Improving Student Performance in an Inter‐Professional Pharmacology Course: Applying Lessons Learned from Successes in Medical Pharmacology
Authors: Smith Stanley Vaughn 
Published: April 2020

Purpose

We have made great strides in improving outcomes in Medical Pharmacology at our institution. In addition, we also teach Dental, Master’s, and PhD students in a combined Pharmacology Course, Dental/Fundamental Pharmacology. Each group of students has unique requirements based on their chosen professional field and/or career goals. We evaluated the course, its place in the curriculum of each discipline, student outcomes, and other metrics. Based on ongoing trends, we are implementing several significant changes to the course and its structure.

Methods

Dental/Fundamental Pharmacology is an ~80 hour course taught during the Spring Semester with an enrollment of ~150 students(~100 Masters, ~5–10 Ph.D., and ~40 D.M.D.). Students take 5 exams that comprise 100% of their grade. Much like Medical Pharmacology, Dental/Fundamental Pharmacology has had excellent student satisfaction from both the dental students and the graduate students in the course over the last several years. However, there has been a trend toward lower National Board of Dental Examiners (NBDE) Board Scores in Pharmacology for the Dental Students.

Results

Dental/Fundamental student satisfaction has been very good. Dental students recently scored the course 4.8 out of 5 (12 question evaluation on a 1 – Strongly Disagree to 5 – Strongly Agree scale). Graduate students gave the course a 3.6 out of 4 (1 – Strongly Disagree to 4 – Strongly Agree). This reflects the fact that the content and approach very closely mirror the highly successful Medical Pharmacology Course. The Dental Students take the NBDE Board exam of which there is a significant Pharmacology component. Despite the encouraging student satisfaction, over the last few years Dental student scores on the Pharmacology Section of the NBDE Boards have gone from being above the national average to being significantly below (D‐values dropped from +0.7 to −0.6). There is no overt national comparison assessment of the student’s Pharmacology knowledge in the other programs (PhD and Master’s). However, advancement to candidacy and acceptance rates to Medical/Dental Schools are encouraging.

Conclusions

To combat the undesirable trend in Dental Board scores, we will introduce Dental‐based board review sessions during the course. The structure of the NDBE Board has recently shifted from a two part format to a single exam that is taken in the fourth year. In the new format, the Pharmacology component will be tested in conjunction with the other basic science disciplines. Prior the Pharmacology content was in Part 2 (4th year) while the other basic sciences were in Part 1 (2nd year). The overall Dental Curriculum was restructured to accommodate this change in format. We expect these two changes will have a positive synergy and reverse the undesirable Board trends. In addition, we will deliver customized examinations for the courses. Dental students will receive exams with 10–20% Dental‐emphasis, Clinical questions modeled after those they should expect to encounter on their boards. Master’s and PhD students will receive exams with 10–20% Basic/Clinical/Translational research‐emphasis questions. Targeting the specific needs should help restore Dental outcomes towards desired levels as well as continue the positive outcomes for the Master’s and PhD students.