POST-GRADUATE PHARMACY STUDENTS PERCEPTION ABOUT CHANGES REQUIRED IN PHARMACEUTICAL EDUCATION AND USE OF LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN SELECT COLLEGES IN SOUTH INDIA

A pilot study was conducted to understand the study habits of the post-graduation (PG) pharmacy students’ in India and their perspective on the use of a Learning Management System (LMS) in line with the current system of education to meet the industrial requirements in Indian scenario. The researchers administered of an open labeled, questionnaire to understand students’ study pattern, expectations from the use of a LMS to support their PG goals. Consents were taken from the students to use the data provided for deriving inferences for research purposes. Data was collected from all the students belonging to two premier private colleges in Bangalore, India and converted to graphical representations using Microsoft excel to provide simple percentages. The current trend in pharmacy education system shows that the PG students study/learn mostly during the internal and external examinations. This is a due to the pressure of doing well in the examination. This study also showed that the students study mostly from discussions, seminars and examinations. It was observed that the students wanted a proper orientation program that will train them in the best way to do the PG course and let them know of the options that will be available for them once they have completed the course. Eighty three percent of the students were excited to have the support of a LMS to provide them with a dashboard view of their performance in comparison with the rest of the class. This excitement can be related to the goal of the student to be competitive in the industry to get better salary if they can do well in their PG course. This pilot study should be considered as an revelation, as it shows that the PG student’s needs continuous support in terms of online lectures, research support, practical industrial training, etc. that is currently unavailable. This support can be provided with the use of a LMS that will support the students round the clock, as well as post PG for enhancing ones skills, with guaranteed benefits as shown from studies conducted around the world in pharmacy colleges