Feedback of Second-Year Medical Students on Existing Teaching Methodology in Pharmacology: A Questionnaire Based Study

Background: In order to successfully run a curriculum in a medical college, it is a mandatory to collect regular feedback from the students regarding teaching and learning methodologies. The primary objective of our study was to analyse the various teaching-learning aids and course content of pharmacology. The secondary objective was evaluation of pharmacology practical classes and their relevance in relation to the interests of students as well as clinical application. Methods: This is a cross sectional, open labelled questionnaire based study conducted among 100 2nd year MBBS students of a tertiary care teaching hospital. The questionnaire consisted of 10 questions with 4 response options each. Descriptive statistics was used for analysis and interpretation and the results were expressed as percentage frequency of responses. Results: It was revealed from our study that a majority of the students (45%) found microbiology undergraduate practical laboratory more interesting with pharmacology at 35%, which reflects that 65% students think that pharmacology laboratory exercises are boring and less useful. From among the pharmacology practical laboratories (clinical laboratory, experimental pharmacology and pharmacy), majority (47%) of the students opted for clinical prescription and problem based learning exercises as most beneficial. A whopping 55/100 students wanted introduction of clinical case studies as part of the regular practical teaching schedule while 30 students felt that doctor-patient role play should be included in teaching curriculum for better understanding of subject. Surprisingly, 42% of students find audio visual aids as most useful teaching methodologies while 33% students like bilateral (student- teacher) interactive classes. On the contrary, 72% of the students prefer studying pharmacology from combination of both lecture notes, textbooks and their self-prepared notes. 50/100 students wanted inclusion of more case studies and treatment protocols as a part of regular teaching protocol in pharmacology and 30 students wanted more group discussions to be included as a part of teaching curriculum in pharmacology. Conclusion: Pharmacology is a dynamic and continuously evolving branch of medicine. The results of our study are hoped to help in knowing students’ perspective regarding pharmacology teaching and modifying pharmacology teaching patterns for better outcomes.