RESUMO
Animal experiments have been reduced to mere demonstrations and/or withdrawn from the undergraduate curriculum. A new clinical pharmacology experiment has been introduced which is simple, safe and has the ability to quantify the drug effect in an objective manner. The objective was to demonstrate the stimulant effect of coffee on psychomotor performance using Paper and pencil tests. And Digit Letter Substitution Test and Six Letter Cancellation Test were administered during the pharmacology practical hour in different batches of MBBS and Pharmacy program after obtaining the written informed consent. The experiment involved practice, Pre-coffee session, Coffee intake [2g/200ml], post-coffee session followed by student's feedback using a questionnaire. There was no significant difference between the scores during practice session and pre- coffee session. However, there was a 15-20% increase in the post-coffee scores which was statistically significant [p < 0.05; Student t- test] as compared to pre-coffee scores. The students gave a good feedback about the experiment as reflected by a mean score of 4.6 +/- 0.3 on a scale of 5. The stimulant effect of coffee was observed by majority of the students as reflected by their increased score in the psychomotor tests. They found the experiment interesting and appreciated the approach to understand the drug effect