Podcasts with a leaflet – A new – screen-free – form of education for one of the basic components of any (bio)medical curriculum

Project summary

Pharmacology and pharmacotherapy are indispensable elements in the medicine curriculum as well as in many other (beta) curricula. Medication errors lead to unnecessary hospitalizations, patient discomfort, unnecessary costs and even preventable death. In order to be able to handle medicines safely and effectively, a solid knowledge base is indispensable. At the same time, we see the problem, especially now in “Corona time”, that students have to absorb just about all the material from their screen. Students indicate, and teachers notice, that variation in this is seriously desired. The intended innovation is a series of podcasts about pharmacology, which are designed in such a way that they ensure maximum retention of knowledge, provided with an ‘instruction leaflet’ with in-depth assignments. The series can be used for the medical education of the Erasmus University and all other university and HBO programs in the Netherlands that have pharmacology in their curriculum. Teachers from all over the Netherlands can use these podcasts as preparation or refresher, and can then really practice the depth and application in live education.
The development and evaluation of the podcasts takes place in a multidisciplinary team, in which students will play a major role.

The intended results are: A series of podcasts about pharmacology plus information leaflets that can be used for the whole of the sciences in the Netherlands; students who appreciate this new form of education and are more motivated for pharmacology; and increased knowledge and application skills, which ultimately results in higher medication safety.