COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF SIMULATION BASED TEACHING VERSUS CONVENTIONAL TEACHING FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF SECOND PROFESSIONAL M.B.B.S IN EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY

Aims: To evaluate and analyze effectiveness of animal simulation based teaching in pharmacology in comparison to conventional methods to undergraduate medical students. Methods: An interventional and comparative study was conducted among second professional MBBS students. All students were divided into two groups A and B. Four demonstrations of experimental pharmacology were demonstrated by conventional method and animal simulation method by same teacher. Both groups were equally exposed to both modes of demonstrations. Every demonstration was followed by an assessment containing thirty objective type questions. Feedback was taken to analyze generalized opinion about the programme on likert’s scale. The data was analyzed by using Fisher’s exact test and p value calculated. Results: Percentage of students who scored 60% or more was higher in simulator based teaching in assessment related to procedure, related pharmacology and applied pharmacology. The difference between total scores of both groups in all four demonstrations was statistically significant with p value < 0.05. In feedback, percentage of students who opted three or more on likert scale was higher for simulator based teaching. 83% students preferred simulator based mode of teaching in future, while only 63.8% preferred to perform practical on it. The difference was statistically significant with p value 0.0047. Conclusion: The study recommends use of animal simulation for teaching experimental pharmacology, as it is found to be effective, interesting and feasible without sacrificing and providing pain to animals as compared to conventional method. Study also points out need of computer training for the faculty and students.