Strategies to Inspire Students' Engagement in Pharmacology Courses

Abstract

Pharmacology is a distinct discipline and offers core knowledge to broaden student programs in the provision of health care (medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and others) as well as research-oriented programs (biosciences and biomedical). Therefore, knowledge and information on topics such as prescribing medication, drug interactions, dosage adjustments, and the correct drug dose calculation for medicine are essential for preventing and reducing medication errors, which is a key element in patient safety. Recently, many institutions have been trying to enhance their quality of teaching, as students demand support and success in their studies. Pharmacology is a highly challenging interdisciplinary topic, and requires a huge effort from both educators and students to achieve the best outcomes. Therefore, creating an effective environment to support students' learning in pharmacology courses is essential to improving students' engagement, success and learning outcomes. In recent decades, the landscape of education has changed, and distance learning has skyrocketed. This manuscript intends to discuss and highlight the importance of student engagement in higher education in pharmacology courses. Additionally, this paper spotlights and presents a review of recent studies focusing on student engagement in pharmacology courses and possible methods for enhancing and inspiring student engagement in pharmacology courses.

Keywords: health professional; higher education; pharmacology; student engagement.

Figure 1

Five pillars of digital tools (FPDT) to enhance student engagement, motivation, and activity.