Reassessment of dispensing pharmacy and animal experiments in undergraduate practical pharmacology curriculum: feedback from students

2016-03-14T05-35-18Z
Source: International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology
Satish G. R., Laxminarayana Kamath, Jayanthi C. R..
Background: Dispensing pharmacy exercises and animal experiments are still being taught in medical colleges even though they are not relevant for clinical practice. One has to keep pace with ever changing needs of the students and changing trends. So this study is designed to know the perceptions and alternative suggestions of MBBS students regarding dispensing pharmacy and animal experiments and use them to improve teaching. Methods: 177 MBBS students studying at Bangalore medical college who have completed their university examination in pharmacology subject were included in this questionnaire based study. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics. Results: Majority of the students disfavoured dispensing pharmacy (82%) and animal experiments (73%) in undergraduate practical pharmacology. 78% of the students preferred computer assisted learning (CAL) as an alternative to animal experiments. Some of the clinical pharmacology exercises favoured by students, as an alternative to dispensing pharmacy were, drug station (clinical station) with real cases in hospital (88%), module on various drug formulations (74%), module on pharmacovigilance (74%), problem based exercises (73%), drug administration procedures (68%), drug dosage calculations (68%), pharmacoeconomic exercises (66%), prescription writing and criticism of prescription (62%), short term research project (44%) and so on. Conclusions: Computer assisted learning seems to be a better alternative to animal experiments. In the changing scenario, teaching clinical pharmacology should be focused rather than teaching dispensing pharmacy, which is obsolete.


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