Pharmacist-led workshops to enhance pharmacotherapy knowledge for medical students

Graduating medical students have reported concern regarding inadequate training in pharmacotherapy. Teaching by clinical pharmacists may improve medical students' pharmacotherapy knowledge.

To assess the impact of pharmacist led workshops on 4th year medical students' knowledge of pharmacotherapy and satisfaction.

Senior medical students enrolled in intensive care unit rotations at a US medical school were randomized to an intervention of pharmacist led case-based workshops or a control group without an explicit pharmacotherapy curriculum. Intervention group students attended four weekly 1-hour workshops that covered topics in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, drug interactions and toxicity. A multiple-choice test of clinical vignettes assessed students' knowledge of pharmacotherapy. An end of clerkship survey assessed student satisfaction with teaching.

Of 176 medical students eligible, 148 agreed to participate and were randomized to the intervention (n = 63) or control groups (n = 85). Student satisfaction with pharmacist led workshops was high. End of clerkship performance on clinical vignettes (minimum score 0, maximum 100) was similar between the groups (mean score 47 (SD = 12.2) for intervention vs 44 (SD = 13.0) for control group, p = 0.16). On end of clerkship survey, only 8% of control group students agreed or strongly agreed that the standard curriculum provided sufficient teaching in pharmacotherapy. The majority of students (82%) felt that pharmacotherapy should be taught formally in the clinical years.

Pharmacist led workshops on pharmacotherapy were well received by senior medical students but did not improve performance on a test of pharmacotherapy knowledge. Further study is needed to define optimal strategies for improving medical students' pharmacotherapy knowledge.