A Pharmacology Teaching Model CaiLi Zhang Dept' of Pharmacology, Tianjin Medical University Tianjin

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A Pharmacology Teaching Model
Cai-Li Zhang Dept. of Pharmacology, Tianjin
Medical University Tianjin 300070, Peoples
Republic of China
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• Facing the fast development of
  science, technology, knowledge and information,
  our society needs high level personnel, who not
  only have abundant scientific knowledge, but also
  various ability.

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• Seven-year program students are high
  level students in Medical University, how to
  improve the seven-year program teaching, to make
  the students to be the reserve force of real
  scientific and technological personnel, it is an
  important task for the University and faculty
  members.

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• For many years in Tianjin Medical
  University we have tried to improve teaching
  Pharmacology in the field of compiling materials,
  preparing the lectures, giving the lectures and
  training the comprehensive ability of the
  students.

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• 1.Compiling teaching materials
• Compiling Pharmacology text
• book in English

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• Construction of teaching material should be at
  the same time with reformation of teaching,
  writing systemic, scientific, creative and
  combing teaching realistic, high- quality new
  teaching materials.

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• According to teaching content, consulting newly
  published English and Chinese text books and
  reference books, we have written New English
  Pharmacology text book. The book is designed to
  provide a complete, current and readable
  Pharmacology book both for seven-year program and
  foreign medical students.

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• The book was printed in 1997(1st edition),
  1999(2nd edition) and 2002(3rd edition). It is
  also used by Medical School, Nankai University
  and Henan Medical University. After using this
  book for several years, it shows that is a
  practical, high quality basic science teaching
  material.

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• Compiling Pharmacology experiment
• guideline in English for seven-year
• program students

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• Natural science is based on practice. The
  design of experiment depends on theory. The
  result of experiment tests and verifies or denies
  the theory.

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• In general, principle of Pharmacology,
  Pharmacokinetics is one of the important
  theoretical content, in the field of directing
  rational use of drug in clinic, preventing
  irrational drug use, it has important meaning.
  Right now, Pharmacokinetics is developing broadly
  abroad.

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• Rapidly and accurately determine patients
  plasma drug concentration is a basic step for
  calculating Pharmacokinetic parameters. The
  determining one- compartment, two-compartment
  model blood concentration experiment may help
  the students to understand the theoretical
  knowledge learned in classroom, and train their
  ability of practice.

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• Most of the students study drugs
  isolated and do not understand the use of drug
  combination and drug interactions. To overcome
  this shortage, we write discussion materials,
  such as the actions of autonomic nervous system
  drugs. Cholinergic drugs, cholinoceptor-blocking
  drugs, adrenergic drugs, and adrenoceptor-blocking
  drugs are used in some animal model experiments.

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• Discuss the effects of these drugs.
  Since they have interactions, when they are used
  together, it is different from that when they are
  used alone.

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• Through discussion, students understand
  the interactions of cholinergic drugs,
  cholinoceptor-blocking drugs, adrenergic drugs
  and adrenoceptor-blocking drugs after they are
  used in combination, then the students
  comprehensive ability is raised.

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• We have case discussion class.
  Representative cases are selected, let students
  to discuss what should be used and explain the
  reasons. Let them to understand how to use drug
  rationally, in order to manage drug interactions
  and avoid side effects.

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• Compiling a review test book

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• 2. Characteristics of teaching

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• For seven-year program medical students
  from 1985 some professors have insisted on giving
  lectures in English, other faculty members use
  both English and Chinese.

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• In Pharmacology half of the total
  teaching hours is in English. Lecture notes,
  outline, blackboard writing, medical terms, drug
  names, Power-point for all the speakers are in
  English. In teaching we insist the following

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• Keeping the contents of the teaching new,
  deep and broad.

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• We will explain the progress and trends of
  Pharmacology and new theories. To explain the
  mechanism of action of drug on molecular level,
  receptor and subtypes and ion levels. We pay
  attention to the connection between basic and
  clinical courses.

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• Preparing lectures collectively

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• Every unit one faculty member is in
  charge of preparing lectures. He raises the key
  points, difficult points. After discussion and
  searching materials from literature, we may
  understand the teaching material deeply and
  manage the key points, difficult points in our
  minds. Preparing lectures collectively especially
  helps the young assistants and also the whole
  faculty members to raise the academic level in
  our field.

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• Using heuristic teaching method

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• Pay attention to the training of the
  students intelligence, giving lectures with
  heuristic method, emphatically elucidating the
  drug actions, mechanism of action of drugs, side
  effects and clinical uses of drugs.

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• Simply explaining other parts of the
  materials, or directing the students to read by
  themselves. Introduce the important, meaningful
  new scientific achievement as key point.

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• For example, in general principles of
  Pharmacology, every student should manage and
  know how to calculate transport rate, rate
  constant, half-life, apparent volume of
  distribution, compartment model, and LD50.

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• New theories and new progress are
  introduced in the following fields of teaching
  materials, such as receptor-effector coupling
  mechanism, mechanism of benzodiazepines, dopamine
  receptor subtypes, opioid receptor subtypes,
  mechanism of calcium antagonists, nitrates,
  cardiac glycosides and diuretics, mechanism of
  glucocorticoids, antithyroid drugs, antidiabetic
  drugs and the development of b-lactam
  antibiotics.

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• Connecting general principles with practice

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• All the drugs have close relation with
  diseases. Using heuristic teaching method we
  introduce clinical cases to the students. Let
  them think, analyze and discuss how to use the
  drugs to treat the diseases. Train the students
  differentiating and analyzing ability and improve
  their studying method.

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• Paying attention to transverse connection of
  different topics

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• Raising questions, discussion, review
  and quiz are used to review the knowledge. For
  example, chlorpromazine, aspirin and
  glucocorticoids can lower the body temperature,
  but the mechanisms of action are different. One
  question belongs to these chapters. The students
  compose the similarity and differences of these
  drugs. Thus, the analytical ability of the
  students is raised.

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• Examinations and experiment reports written in
  English

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• Small quiz, mid term exam, final exam
  are all in English, and the students are asked to
  answer the questions in English. At the same
  time, they have to write experiment reports in
  English.

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• Writing abstracts and reviews

To improve the students medical English
level, faculty members direct students to write
abstracts and reviews.
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• Totally raising students quality, analytical
  ability and knowledge level

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• According to the analysis of the exam
  records of 14 sessions, for seven-year program
  students we have used English text book, English
  teaching material and given lectures in English,
  the result is well. Students English level,
  writing ability is raised. Most of them can
  communicate with people, answer the questions,
  writing experiment reports, abstracts and reviews
  in English.

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• 3. Inviting foreign professors to give
  lectures

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• To elevate the teaching level of faculty
  members, four American professors have been
  invited to give lectures to students. We also
  invited foreign professors and scientists to give
  seminars. By means of this kind of activities,
  faculty members and students may understand the
  development and new trends of Pharmacology.

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• 4.   Continuously elevating experiment course
  level

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• Pharmacology experiment course has
  important link with Pharmacology teaching. It may
  not only consolidate and elevate the theory, but
  also training the student independent working
  ability. In the experiment course we use closed
  TV, head projector, slide projector, recorders
  video tapes, power point, including all these
  electrochemical teaching measures, which are also
  used in classroom.

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• It is easy for students to understand the
  abstract conceptions, to get direct
  understanding.

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5.Training young faculty members
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• The key point of elevating student
  quality is to elevate the quality of young
  faculty members. Facing the problem of continuous
  renewal of the knowledge, increasing teaching
  materials, comparatively shortening the teaching
  hours, how to elevate teaching quality, it raises
  a higher demand for faculty members.

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a.  Establishing young assistant training system
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• Every new assistant is directed by an
  associate professor or professor, who helps him
  to perform teaching task independently as soon as
  possible. For lecturers and associate professors
  all have special training plans.

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• b. Trial lecturing

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• Before giving the lectures to the
  seven-year program students, young faculty
  members and assistants must give the lecture in
  English on a trail basis. By the aid of preparing
  the lectures collectively, we will point out the
  main point, difficult points and points for
  attention.

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• Give them suggestion for their English
  outline, blackboard handwriting, explanation of
  main points, difficult points, pronunciation of
  medical terms and express of words. Encourage
  young assistants and faculty members to give
  lectures in English. Now, we have several young
  faculty members and assistants who may give the
  lectures in English. They are strong reserve
  force in teaching Pharmacology in English.

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c. Offering medical English course for young
faculty members
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• Training young assistants, graduate
  students and young faculty members in order to
  improve their English in the field of
  Pharmacology, we use English textbook as teaching
  materials. We have one and half teaching hours
  once a week to elevate their listening, reading,
  writing, and spoken English level.

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• This course improves their teaching
  ability in English. In our department we have had
  this course for more than 20 years. For several
  years we have invited foreigners once a week to
  teach young assistants and graduate students oral
  English. They have more chance to practice their
  listening comprehension and to improve their
  spoken English.

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d. Encourage young faculty members to communicate
in English
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• Direct young faculty members and
  graduate students to speak English write English
  reports, and present scientific paper in English.
  Before faculty members attending National or
  International meetings, they will present their
  papers in English first in our department.

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• We will give them suggestions including
  how to present a paper, how to show the outline,
  even correcting their pronunciation, how to
  divide the time for different contents, such as
  the topic, method, results and conclusion.

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• Encourage faculty members to participate
  competition of scientific paper presentation in
  English both in our university and National
  Pharmacology Meetings. At the same time encourage
  them to participate competition in giving
  lectures in English in our university.

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e. Training research ability
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• Encourage young faculty members to
  develop research work, so as to promote teaching.
  They got grants two items from National Natural
  Science Foundation (Young Science Foundation)one
  National Education Committee sponsored key
  faculty member project

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• One Tianjin Municipal Science Committee
  21st century Young Science Foundation two
  Tianjin Municipal Natural Science Foundation
  sponsored key project and many items from Tianjin
  Medical University Youth Foundation.

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f. Training creativity of young faculty members
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• In the teaching young faculty members
  actively use their mind, improve their teaching
  method and establish new experiments. They
  participate in writing monograph, teaching
  materials, handout and they publish teaching
  papers. These achievements are their continuous
  progress, specific expression of purchasing
  creative spirit.