Graham Elizabeth B, Wightkin William T, Bay Curt R, Ikonne Uzoma S
Eastern Virginia Medical School, Old Dominion University, Virginia, USA.
Department of Basic and Translational Sciences, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Old Dominion University, Virginia, USA.
Pharmacol Res Perspect. 2025 Aug;13(4):e70150. doi: 10.1002/prp2.70150.
In the United States, medical educators have expressed concern that an integrated and condensed pre-clerkship curriculum risks leaving gaps in student pharmacology knowledge. This study evaluates a remote-learning clinical pharmacology elective that integrates fundamental pharmacology concepts and principles of medication safety and explores how the course impacts senior medical students' self-reported readiness for residency. Clinical Pharmacology and Medication Safety is a remote elective course for senior medical students. The course integrates a review of basic pharmacology with clinical pharmacology topics through case-based learning sessions led by clinical pharmacists and physicians. To evaluate the elective's effectiveness, students in the fall and spring cohorts completed pre-elective and post-elective questionnaires, and differences in responses were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Thematic analysis was used to evaluate qualitative data. Preparation for residency was a major theme that emerged from students responding to why they enrolled in the elective. A significant increase in students' perceived understanding was observed of what is required to safely prescribe drugs and more commonly prescribed drugs such as antimicrobials (p < 0.001). Further, pre- and post-elective analysis revealed a significant increase in students' perceived ability to recognize medication errors and initiate discussions with the health care team (p < 0.001). Eta-squared was calculated to determine effect size, and most indicated a "large difference" from pre-to post. This clinical pharmacology elective exemplifies how to effectively use technology within the elective phase to vertically integrate basic science content across the medical curriculum within the framework of an integrated and condensed pre-clerkship phase.
在美国，医学教育工作者担心整合且精简的临床前课程可能会使学生的药理学知识出现空白。本研究评估了一门远程学习的临床药理学选修课，该课程整合了药理学基本概念和用药安全原则，并探讨了该课程如何影响高年级医学生自我报告的住院医师实习准备情况。《临床药理学与用药安全》是一门面向高年级医学生的远程选修课。该课程通过由临床药剂师和医生主持的基于案例的学习课程，将基础药理学复习与临床药理学主题相结合。为了评估该选修课的效果，秋季班和春季班的学生完成了选修课前和选修课后的问卷调查，并使用曼-惠特尼U检验分析了回答的差异。采用主题分析来评估定性数据。住院医师实习准备是学生在回答为何选修该课程时出现的一个主要主题。观察到学生对安全开药所需条件以及抗菌药物等更常用药物的认知理解有显著提高（p < 0.001）。此外，选修课前和选修课后的分析显示，学生识别用药错误并与医疗团队展开讨论的感知能力有显著提高（p < 0.001）。计算了效应大小的eta平方值，大多数结果表明从课前到课后有“很大差异”。这门临床药理学选修课例证了如何在选修阶段有效利用技术，在整合且精简的临床前阶段框架内，将基础科学内容纵向整合到整个医学课程中。
