Medical Students’ Feedback about Teaching Fundamental Pharmacology in an Integrated Curriculum

Abstract

Objective: International Medical School at Management and Science University (MSU) adopted an integrated systemic curriculum in 2011. The current study aimed to evaluate 2nd-year medical students’ feedback on teaching fundamental pharmacology in an integrated course. Study Design: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between January and June 2013. Methodology: Data were collected from 2nd–year medical students (n=164) studying at MSU in Malaysia using modified course evaluation questionnaire and descriptive and inferential analysis was conducted using Chi-squared  and the post-hoc Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) tests. Results: The response rate was 76.2% (164/210); 39 male and 125 female participated in this study. The average percentage of respondents with agreed feedback was highly significant (P<0.0001) compared with the average percentage of respondents that disagreed. Analysis of each item of the course evaluation questionnaire showed that the percentage frequency of respondents with agreed response was significantly (P<0.001) greater than the percentage frequency of respondents with disagreed response. Conclusion: The study showed that 2nd-year medical students have positive feedback on teaching fundamental pharmacology within an integrated curriculum. The integrated curriculum improved motivation of medical student for learning fundamental pharmacology. Therefore, integrated curriculum can be considered as one of the means for improvement of teaching and learning pharmacology.