An Academic Perspective to Marketing Pharmacology

1. An Academic Perspective to �Marketing� Pharmacology Historical perspective as seen through The Pharmacologist and TIPS articles Consensus that exposure to formal instruction in pharmacology at the undergraduate level induces �interest� Approaches to teaching are as varied as the individuals who teach I am Barbara Beckman from Tulane University. My topic this afternoon is entitled "An Academic Perspective to "Marketing" Pharmacology".A number of articles from the Pharmacologist and TIPS in the 80s and 90s have emphasized the importance of undergraduate education in pharmacology in terms of teaching educated students how to deal in an informed way with his/her encounters with chemicals. In this regard, education in pharmacology is more relevant, or at least more useful from a practical viewpoint, than many of the courses taken in a liberal arts curriculum. The undergrads tell us this! Rochelle Schwartz-Bloom as Chair of the ASPET Committee on Educational Affairs in 1996 published a survey on undergraduate pharmacology courses and programs. There were 7 BS programs/majors in pharmacology for undergraduates, the oldest being at the U. of Toronto. Next in order of longevity are: state Univs of CA, Santa Barbara and NY, Buffalo College of Pharmacy, U. of Wisconsin Sch of Pharmacy, State Univ of NY at Stony Brook and U. of Calif at San Diego. In that same survey 21 pharmacology courses for undergraduates were identified. In the next 20 minutes I would like to share my personal academic perspective on teaching pharmacology to undergraduates. I'll give you an historical perspective vis a vis Tulane's experience, tell you about our course content and organzation, talk about what works and what doesn't and pose challenges for the future.I am Barbara Beckman from Tulane University. My topic this afternoon is entitled "An Academic Perspective to "Marketing" Pharmacology".A number of articles from the Pharmacologist and TIPS in the 80s and 90s have emphasized the importance of undergraduate education in pharmacology in terms of teaching educated students how to deal in an informed way with his/her encounters with chemicals. In this regard, education in pharmacology is more relevant, or at least more useful from a practical viewpoint, than many of the courses taken in a liberal arts curriculum. The undergrads tell us this! Rochelle Schwartz-Bloom as Chair of the ASPET Committee on Educational Affairs in 1996 published a survey on undergraduate pharmacology courses and programs. There were 7 BS programs/majors in pharmacology for undergraduates, the oldest being at the U. of Toronto. Next in order of longevity are: state Univs of CA, Santa Barbara and NY, Buffalo College of Pharmacy, U. of Wisconsin Sch of Pharmacy, State Univ of NY at Stony Brook and U. of Calif at San Diego. In that same survey 21 pharmacology courses for undergraduates were identified. In the next 20 minutes I would like to share my personal academic perspective on teaching pharmacology to undergraduates. I'll give you an historical perspective vis a vis Tulane's experience, tell you about our course content and organzation, talk about what works and what doesn't and pose challenges for the future.

2. Historical Perspective vis a vis Tulane�s Experience Tulane course has been taught for 30 years Approach has not changed, but purpose and marketing have. Instituted a �minor� in pharmacology in 1990; Honors� �major� on demand The same basic cohort of faculty members have taught this course, with a few exceptions. The original purpose of the course was to "recruit" good graduate students- With a change in course director in 1984, the ostensible goal shifted-to educate undergraduates in a "broader" sense to what pharmacology is all about. We give the course every Fall and the numbers of students have ranged from 5-75 with an average in the last five years of 50 students. The course is basically a "survey" course and its content has not changed signficantly over the years. The course became much more "popular" when we changed the name from Introductory Pharmacology to "Drugs and their Actions". As another "marketing" ploy we instituted a "minor" in pharmacology and have had 15 students graduate with the "minor" and another three design their own "major" in pharmacology. All three "majors" ended up at Tulane Medical School, and one completed the PhD followed by the MD degree. The same basic cohort of faculty members have taught this course, with a few exceptions. The original purpose of the course was to "recruit" good graduate students- With a change in course director in 1984, the ostensible goal shifted-to educate undergraduates in a "broader" sense to what pharmacology is all about. We give the course every Fall and the numbers of students have ranged from 5-75 with an average in the last five years of 50 students. The course is basically a "survey" course and its content has not changed signficantly over the years. The course became much more "popular" when we changed the name from Introductory Pharmacology to "Drugs and their Actions". As another "marketing" ploy we instituted a "minor" in pharmacology and have had 15 students graduate with the "minor" and another three design their own "major" in pharmacology. All three "majors" ended up at Tulane Medical School, and one completed the PhD followed by the MD degree.

3. Course Content We start out by telling the students what pharmacology is since we find that lay people in general don't know, as illustrated in this Drabble cartoon. Purposes 1. To teach what pharmacology is and what it is about. 2. To teach about a "selected" groups of drugs pertinent to the students.. 3. To teach big concepts that are general enough to apply to any drug discussion; pharmakodynamics, pharmacokinetics, etc. We start out by telling the students what pharmacology is since we find that lay people in general don't know, as illustrated in this Drabble cartoon. Purposes 1. To teach what pharmacology is and what it is about. 2. To teach about a "selected" groups of drugs pertinent to the students.. 3. To teach big concepts that are general enough to apply to any drug discussion; pharmakodynamics, pharmacokinetics, etc.

4. Course Content Organization: General principles Autonomic nervous system drugs Central nervous system drugs Selected topics We start off with General Principles-metabolism, receptor concept, efficacy, potency, signal transduction mechanisms and then we cover the autonomic nervous system drugs by giving an overview of the autonomic nervous system, overview of the CNS, CNS drugs and special topics including hormones as drugs and toxicology. These topics are determined by student feedback via questionnaires that we distribute at the end of the semester.We start off with General Principles-metabolism, receptor concept, efficacy, potency, signal transduction mechanisms and then we cover the autonomic nervous system drugs by giving an overview of the autonomic nervous system, overview of the CNS, CNS drugs and special topics including hormones as drugs and toxicology. These topics are determined by student feedback via questionnaires that we distribute at the end of the semester.

5. Exams 4-6 short fill-in-blank, short discussion-question-type quizzes Midterm examination Final examination Whether short quizzes are used has varied from year to year-typicallly are unannounced As class size has increased essay type exams have morphed into multiple choice type exams Material has been taken from lecture notes-until last year when the book could also provide questions. Bank of questions is now being establishedWhether short quizzes are used has varied from year to year-typicallly are unannounced As class size has increased essay type exams have morphed into multiple choice type exams Material has been taken from lecture notes-until last year when the book could also provide questions. Bank of questions is now being established

6. Textbooks None have been required until recently. Those recommended: DiPalma-Basic Pharmacology in Medicine Goodman and Gilman-The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) Liska-Drugs and the Human Body Julien-A primer of Drug Action Texbooks have ranged from DiPalma-Basic Pharmacology in Medicine, G & G, The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, Physicians Desk Reference, Drugs and the Human Body with Implications for Society by Ken Liska to A primer of Drug Action by Robert M. Julien. None have been ideal for our type of course. About five years ago I began to collate the lecture notes into a text that was just published last year by Erudition Press.Texbooks have ranged from DiPalma-Basic Pharmacology in Medicine, G & G, The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, Physicians Desk Reference, Drugs and the Human Body with Implications for Society by Ken Liska to A primer of Drug Action by Robert M. Julien. None have been ideal for our type of course. About five years ago I began to collate the lecture notes into a text that was just published last year by Erudition Press.

7. My textbook Drugs and their Actions, 2000, Erudition Press Evolved from the course we teach. Images are simple, i.e., Lippincott which is the most popular textbook for medical students Academic Press and Sinauer initially were interested in publishing a textbook for undergraduates but after some market research found that the market was too small. Sinauer contacted 24 schools and found that 6 of them no longer offered a pharmacology course to undergrads. (Rutgers, UMASS, Amhert, BU, Ohio Northern Univ. U. of Illinois, U. of Missouri-Kansas City; The following textbooks are used by schools teaching a General Pharmacology course: Katsung: Basic & Clinical Pharmacology (3) Clar, Queener et al: Pharmacological Basis of Nursing Practice (2); Goodman and Gilman (1), Feldman (1), Ballington: Pharmacology for Technicians (1), Rang, Dale, Ritter: Pharmacology (1), Pharmacology Reviews (1), Salern: Pharmacology for Health Professionals (1); Avis: Drugs & Life (1); Almon: Drugs in Human Biology (1); None (1); Segal-Basic Neurochemistry (1)Academic Press and Sinauer initially were interested in publishing a textbook for undergraduates but after some market research found that the market was too small. Sinauer contacted 24 schools and found that 6 of them no longer offered a pharmacology course to undergrads. (Rutgers, UMASS, Amhert, BU, Ohio Northern Univ. U. of Illinois, U. of Missouri-Kansas City; The following textbooks are used by schools teaching a General Pharmacology course: Katsung: Basic & Clinical Pharmacology (3) Clar, Queener et al: Pharmacological Basis of Nursing Practice (2); Goodman and Gilman (1), Feldman (1), Ballington: Pharmacology for Technicians (1), Rang, Dale, Ritter: Pharmacology (1), Pharmacology Reviews (1), Salern: Pharmacology for Health Professionals (1); Avis: Drugs & Life (1); Almon: Drugs in Human Biology (1); None (1); Segal-Basic Neurochemistry (1)

8. Example of Text Figure

12. Things that work... Name of course must clearly advertise content Demonstrate diversity of �pharmacologists� if course is team taught Teach topics that are relevant to undergraduates Good PR increases numbers of students who sign up, i.e. "drugs" in the title of the course! No place for elitism. Students like seeing the "diversity" of pharmacologists who teach them! Questionaires help to keep the students thoughts central to the enterprise... Good PR increases numbers of students who sign up, i.e. "drugs" in the title of the course! No place for elitism. Students like seeing the "diversity" of pharmacologists who teach them! Questionaires help to keep the students thoughts central to the enterprise...

13. �and things that don�t (work) Class size is an issue and too many students can jeopardize problem based learning approaches Travel time from one campus to another can be viewed as a nice diversion or time-consuming by lecturers Lecturers must be monitored and �hand-picked�

14. Challenges for the Future How many students can be accommodated effectively? How often can your faculty teach the course? Should the course content be �user friendly� or �very challenging�?

15. Challenges for the Future How do we accommodate all the undergrads who want research experience in pharmacology? How do we interest Faculty in teaching pharmacology courses?

16. Challenges for the Future How can ASPET and the pharmaceutical industry �partner� in undergraduate education?