ABSTRACT:

Educational reform has led to medical school curricular integration whereby clinical pharmacology is no longer a dedicated course nor taught by clinical pharmacologists. Our aim is to provide clinical pharmacology instruction that is complete and integrated with other subjects. Furthermore, pharmacology should be presented consistently across the curriculum, able to foster student self-learning, and able to provide feedback to both students and professors. Students were provided self-learning computer instruction that uses a unique, designed graphical symbol language to explain clinical pharmacology in the context of physiological or pathophysiological processes at organ and cellular level. The TRC database uses graphical tutorials, explaining text and formative feedback questions. During each course throughout the curriculum, students work with the TRC database via self-learning assignments. The students are able to access the graphics, along with corresponding text, tables and graphs. Furthermore, they receive formative feedback by answering true/false questions. The effectiveness of the TRC Pharmacology program is assessed by 1) a backend computer reporting program of student utilization of the database and 2) student performance on formative feedback questions. Initial feedback has been positive, and data from the first year will be presented.

BENEFIT TO PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING SESSION:

Attendees will gain experience from our efforts to teach clinical pharmacology across a medicine curriculum using a dynamic database. Participants can share our experiences with this new form of teaching pharmacology and might be encouraged to work together.

E.A.Dubois
Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands
Phone: +31 71 5262322
Fax: +31 71 5266857
Email: E.A.Dubois@lumc.nl

CO-AUTHORS:
K.L. Franson°, F. Cornet°, J.M.A. van Gerven°, J.H. Bolk*, A.F. Cohen° °TRC Pharmacology, Centre for Human Drug Research, Zernikedreef 10, 2333 CL Leiden, The Netherlands
*Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands.
Phone: K.L.Franson +31 71 5246462
Fax: K.L.Franson and Center for Human Drug Research +31 71 5246499 
Email: kfranson@chdr.nl
fcornet@chdr.nl
jg@chdr.nl
j.h.bolk@lumc.nl
ac@chdr.nl