TEACHING CLINICAL-PHARMACOLOGY AND THERAPEUTICS - SELECTIVE FOR 4TH-YEAR MEDICAL-STUDENTS

Teaching clinical pharmacology remains both a lifelong learning proces s and a lifelong challenge for clinical pharmacologists and other medi cal educators. In the current information age, with an explosion of dr ug-related data, the prime topic for discussion is how to teach clinic al pharmacology. This article describes our response to the challenges in developing a selective course in clinical pharmacology, and our ex perience from the first 2 years of the course. Our emphasis is on how to provide in an efficient way knowledge, skills, and attitudes studen ts will need as physicians in the coming decades. Faculty from the Cen ter for Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh in conju nction with faculty from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medici ne have developed a one-month intensive course in clinical pharmacolog y. The integrated course program consists of four overlapping componen ts: 2) general clinical pharmacology (focused on individualization of drug therapy); 2) rational prescribing principles (general principles of drug selection, how to prepare a personal formulary); 3) disease-sp ecific clinical topics (pharmacotherapy of diseases and medical condit ions most commonly seen in routine medical practice); and 4) workshops for special attention topics (pharmacokinetics, pain treatment, toxic ology, dialysis). In congruence with established educational goals, th e course includes drug-, patient-, and disease-oriented concepts. A va riety of learning formats (didactic and interactive lectures, one-day problem-based learning sessions, small group case discussions, self-di rected and small group directed learning, quizzes, and computer-assist ed learning) are used to teach students how to apply the general conce pts of clinical pharmacology and rational pharmacotherapy to clinical medicine, and to prepare them to become independent lifelong learners in therapeutics. Student feedback from the first 2 years of this cours e indicates that this multi-modal teaching format is effective. The ma jority of students who look the course in clinical pharmacology in 199 7 found if to be very beneficial. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 19 98;38:670-679 (C) 1998 The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.