“May You Live in Interesting Times”: Incorporation of COVID‐19 Topics in Pharmacology Instruction in Pharm.D. Curriculum

Abstract

COVID‐19 pandemic created many challenges for education enterprise, but also presented several opportunities, including new content developments and clear basic science applicability in health professions. We incorporated several COVID‐19‐related topics in pharmacology content taught throughout the Pharm.D. curriculum and analyzed student performance on related assignments. In first professional year class, we created an active learning exercise in Principles of Drug Action course about pharmacology of glucocorticoids that included recently published articles about the use of dexamethasone in severely‐ill COVID‐19 patients. Students completed an open‐book group assignment containing open‐ended questions on glucocorticoid pharmacology and COVID‐19 treatment. They mastered the material with average scores of 89.06% on questions related to general glucocorticoid pharmacology and 98.21% on COVID‐related glucocorticoid use questions. In professional year two, we created an active learning practice opportunity for Integrated Pharmacotherapy: Cardiology class about the role of renin‐angiotensin system (RAS) pathways and their inhibition in COVID‐19. Readings that summarized recent controversies about the role of RAS inhibitors in COVID‐19 were chosen. Students worked in groups on open‐ended questions about general pharmacology of RAS inhibitors and their proposed and observed effects on COVID‐19. Student scores for general pharmacology of RAS inhibitors questions and RAS inhibitors’ effects on COVID‐19 were similar in this activity, with the averages of 88.99% and 87.17%, respectively. Over the semester students demonstrated a trend towards improvement in their RAS pharmacology performance on closed‐book assessments, which increased from 70.3% on the first test to the average of 84.6% on subsequent exams, however, the observed difference was not statistically significant. Finally, antiviral pharmacology lecture in Integrated Pharmacotherapy: Infectious Disease course presented to third professional year students included COVID‐related content. We did not test students on COVID‐related pharmacology content specifically in this class and their overall performance on antiviral drugs pharmacology exam questions was similar to last year s class performance (79.73% vs. 76.79%). Our observations indicate that additional practice opportunities that demonstrate clear clinical relevance of pharmacology content can positively affect student performance as evidenced by high average scores on reported assessments. These class activities may promote our students commitment to lifelong learning.