Abstract
Background
Pharmacology education among medical students is expected to prepare them for safe and effective use of medications through rational prescribing. There remains paucity of information about the opinion of Nigerian medical students regarding pharmacology education. This study was conducted to fill the gap.
Methodology
Cross sectional survey of the opinions of medical students at The Lagos State University College of Medicine, Lagos, Nigeria who recently completed pharmacology postings and examinations. Through a self-administered questionnaire, information was obtained on the demography of the students and their opinion on various aspects of the pharmacology education received. Results were summarized with descriptive statistics using SPSS version 17.O. Continuous variables were expressed as means (standard deviation), categorical variables as proportions.
Results
A total of 40 students completed the survey in a class of 67 students (60% response rate) with mean age of 23.2+ 2.6 years and 49% females. Pharmacology posting took place in the fourth year of study. The duration of the posting was 44 weeks with system based curriculum approach. 47.5% of the students found pharmacology difficult while only 32.4% felt prepared for rational prescribing after the course.
Aspects of pharmacology found most interesting were; Antihypertensive drugs (17%), Other Cardiovascular (CVS) pharmacology topics (12%) and Practical sessions (12%) while challenging and difficult areas were; cancer chemotherapy (27.5%), drug names(12.5%), antiretroviral and central nervous system pharmacology (5% each). 17% found all aspects interesting while 10% found none interesting. Suggestions from respondents included preference for integrated and problem solving approach to learning with clinical applications and having more practical sessions, having seminars and tutorials.Teaching of drug doses. indications and trade names of commonly used drugs were other suggested ways of making pharmacology more interesting. They also advocated for better approach to teaching especially for the perceived challenging topics.
Conclusion
Findings from this survey suggest a need for critical review of pharmacology teaching methods and curriculum for medical students in Nigeria. The study is being extended to other medical schools in Nigeria to obtain a broader picture.
