Use of ‘delegation of procedures’ for undergraduate in vivo training and education: impact on hands on skills and student feedback

Emma Robinson. University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.

As part of our final year undergraduate Pharmacology course, a selected number of students (10-15/year) are provided with a one-week in vivo training course. For the majority of years, students undertook Home Office Module 1-4 training and held a Home Office personal licence (PIL). Due to cost and timetabling issues, the sustainability of the course was in doubt. Following discussion with the Home Office Inspector, the replacement of a PIL with ‘delegation of procedures’ was implemented. There is a detailed list of what procedures can be delegated and the majority of our hands on practicals were suitable for this approach. The impact of replacing the personal licence with delegation of procedures on costs and hands on skills and course feedback is discussed.

The course coordinator provides theoretical material on the law, ethics, 3Rs, husbandry, welfare and experiment design. Students are provided with hands on practical skills using cadavers (mouse and rat), including dosing techniques, tracheotomy, blood vessel cannulation and a full anatomical dissection. For terminal anaesthesia experiments, the preparation is set up as a demonstration by a PIL holder and students administer the drugs for the experiment via the previously implanted cannula and record and analyse the data. For behavioural studies, dosing for the experiment is undertaken by a PIL holder and the students undertake the behavioural testing and analyse the data. To reduce the number of animals used, animals from the behavioural experiments are used for Schedule 1 methods and provide the cadavers for skills training. Despite not holding a PIL, the students gain a wide range of practical skills including handling and restraint techniques, dosing methods, surgical procedures and Schedule 1 methods through this combination of experimental work and cadaver sessions. The replacement of PIL with delegation of procedures significantly reduces the cost of the provision of in vivo training and education ensuring the sustainability of the course. Evaluation of student feedback from courses with PIL, compared with delegation of procedures indicates the course evaluation and students’ experience is not negatively affected by these changes.

Funding for this annual course is provided by the BPS. ESJR is an RCUK Academic fellow supported by the BPS Integrative Pharmacology Fund.