Second year undergraduate medical student’s perceptions, their feedback regarding teaching methodologies and task based learning of pharmacology at Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalaburagi

Abstract

Introduction: Pharmacology, like any other branch of medicine, is progressing by leaps and bounds. Consequently, reforms in undergraduate teaching are the need of the hour. Objectives: To determine the medical students’ perception and receive feedback on teaching and learning of pharmacology in our institution. Material and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study based on the questionnaire. A pre-validated, predesigned questionnaire containing 11 points was administered to fifth term medical students. Second year students were enrolled for the study at their end of 5th term before university exams. Results: Majority (80 %) of the students opined that integration of pharmacology knowledge with bed side clinics and analytical way of learning by Problem Based Learning (PBL) enhances their knowledge and skills. Most 72% of the students agreed that the best teaching method for learning pharmacology was didactic lectures and group discussions. 96% of the students agreed that the ideal teaching/learning media for pharmacology was the combination of LCD projector and blackboard. Autonomic Nervous System was the difficult to understand by(64%) of the students.78 % of the students felt that their participation in student seminars has increased our morale, confidence and subject knowledge. 92% of the students said that prescription writing exercise helped us to know the importance of correct prescription writing. Conclusion: The present study helped us to elicit student preferences regarding teaching and evaluation methods in pharmacology. Implementation of the same would be helpful for better outcome of students. Keywords: Pharmacology, Teaching, Learning, Opinions, Perceptions, Seminars.