Clinical Pharmacology and Medication Safety: A Remote Learning Elective Designed for Senior Medical Students

Abstract

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.

Keywords: clinical pharmacology; curriculum; medical education; medical students.

FIGURE 1

Pre‐ and post‐elective students endorsed a level of agreement in understanding the prescribing of common pharmacotherapies. All values are means and standard deviations within each category. p < 0.05.

FIGURE 2

Pre‐ and post‐elective students endorsed a level of agreement in confidence in clinical pharmacology and recognizing and reporting medication errors. All values are means and standard deviations within each category. p < 0.05.

FIGURE 3

Post‐elective students endorsed a level of agreement with reflection questions about the elective. All values are percentage endorsements within each category.