Practical projects in final year pharmacology

1
Practical projects in final year pharmacology

• Ian Hughes
• Bioscience Centre, Higher Education Academy,
• Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of
  Leeds, UK. i.e.hughes_at_leeds.ac.uk

2
Characteristics of final year projects

• Year 3, semester 2 4 12 weeks full time
• 6000 word dissertation (90) 10 minute talk
  (10)
• 20 of final classification marks
• Learning objectives are
• Acquire laboratory skills, time management,
  develop ability to research, acquire/exercise
  theoretical knowledge, working as part of a team,
  staff contact, verbal/written communication,
  problem solving skills, data handling,
  experimental design, attitudes to animals, animal
  handling skills, self discipline, independent
  working, organisation and planning skills, real
  world experience, critical thought, presentation
  of written work to required format

3
Pressures on final year projects

• Increased numbers of students (18 gt 65)
• Increased cost of consumables
• Student ethics/threats from animal activists
• Increased complexity of pharmacological methods
• Decreased practical skills on entry to final year
• Restrictive HS and ethical requirements
• Increasing reluctance of research labs to take
  undergraduates (400)
• Decreasing quality of supervision
• Student aspirations to wide range of employments

4
Who are the employers?(4 UK universities)
UG student 8
5
Student views on final year project

• Best thing in whole course 38
• Support choice of lab and non-lab projects 89
• Should contribute less to final degree
  classification 12
• Practical projects only for good performers 38
• Practical projects only for those going to
  practical based employment 21
• Too time consuming 9
• QUOTES
• I didnt know how involving practical research
  was until I did my project
• You only find out what research is like when you
  do a project and its not for me

6
Alternatives to lab based projects

• Surveys of medicine use
• Does use of benzodiazepines follow accepted
  guidelines on wards for the elderly?
• A comparison of drug use in white and ethnic
  minority in-patients on mental health wards
• Use of antidepressants in different GP practices
• Duration of detention under the MHA in white and
  ethnic minority patients
• Computer assisted/distance learning packages
• Mode of action of suxamethonium at the
  neuromuscular junction
• Homeopathy
• The proper use of t-tests
• Data interpretation exercise and associated
  marking schedule

7
Alternatives to lab based projects

• Lessons for school pupils
• Know about street drugs
• Drugs in sport
• Medicines for asthma
• Animal use and new medicines
• Clinical research
• Assessment of acne treatments
• Do patients know about their medicines?
• Multiple publication of results from clinical
  research trials
• Literature based projects
• New treatments for epilepsy
• Depression - causes and treatments
• New antipsychotics better or just more costly?
  
• Aspirin wonder drug or outmoded medicine?
• Breast cancer treatment a therapeutic
  success?

Surveys of students Drug use Attitudes to
learning Ethics and values
8
Take home messages

• Final year projects
• Are associated with multiple learning objectives
• Are valued and valuable elements of pharmacology
  courses
• Are under pressure from a variety of factors
• Based in the laboratory may not meet the needs of
  all students
• Can be offered in non-laboratory contexts to
  achieve appropriate learning objectives and meet
  diverse student aspirations