A patient based teaching module on the pharmacology of anesthetic drugs

Abstract

Background Medical students who take electives in Anesthesiology often lack formal training in the pharmacology of the medications used by anesthesiologists. The clinical learning environment in the OR is often not conducive to comprehensive teaching opportunities, as patient care is the primary focus. Providing a teaching module on a portable device such as an iPad would facilitate a standardized learning approach for these students to learn about anesthetic drugs in the clinical OR setting. Objectives To develop a digital, interactive learning module on the pharmacology and clinical application of anesthetic drugs for medical students interested in anesthesia. Methods We compiled learning materials on the pharmacology of various classes of Anesthetic agents. We also designed virtual patient cases and coupled them with the background pharmacology. The resulting module was formatted on an iPad for ready access in the OR setting. Results The project will be completed throughout summer 2012; therefore results have not yet been obtained. The intention is to evaluate the effectiveness of this module for student learning either through a quality assurance questionnaire or formal testing of retained material once we have the module complete and functional.