Core content of a course in clinical pharmacology.

drug use fostered by clinical pharmacology and therapeutics Introduction should be applicable to drugs used in any speciality, and to drugs currently available as well as to those yet to be The General Medical Council (GMC) has repeatedly called for changes to traditional medical school curricula which developed. were considered to be overburdened with factual material and to often emphasise teaching rather than learning. The Implementation of the core content GMC published recommendations [1] for the development The pattern of courses will differ in different medical of new medical curricula, which should take the form of a schools, and this work does not attempt to define how core curriculum, mandatory for all students and occupying any individual school should ensure that these issues are about two thirds of the course, and special study modules, learned. In general, the curriculum is confined to those occupying about one third of the course, for which the areas in which the learning is best directed by clinical student should be offered a range of options for study in pharmacologists and unlikely to be adequately directed by depth. The new curricula should emphasise learning by the other specialists. student, partly self directed and partly faculty directed. This work does not address the learning of the clinical The core curriculum itself was only broadly defined by pharmacology of commonly used drugs nor the therapeutics the GMC, which argued that curricula should not be of major clinical problems or medical emergencies. This speciality or departmentally based but should be integrated learning is of major importance and should ideally be both horizontally and vertically, i.e. with true interdisciplindirected by clinical pharmacologists. Recognising that there ary synthesis rather than just co-ordination. The GMC did is a shortage of clinical pharmacologists to take on this not have the resources to define the core content of all workload, many medical schools will opt to use specialists subjects even if this were desirable, but indicated that it in individual medical specialities for this task, but at the very would promote the definition of core content for specific least clinical pharmacologists should be involved in defining subjects by other organisations who might be concerned to the content of this element of the course and in its improve undergraduate education in that area. Such course co-ordination. definitions could then be made widely available so that they The curriculum in clinical pharmacology should be could be adopted by any medical school, with appropriate learned as a continuum throughout the medical school local modifications. course, starting with more basic pharmacology but with In this spirit, the committee of the Clinical Section of some content of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, and the British Pharmacological Society proposed to develop a gradually moving to a more clinically based course with core content for courses in clinical pharmacology and greater emphasis on clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, therapeutics. This core content was developed from an while retaining links to basic pharmacology. Finally, the American model [2] by academic clinical pharmacologists skills and attitudes introduced to undergraduates should be with experience in undergraduate learning, using a Delphi refined during the preregistration house officer year which technique [3]. The following document is the result of is also the responsibility of the university. this work. This course should be closely integrated with the other subjects under study by the students, or in more problemAim based courses, incorporated as a vital part of each problem area. The curriculum should ideally be learned in small The purpose of the work was to identify what should amounts over the full medical course, building on what was constitute the core content of courses in clinical pharmapreviously learnt and with key points frequently recurring; cology and therapeutics, i.e. the knowledge, skills and some schools may in addition want to have a discrete section attitudes that medical students should learn in order to or sections devoted predominantly to clinical pharmacology become competent to prescribe drugs safely and effectively and therapeutics at one specific time. and to maintain this competence throughout their professional lives. The approach and understanding of optimal Assessment Any core curriculum must be tested rigorously. Assessment of the course content here should be progressive, Correspondence: Professor T. Walley, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics,