Development of PharmTest: a unique personal computer-mediated tool for assessment of pharmacology.

This report concerns the development of an assessment* model (PharmTest) for further evaluation by academic pharmacologists. The content area chosen for this model is the pharmacology of affective disorders. The components of the PharmTest system are: 1) a cognitive map of the content area used to develop the learning objectives (Figure): 2) both lower- and higher-level objectives developed jointly by basic and clinical faculty; 3) a bank of multiple choice questions (MCQ) judged to be congruent to the objectives by an expert panel; 4) a software program (SP) to manage the testing process; and 5) an annotated self-study document to aid students in their review after computer self-testing. PharmTest is designed to assist faculty in producing tests, making possible student self-testing and study. PharmTest was developed during a 6-month cooperative project between a faculty member from the University of North Carolina (HJB) and faculty of the University of Dundee. This report presents the learning objectives and cognitive map developed for the model content topic of "Pharmacology of Affective Disorders." Also it suggests a recipe for development of other content areas of pharmacology based on this project. Also, it presents the development process for PharmTest. Finally a plan for collecting evaluation data from academic pharmacology faculty is presented. Implications of the increased efficiency to faculty in linking learning objectives and testing are discussed, and a suggestion is made for national evaluation of learning in pharmacology.

Development and evaluation of patient-oriented problem-solving materials in pharmacology.

Faculty from six eastern health science schools, from Florida to Nova Scotia, developed a new series of group-learning units during 1983 and 1984 using a recently developed patient-oriented problem-solving approach. The purpose of the units was to teach problem solving by applying the concepts and principles of pharmacology to therapeutic problems, and to find ways to engage students actively in their learning of this material. The development team envisioned that these goals would be met by means of well-crafted teaching units that could be evaluated and, if acceptable, used by academic pharmacologists in their teaching. The units were developed, edited, reviewed by experts, and field-tested with students at the authors' schools; editing and publication were done by the study's sponsor, the Upjohn Company. The results of the field trials (which indicated no need for revisions of the units) showed that the units were well crafted and that the students had higher scores on tests of their knowledge of pharmacology after they had used the units.

Instruction in clinical pharmacology: changes in the wind.

We have presented some views on past, present and potential trends for teaching clinical pharmacology in the medical curriculum. Clinical pharmacology as subject matter in the medical curriculum has been operationally defined for our purposes as: (1) the application of fundamental principles of basic pharmacology to rational drug therapy in humans; and (2) the application of appropriate nuances of the human pharmacology of individual drugs to their use in particular disease states. In terms of improving the results of drug therapy, arguments were advanced for the importance of teaching clinical pharmacology at all levels in the medical curriculum and in postgraduate medical education. The introduction of so many new and potent pharmaceuticals over the past 25 years requires well educated and skilled medical practitioners adept and well versed in the fundamental principles of basic and applied pharmacology, so as to achieve the most prudent, effective and economically sound use of these drugs as possible. This creates a challenge to medical educators, particularly those involved in teaching clinical pharmacology, to devise innovative teaching techniques and curricular changes that foster these goals. In an attempt to address these challenges, we have reviewed some innovative teaching approaches and curricular reforms, both published and unpublished, that have already met with success, and we have also discussed some future trends in teaching both undergraduate and graduate physicians the fundamental principles of rational drug therapy. The challenges and issues involved in these future trends have been identified and will be addressed in subsequent articles in this journal. These will be concerned with teaching clinical pharmacology: (1) in basic medical pharmacology courses; (2) to upperclass medical students; and (3) in continuing medical education programs. Subsequent articles will also deal with new and innovative teaching modalities for clinical pharmacology and with the role of the drug industry in these modalities.

Purification, characterization and radioimmunoassay of thyrocalcitonin from rat thyroid glands.

A highly purified preparation of rat thyrocalcitonin (TCT) has been obtained from lyophilized thyroid glands by gel chromatography following acid-acetone extraction. Biological activity of Sephadex G-50 eluates appeared in two peaks. The TCT in the major peak was concentrated, and applied to a Bio-Gel P-6 column, and a major protein peak was eluted which coincided with TCT activity. Potency, estimated by bioassay in rats, increase approximately 3500-fold from 0.075 MRC U/mg lyophilized glands to 250-400 MRC U/mg in the final product. The overall yield of TCT activity was about 36%. The purified product was characterized by chemical procedures and evaluated for its antigenic properties and use for radioimmunoassay. The purified rat TCT was used both labeled with 125I and as unlabeled standard. The following results were obtained: 1) Guinea pig antisera to either human or rat TCT were capable of binding 125I-rat TCT or 125I-human TCT; 2) Using either 125I-human or 125I-rat TCT and antisera to either TCT, pg amounts of rat and human TCT reacted in the assay while ng to mug amounts of salmon calcitonin or porcine TCT failed to react; 3) Using 125I-rat TCT and antisera to human or rat TCT, synthetic C-terminal (10-32 or 22-32) fragments of human TCT reacted well, while N-terminal (1-18) or desamide (1-32) derivatives reacted poorly or not at all; 4) Rat TCT was easily detected in normal thyroid venous plasma (5-10 ng/ml) and thyroid gland extracts (similar to 1 mug/gland) but not in peripheral blood; 5) Bioassay and radioimmunoassay of rat thyroid extracts (N equals 18) showed good agreement (r equals 0.86, p less than 0.001). The results support the idea that rat TCT is closely related to human TCT, indicate that major antigenic determinants reside in the C-terminal portion of the molecule, and show that antisera to either human or rat TCT can be used to measure rat TCT.

The effect of antidiuretic hormone on avian salt gland function.

The effect of vasopressin (ADH) on the extrarenal secretory pattern from normal and contralateral chronically denervated salt glands in the conscious salt-loaded domestic goose was examined. ADH pretreatment reduced the total outputs and initial rates of water and cation concentrations 30-80% from both type glands. ADH also enhanced the onset time of secretion from the denervated glands and reduced the sodium concentration from both type glands. Both untreated and ADH-treated animals exhibited an increased output of water and cations from the denervated glands as compared with control glands. ADH caused no noticeable effect on this phenomenon.