Abstract:

The shift towards a learner-centered environment proposed across the different disciplines has encouraged students to gather information efficiently from various sources, including simulated scenarios to enhance their learning experience. We describe a pharmacokinetics and pharmacology practical assignment in the third year pharmacy course that mimics a clinical trial to expose students to them through experiential learning. The assignment followed a linear development that included the main steps: students reviewed literature, write a study protocol, interviewed and recruited simulated patients amongst the staff and faculty members of the pharmacy school. After obtaining informed consent, the subjects acting as simulated volunteers were given one-half glass of wine and alcohol blood levels measured using a spirometer. Then, pharmacokinetic analysis was performed and data compared between the different groups of students. Student performance was assessed at multiple points of the simulation and survey-based and reflective feedback collected. Bloom´s taxonomy of learning was itemized and covered in the practical. The students considered the data analysis the most difficult step and volunteering personal data together with the opportunity to ask questions were the most important aspect of the subject interview. In addition, most identified common errors were related to hands-on aspects of the trial. Students highly evaluated (1) the capacity to visualize the translatability of the theoretical concepts into practice and (2) the ability to mimic their upcoming professional scenario, as the most important features of the practical. Although this was performed within a pharmacy program, it is easily transferable to other health sciences courses and countries provided that wine is culturally and socially accepted.

Keywords:

Pharmacy, Pharmacokinetics, Clinical Trial, Experiential Learning, Simulation.