• Siying Li, Baoping Yu, and Jiang Yue.
• Health Sciences Center, Wuhan University Medical School (SL, BY), Wuhan, China; and Department of Pharmacology (JY), Basic Medical School of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
• Am. J. Med. Sci. 2014 Jul 1;348(1):52-6.

BackgroundTo cultivate students' ability to use the pharmacology principles in medical practice, case-oriented self-learning and review has partly replaced lecture-based teaching in our pharmacology course. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of an innovative teaching model in pharmacology teaching on the performance of medical undergraduates.MethodsA total of 185 third-year medical students participated in the study in 2011 and 2012. The students were randomized into the study group (case-oriented self-learning and review) and control group (traditional lecture-based teaching). Examination performances between the students in the 2 groups were compared, and questionnaires were designed for both the students participating in the study group and the teachers to assess the new teaching method.ResultsMid-term examination performances in 2011 and 2012 were significantly better for the students in the study group than those in the control group (P<0.01). On the final examination in 2011, significantly more students received an assessment of "excellent" in the study group than in the control group (P<0.05). Moreover, students in the study group performed better than those in the control group on the final examination in 2012. The data from the questionnaires indicated that both teachers and students in the study group generally held positive attitudes toward the innovative teaching model.ConclusionsCase-oriented self-learning and review can improve students' internalization of basic pharmacological principles and provide a greater opportunity for self-study and collaborative study. The examination composition can affect the efficacy of the assessment of problem solving abilities.

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