · 40 topics

This page lists 40 clinical pharmacology thesis topics for DM candidates in India for the 2026-2027 academic session. Clinical pharmacology occupies a specific research niche: where basic pharmacology studies the drug and clinical medicine studies the disease, clinical pharmacology studies what happens when the two meet in a real patient at a real dose.

The clinical pharmacology thesis topics below reflect that. They cover drug utilisation and prescribing quality, adverse drug reaction causality and surveillance, pharmacokinetics and therapeutic drug monitoring, drug interactions, generic and brand comparisons, pharmacovigilance programme functioning, and the clinical decision making that connects pharmacological knowledge to patient outcomes.

Click any topic to open it in the protocol generator with the title already filled in.

  1. A cross-sectional study of drug utilisation patterns in a medicine outpatient department using prescribing indicatorsGet protocol
  2. An observational study of drug utilisation in patients admitted to a medical intensive care unitGet protocol
  3. A study of antidiabetic drug prescribing patterns and their rationality in a medicine outpatient departmentGet protocol
  4. An observational study of fixed dose combination prescribing and its rationalityGet protocol
  5. A cross-sectional study of polypharmacy and its determinants among elderly outpatientsGet protocol
  6. An observational study of the concordance between prescribed regimen and national treatment guidelinesGet protocol
  7. A study of generic versus branded drug prescribing rates and their determinantsGet protocol
  8. An observational study of antimicrobial prescribing quality assessed against institutional guidelinesGet protocol
  9. A cross-sectional study of the incidence and pattern of adverse drug reactions in hospitalised patientsGet protocol
  10. An observational study of causality assessment of adverse drug reactions using two validated scalesGet protocol
  11. A study of the severity and preventability of adverse drug reactions reported at a tertiary care hospitalGet protocol
  12. An observational study of cutaneous adverse drug reactions and their causality profileGet protocol
  13. A cross-sectional study of adverse reactions among patients receiving chemotherapyGet protocol
  14. An observational study of the underreporting of adverse drug reactions among healthcare workersGet protocol
  15. A study of the pharmacovigilance programme functioning and reporting at a teaching hospitalGet protocol
  16. An observational study of spontaneous adverse drug reaction reporting rates before and after an educational interventionGet protocol
  17. A cross-sectional study of therapeutic drug monitoring practice for aminoglycosides in critically ill patientsGet protocol
  18. An observational study of vancomycin trough levels and their correlation with clinical outcomeGet protocol
  19. A study of antiepileptic drug plasma levels and their correlation with seizure controlGet protocol
  20. An observational study of cyclosporine monitoring and dose adjustments in transplant recipientsGet protocol
  21. A cross-sectional study of potentially clinically significant drug interactions in inpatient prescriptionsGet protocol
  22. An observational study of drug interaction alerts generated by an electronic prescription systemGet protocol
  23. A study of drug dose adjustments in patients with renal impairment against recommended guidanceGet protocol
  24. An observational study of dosing errors in patients with hepatic dysfunctionGet protocol
  25. A cross-sectional study of medication errors detected during ward rounds at a teaching hospitalGet protocol
  26. An observational study of the nature and frequency of prescribing errors in inpatient settingsGet protocol
  27. A study of the impact of a clinical pharmacologist review on prescribing qualityGet protocol
  28. An observational study of medication reconciliation practice at hospital admission and dischargeGet protocol
  29. A cross-sectional study of potentially inappropriate prescribing in elderly patients assessed by established criteriaGet protocol
  30. An observational study of the cost of treatment for common conditions and its variation between brandsGet protocol
  31. A study of out of pocket drug expenditure among outpatients with chronic diseaseGet protocol
  32. An observational study of affordability of prescribed medicines among patients attending a public hospitalGet protocol
  33. A cross-sectional study of knowledge regarding rational drug use among undergraduate medical studentsGet protocol
  34. An observational study of the effect of a pharmacology education intervention on prescribing knowledgeGet protocol
  35. A study of prescriber awareness of the essential medicines list and its useGet protocol
  36. An observational study of self medication practices among healthcare studentsGet protocol
  37. A cross-sectional study of antibiotic stewardship programme activities and their outcomesGet protocol
  38. An observational study of the impact of clinical pharmacology consultation on prescribing decisionsGet protocol
  39. A study of pharmacokinetic parameters of a defined drug in a paediatric versus adult populationGet protocol
  40. An observational study of plasma concentration variability of a commonly used drug in critically ill patientsGet protocol

Choosing a DM Clinical Pharmacology thesis topic

What makes a clinical pharmacology thesis distinct from a basic pharmacology one?

The patient rather than the molecule is the unit of study. A basic pharmacology thesis studies receptor binding, metabolic pathways or animal models; a clinical pharmacology thesis studies how a drug is used in human patients, what adverse effects occur, how a dosing decision is made, or how plasma concentration relates to clinical outcome. Ethics approval for human subjects applies to all of them.

Which methodology frameworks are used in clinical pharmacology research?

The World Health Organization prescribing indicators for drug utilisation, anatomical therapeutic chemical classification and defined daily dose for consumption analysis, the Naranjo algorithm and World Health Organization Uppsala Monitoring Centre criteria for causality assessment, and Delphi-based inappropriate prescribing criteria for the elderly. Name the specific version and edition used, since these frameworks are revised and comparability depends on it.

What sample size is realistic in clinical pharmacology?

Drug utilisation studies and prescription audits accumulate data rapidly — a cross-sectional prescription survey of several hundred encounters can be completed in a day or a week. Adverse drug reaction studies require prospective surveillance over a defined period, and the denominator should be stated as prescriptions or patient days rather than as participants. Therapeutic drug monitoring studies depend on how many patients in a unit receive the relevant drug and are monitored.

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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