EXPERIENCE OF TEACHING THE COURSE “PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMISTRY” TO FOREIGN STUDENTS OF "PHARMACY, INDUSTRIAL PHARMACY" SPECIALTY
Authors: Sas І. А. 
Published: July 2021

The course “Pharmaceutical Chemistry” is a mandatory component of professional training program for students majoring in 226 “Pharmacy, Industrial Pharmacy”, as well as one of the elements of the integrated licensing test exam “Step 2. Pharmacy” and an objective structured practical exam. This course is taught to English-speaking students at the Pharmacy Department of IFNMU since 2013. A significant amount of study material (13 ECTS credits, 5 semesters), the transition to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, difficulties with learning in English leads to a significant reduction in the motivation of foreign students to study pharmaceutical chemistry.

In order to improve the quality of training of foreign students, we have summarized the experience of teaching the pharmaceutical chemistry to English-speaking students at the Pharmacy Department of IFNMU; conducted a questionnaire of the students; identified and analyzed the ways to solve the main problems faced by both students and teachers; offered the recommendations for improving teaching methods for on-line and off-line classes.

In 2020-2021 academic year at the Pharmacy Department of IFNMU the students of the 3rd and 4th courses studied pharmaceutical chemistry. In the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, training was conducted on-line on the Microsoft Teams platform. In order to find out the attitude of students to this subject and to the methods of its teaching, a questionnaire was conducted in Microsoft Forms. Students were asked to answer 6 test questions and also to give their own recommendations.

According to the results of students’ surveys and their suggestions, we proposed to use the following methods to improve work with foreign students and improve the ways of presenting material in on-line classes in pharmaceutical chemistry:

learning the monographs on medicines from pharmacopoeias of different countries (including those that are the Homeland of students), their analysis and comparison of the described methods;

creation of video recordings of processes of the analysis of medicines with the subsequent their demonstration and discussion in the class;

demonstration of videos with intentional mistakes in the implementation of methods of drug analysis, and the subsequent processing of these mistakes in the form of discussion;

oral discussion of the algorithms for conducting various stages of drug analysis (identification, assay, purity tests) and their reproduction by students using an interactive whiteboard, multimedia chemical computer programs, on-line testing;

solving by students various professional situational problems, independent development of methods of analysis of drugs and further discussion of all possible ways and means.

All the proposed methods can be used also in off-line classes with the replacement of video demonstrations of drug analysis processes to work with students in an experimental laboratory.

Thus, using the above methods can significantly improve the results of theoretical and practical training of foreign students in pharmaceutical chemistry, especially during the on-line learning. In addition, it allows students to form other skills necessary for their further professional life such as the ability to put forward ideas, defend their point of view, work in a team, hold a discussion. As a result of such an approach to conducting classes, students will develop an interest in the course, and thus their results will be improved.