Applied Pharmacology in the First Clinical Medicine Year: Gaps, Gains and Goals

Australian medical students and graduates have indicated that the preparation for their prescribing roles based on their pharmacology and therapeutics education during their medical course is inadequate. Their experience in their preclinical years is well structured and satisfactory, but does not articulate well with their experiences, or is forgotten, during the clinical years. Learning in pharmacology and therapeutics in the clinical years is perceived to be happenstance and unstructured. This project will explore the teaching of pharmacology and the opportunities for application during their first clinical year, Year 3B, in the Monash medical course. The research question is what are the strengths and gaps in pharmacology teaching and learning in this year of the course? The student will analyse student and staff perceptions of the pharmacology curriculum and student experiences using both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The results will inform how pharmacology learning in this year of the course could be enhanced. The full-time project can be conducted from a flexible location, with some data collection will be done in Gippsland.