The perception of Pharmacology among undergraduate students at the University of East London

D. Deshai, S. S. Ayoub. School of Health, Sport and Bioscience, University of East London, London, United Kingdom,

Background and Aims: The UK has been and continues to be a place of excellence for pharmacology research and teaching. In order to ensure the continuity of this success, it is important to maintain as well as boost the interest in pharmacology by young people entering university; especially that in the past few decades more students have been choosing science degree programmes such as Biomedical Science over pharmacology. As a first step in this endeavour, it is important to unravel the perception that young people have about pharmacology. The current study was thus aimed at gaining an understanding of how non-pharmacology undergraduate students at the University of East London (UEL) perceive pharmacology.

Summary of work and outcomes: A questionnaire was constructed in which students were asked questions related to pharmacology. The MCQ style questionnaire included questions such as whether have ever heard about pharmacology; where they may have heard about pharmacology; what they thought the main roles of pharmacologists are and also a question about the most relevant terms associated with pharmacology. The questionnaire was rolled out to all seven academic Schools within UEL; with 10 students from each School being interviewed. Ethical approval was obtained from the School of Health, Sport and Bioscience Ethics Committee. Out of the 70 students interviewes, the results from this survey revealed that only 6% of the students at UEL heard of pharmacology from their school or college and that 16% mistakenly thought that pharmacology is a chemistry-based science, while only 7% thought that pharmacology is a biology-based science; clearly demonstrating a lack in sufficient knowledge on this discipline. When asked whether they would have considered pharmacology as a degree option, if they had thorough knowledge on pharmacology, 43% said either yes or maybe. Of all students interviewed, 76% believe that some pharmacology education should be included in the further education curriculum.

Discussion: The take home messages from this study that there is still some misconceptions about pharmacology and careers that a pharmacology degree leads into. Pharmacology should be publicised through other more accessible means such as documentaries and the general media. Also to encourage the introduction of some basic pharmacology education in the A level and BTEC curriculum. To our knowledge this is the first study to address students’ perception of pharmacology before entry to university.

Conclusion: More needs to be done in terms of outreach to young people to generate more awareness of pharmacology.