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| LETTER TO EDITOR |
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| Year : 2009 | Volume
: 41
| Issue : 6 | Page : 288 |
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Pharmacolgy teaching: Need for a sea change
Vishal Sharma1, Rashmi Sharma2
1 Department of Medicine, University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi, India
2 Intern, BJS Dental College, Ludhiana, India
| Date of Web Publication | 12-Feb-2010 |
Correspondence Address:
Vishal Sharma
Department of Medicine, University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0253-7613.59930
How to cite this article:
Sharma V, Sharma R. Pharmacolgy teaching: Need for a sea change. Indian J Pharmacol 2009;41:288 |
Sir,
One cannot but agree with the pitch for substantial changes in the current pharmacology curriculum. [1] Traditional teaching of pharmacology has encouraged rote learning and has taken away the interest of students from what can be a very interesting subject. The practical teaching has been even worse, with emphasis being on ancient techniques. As a student, I never understood the need to perform those experiments on rabbit intestines and the need to prepare those tinctures and lotions that I no longer remember. Training in practical clinical pharmacology was extremely limited. Any change in this archaic curriculum needs all the support from teachers, policy makers and administrators.
Current medical graduates learn their first lessons in rational and appropriate prescribing in busy out patient departments during their internship. Their knowledge about practical drug dosing and modifications to be made in various clinical scenarios leaves much more to be desired. The new guidelines for teaching pharmacology must be radical in scraping what is useless and in recommending a practical patient-based learning. This will bring the interest of medical students back into pharmacology classes.
| » References | |  |
| 1. | Desai M. Changing face of pharmacology practicals for medical undergraduates. Indian J Pharmacol 2009;41:151-2.   |
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