Research Project Description:
Medication errors are a global healthcare issue partially attributed to inadequate pharmacology knowledge. Even though active learning methodologies, including virtual patients (VPs), flipped classroom (FC) and problem-based learning (PBL) have been implemented in medical education to address the limitations of passive learning, they are poorly characterized as teaching modalities in pre-clinical pharmacology learning. The proposed project aims to investigate the potential benefits of integrating VPs in pharmacology education within discipline-based and in PBL medical curricula in diverse learners. VPs will be incorporated into a FC format in the Systematic Pharmacology course in a discipline-based medical curriculum, comparing it to traditional lecture-based learning. VPs will also be delivered in PBL-based medical programmes, either as in-class tutorials or as an independent learning resource and the effects will be compared. A quasi-experimental design will be used to assess the following outcomes in the two comparator groups: pharmacological knowledge, student perceptions and satisfaction, cognitive load, student motivation and engagement. Collectively, our findings will allow us to identify which pedagogical approach is more effective to support learning in pharmacology. The project aims to improve pharmacology education, potentially contributing to reduction of medication errors and enhancing patient safety in the long term.
Principal Investigator(s) and Coordinating Institution(s):
- Persoulla Nicolaou, Associate Professor in Pharmacology, University of Nicosia Medical School
Researchers at University of Nicosia Medical School:
- Costas Constantinou, Professor of Medical Sociology
- Nicoletta Nicolaou, Associate Professor
- Peter McCrorie, Professor of Medical Education
**Other Researcher(s) Participating in the Project:
- Stella Nicolaou, Associate Professor in Immunology, Department of Life Sciences
Other Participating Institution(s):
- Örebro University, Sweden
Research Project Acronym: PharmaViP
UNIC Participating Institution: UNRF
Funding Agency: Research and Innovation Foundation, Cyprus
Funding Programme: EXCELLENCE HUBS
***UNIC/UNRF Budget: €101,792.6
Total Research Project Budget: €119,756
Research Project Status: Ongoing
Start and End Dates: 01 May 2025 – 30 April 2027
Funding Programme and/or Research Project Logo:
Related Publications:
- Nicolaou P and El Saifi M. The impact of using virtual patients in preclinical pharmacology teaching. Adv Physiol Educ 2020; 44: 363–369
- Nicolaou P, McCrorie P, Nicolaou SA. Using virtual patients to integrate physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology in preclinical teaching. Adv Physiol Educ 2019; 43: 277–281
- Nicolaou SA, Televantou I, Papageorgiou A, Albert AP, Hitchings AW, McCrorie P, Nicolaou P. Factors affecting pharmacology learning in integrated PBL in diverse medical students: a mixed methods study. BMC Med Educ. 2024 Mar 21;24(1):324.