Standardizing pharmacology education in a systems-based curriculum: a longitudinal, multicampus innovations model

Large, distributed medical schools face significant challenges in delivering consistent, high quality pharmacology instruction. Prior to 2016, the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) delivered pharmacology as a traditional, standalone course at each of its nine campuses, resulting in variability in instructional approaches, assessments, and student experience. A major curriculum redesign provided the opportunity to re-envision pharmacology education within an integrated, organ system-based model. Pharmacology content is now intentionally embedded across seven organ system-based pre-clerkship courses, supported by a statewide pharmacology faculty team and a newly established Pharmacology Discipline Consultant. A total of 84 pharmacology contact hours were preserved, with 37 h of standardized recorded lectures introducing foundational concepts and 47 h of small-group active-learning sessions emphasizing application and integration. Content sequencing now follows a spiral design to introduce, revisit, and reinforce key drugs and concepts across systems. Assessment practices are unified statewide using the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) item writing principles, centrally coordinated item review, and iterative quality improvement based on student feedback and psychometric performance. All pharmacology content and assessments are delivered identically across campuses to ∼375 students statewide. Recorded lectures provide uniformity in presentation and expectations, while campus-based active learning enables local faculty to facilitate case-based reasoning and integration across courses. Structured facilitator guides support faculty in synchronized delivery of the pharmacology curriculum. A statewide review process maintains alignment of content and reinforces consistency over time. This model preserves total pharmacology instructional time despite distributing content across multiple courses, maintaining coherence of the pharmacology curriculum through intentional sequencing, and establishes consistent assessment quality across all campuses. Student satisfaction with pharmacology instruction remains high, and learners report confidence in the alignment between instruction and assessment. Embedding a longitudinal pharmacology curriculum within an organ system-based framework is feasible and effective when supported by centralized coordination, standardization of foundational content, and faculty development. This innovation provides a replicable model for maintaining a high-quality, active-learning rich pre-clerkship pharmacology curriculum distributed across courses and campuses.