Pharmacology and Therapeutics Education in the European Union Needs Harmonization and Modernization: A Cross-sectional Survey Among 185 Medical Schools in 27 Countries

Abstract

Effective teaching in pharmacology and clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) is necessary to make medical students competent prescribers. However, the current structure, delivery, and assessment of CPT education in the European Union (EU) is unknown. We sent an online questionnaire to teachers with overall responsibility for CPT education in EU medical schools. Questions focused on undergraduate teaching and assessment of CPT, and students' preparedness for prescribing. In all, 185 medical schools (64%) from 27 EU countries responded. Traditional learning methods were mainly used. The majority of respondents did not provide students with the opportunity to practice real-life prescribing and believed that their students were not well prepared for prescribing. There is a marked difference in the quality and quantity of CPT education within and between EU countries, suggesting that there is considerable scope for improvement. A collaborative approach should be adopted to harmonize and modernize the undergraduate CPT education across the EU.

Figure 1

Only countries with ≥50% of the medical schools responding are shown. Austria (20%), Belgium (14%), Hungary (25%), and Italy (48%) are not shown (dark grey). Countries with only problem‐based learning education (dark blue; >80% of schools), countries with mainly problem‐based learning education (light blue; 50–80% of schools), countries with mainly traditional learning education (yellow; 50–80% of schools), countries with only traditional learning education (orange; >80% of schools). Countries not part of the European Union (light grey). AT, Austria; BE, Belgium; BG, Bulgaria; CY, Cyprus; CZ, Czech Republic; DE, Germany; EE, Estonia; EL, Greece; ES, Spain; FI, Finland; FR, France; HR, Croatia; HU, Hungary; IE, Ireland; IT, Italy; LT, Lithuania; LV, Latvia; LU, Luxembourg; MT, Malta; NL, Netherlands; NO, Norway; PL, Poland; PT, Portugal; RO, Romania; SE, Sweden; SI, Slovenia; SK, Slovakia; UK, United Kingdom. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Figure 2

Traditional learning methods are on the left and context‐based learning methods on the right. WHO GGP, World Health Organization Guide to Good Prescribing.19 Real‐life prescribing: the opportunity to prescribe drugs for real patients under the supervision of a senior clinician during clinics. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Figure 3

Written materials are on the left and online learning resources on the right. Student formulary: specified list of commonly prescribed drugs that students develop during their medical education. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Figure 4

The teacher‐centered methods are on the left and student‐centered methods on the right. OSCE, objective structured clinical examination. Workplace assessment: assessing rational prescribing for real patients during clinics. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Figure 5

Guide to good prescribing. Miller's pyramid for evaluating the structure of learning objectives.