Opinion of stakeholders on existing curriculum for postgraduate (MD) course in Pharmacology: A survey.

OBJECTIVES: To survey the opinion about various curricular components of Doctor of Medicine (MD) pharmacology curriculum in India by stakeholders, including faculty and students.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: An online survey was done to evaluate the various curricular components of MD pharmacology curriculum being used in India. A total of 393 respondents including faculty, MD students, and other stakeholders completed the survey. The survey was developed using SurveyMonkey platform and link to survey was E-mailed to stakeholders. The results were expressed as percentages.

RESULTS: There was a balanced representation of respondents from various designations, teaching experience, regions, and age groups. Most of the respondents (83%) were aware of the MD pharmacology curriculum. However, they reported that it is more inclined to knowledge domain. About half of respondents (53%) said that animal experiments are being used. The most common teaching methods mentioned are seminars (98.5%), journal clubs (95%), and practical exercises by postgraduates (73%), but there is less use of newer methods (25%) in theory and less of clinical pharmacology exercise (39%) in practical classes. The log books are maintained but not assessed regularly. Internal assessment is sparingly used.

CONCLUSION: The MD pharmacology curriculum needs to be made uniform at the national level and updated to include the newer methods in teaching-learning and assessment. There should be sharing of newer methods at a common platform implemented at the national level.