Case-Based Learning in Pharmacy Practice: Observations from an Indian Pharmacy College

Abstract

Today, it's getting harder to learn a career in pharmacy. In addition to self-guided individual learning, pharmaceutical educators are required to find and adopt ways that support higher-level thinking, collaborative learning, and student motivation. One strategy to achieve these aims is to develop and use case-based learning as an addition to traditional teaching techniques. They support learner-centered, small-group, interactive learning experiences as opposed to large-group, teacher-centered, didactic instruction. A cross-over study between two groups equally exposed to both didactic lectures and case-based pedagogy musculoskeletal system diseases and drug therapy; which involves assessment of perception and small group responses towards case-based learning. The outcome of which is further investigated by administering an objective structured clinical examination. The vast majority of the students reported satisfaction with case-based learning sessions and highly appreciated this method of teaching pharmacotherapy of musculoskeletal system diseases. In our study, more than 93.22% of the students opined that they enjoyed sessions and it held their interest and motivated them to learn better. The ‘t-test between post-test 1 and post-test 2 scores was statistically significant with a P value of 0.0001. This suggests that CBL is effective in students’ learning, and reinforces important concepts, strengthening information retention and long-term memory. In conclusion, the perception of pharmacy practice students towards case-based learning is highly contented and encountered a very positive impact on understanding and retention of knowledge in musculoskeletal system diseases and drug therapies.