A study of teaching module on subcutaneous drug administration and communication skills in pharmacology according to competency-based medical education curriculum

ABSTRACT

Background: Theory lectures in pharmacology are covering various oral and parenteral routes of drug administration, mainly focusing on knowledge domain, but soft and psychomotor skills were less taught in undergraduate students. Demonstrating correct method of subcutaneous route of drug administration and communication skills as introduced by competency-based medical education (CBME) competency-based curriculum will help in early acquisition of the skills and minimize the errors in administration in insulin, heparin, and vaccines. Aim and Objectives: The aims of this study were to teach the subcutaneous drug administration (S/C) and communication skills to undergraduate students in pharmacology and to evaluate the perception of students and teachers toward new CBME curriculum. Materials and Methods: Correct technique of subcutaneous drug administration was demonstrated on mannequins after browsing through the videos of S/C route. Students were told to perform it independently on mannequins. Perception of students and staff members were collected with pre-validated questionnaire provided after the practical teaching hours. Results: In our study, majority of students (94%) felt that learning S/C route of drug administration correctly will help in managing various patients like administration of insulin in diabetic patients in their near future days. They were well advanced in communicating with patients regarding usage of medications and were (90%) also in favor of introduction of this experiment in UG curriculum. Conclusions: Our study concluded that subcutaneous teaching technique introduced by CBME curriculum in practical classes was well accepted by students and were more confident in soft skills and psychomotor skills at the end of the study.