Identifying the core concepts of pharmacology education: a global initiative

Paul White; Clare Guilding; Tom Angelo; John Kelly; Laurel Gorman; Steve Tucker; Ashleigh Fun; Jae Han; Guanliang Chen; Yassmin Samak; Anna-Marie Babey; Fabiana Caetano; Sudhir Sarangi; Jennifer Keonig; Haiping Hao; Joseph Goldfarb; Kelly Karpa; Luciene Vieira; Carolina Restini; Margaret Cunningham; Patrik Aronsson; Roisin Kelly-Laubscher; Mark Hernandez; PK Rangachari; Janet Mifsud; Fatima Mraiche; Ramzi Sabra; Octavio Piñeros; Xuechu Zhen; Helen Kwanashie; Betty Exintaris; Nilushi Karunaratne; Kuniaki Ishii

doi:10.22541/au.166162685.51927349/v1

Identifying the core concepts of pharmacology education: a global initiative

Paul White, Clare Guilding, Tom Angelo, John Kelly, Laurel Gorman, Steve Tucker, Ashleigh Fun, Jae Han, Guanliang Chen, Yassmin Samak, Anna-Marie Babey, Fabiana Caetano, Sudhir Sarangi, Jennifer Keonig, Haiping Hao, Joseph Goldfarb, Kelly Karpa, Luciene Vieira, Carolina Restini, Margaret CunninghamPatrik Aronsson, Roisin Kelly-Laubscher, Mark Hernandez, PK Rangachari, Janet Mifsud, Fatima Mraiche, Ramzi Sabra, Octavio Piñeros, Xuechu Zhen, Helen Kwanashie, Betty Exintaris, Nilushi Karunaratne, Kuniaki Ishii

Strathclyde Institute Of Pharmacy And Biomedical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)

16 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background and Purpose: In recent decades, a focus on the most critical and fundamental concepts has proven highly advantageous to students and educators in many science disciplines. Pharmacology, unlike microbiology, biochemistry or physiology, lacks a consensus list of such core concepts .
Experimental approach: We sought to develop a research-based, globally relevant list of core concepts that all students completing a foundational pharmacology course should master. This two-part project consisted of exploratory and refinement phases. The exploratory phase involved empirical data mining of the introductory sections of five key textbooks, in parallel with an online survey of over 200 pharmacology educators from 17 countries across six continents. The refinement phase involved three Delphi rounds involving 24 experts from 15 countries across six continents.
Key Results: The exploratory phase resulted in a consolidated list of 74 candidate core concepts. In the refinement phase, the expert group produced a consensus list of 25 core concepts of pharmacology.
Conclusion and Implications: This list will allow pharmacology educators everywhere to focus their efforts on the conceptual knowledge perceived to matter most by experts within the discipline. Next steps for this project include defining and unpacking each core concept and developing resources to help pharmacology educators globally teach and assess these concepts within their educational contexts.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1197-1209
Number of pages	13
Journal	British Journal of Pharmacology
Volume	180
Issue number	9
Early online date	6 Dec 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.22541/au.166162685.51927349/v1 https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.16000
Publication status	Published - 31 May 2023

Keywords

core concepts
pharmacology education
Delphi method
text mining
global education
discipline-based educational research

Access to Document

White-etal-BJP-2023-Identifying-the-core-concepts-of-pharmacology-educationFinal published version, 1.24 MBLicence: CC BY 4.0

1 Finished
1 Active

The International Core Concepts of Pharmacology Education Project
White, P. (Principal Investigator), Guilding, C. (Principal Investigator), Cunningham, M. R. (Co-investigator), Gorman, L. (Co-investigator), Kelly-Laubscher, R. (Co-investigator), Tucker, S. (Co-investigator), Angelo, T. (Co-investigator), Koenig, J. (Co-investigator) & Babey, A.-M. (Co-investigator)
1/11/21 → …
Project: Research
SULSA Network Award - Global Pharmacology Mapping Network
Cunningham, M. R. (Principal Investigator), Guilding, C. (Principal Investigator), White, P. (Principal Investigator), Tucker, S. (Principal Investigator), Kelly-Laubscher, R. (Principal Investigator), Angelo, T. (Co-investigator), Gorman, L. (Co-investigator), Kelly, J. (Co-investigator) & Keonig, J. (Co-investigator)
1/06/23 → 2/07/23
Project: Knowledge Exchange (Conference / Seminar Hosting)

27 Citations
1 Conference contribution book
1 Article

Inclusive pharmacology: Using Objective Structured Practical Examinations (OSPEs) to identify knowledge gaps in pharmacology undergraduates
Coubrough, K., Tinto, K., Wahid, M., Kelly-Laubscher, R. & Cunningham, M. R., 26 Jun 2025, 11th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd’25). p. 767-774 8 p. (International Conference on Higher Education Advances).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution book

Open Access
File
7 Downloads (Pure)
Defining and unpacking the core concepts of pharmacology: a global initiative
Guilding, C., White, P. J., Cunningham, M., Kelly-Laubscher, R., Koenig, J., Babey, A. M., Tucker, S., Kelly, J. P., Gorman, L., Aronsson, P., Hawes, M., Ngo, S. N. T., Mifsud, J., Werners, A. H., Hinton, T., Khan, F., Aljofan, M. & Angelo, T., Feb 2024, In: British Journal of Pharmacology. 181, 3, p. 375-392 18 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
25 Citations (Scopus)

13 Downloads (Pure)

1 Organiser of special symposia
1 Conference, workshop, seminar or course
1 Membership of network

British Pharmacological Society (BPS) - Workshop Applying the Core Concepts of Pharmacology to a range of professions
Cunningham, M. R. (Organiser), Guilding, C. (Chair), White, P. (Organiser), Kelly-Laubscher, R. (Organiser) & Hawes, M. (Organiser)
11 Dec 2024
Activity: Presenting or Organising an Event › Organiser of special symposia
Concept-based pharmacology education: Teaching, learning and assessment resources
Cunningham, M. R. (Participant)
10 Jul 2024 → 12 Jul 2024
Activity: Presenting or Organising an Event › Conference, workshop, seminar or course
The International Core Concepts of Pharmacology Education Project (External organisation)
Guilding, C. (Chair), White, P. (Chair), Kelly-Laubscher, R. (Chair), Cunningham, M. R. (Member), Angelo, T. (Member), Kelly, J. (Member), Tucker, S. (Member), Gorman, L. (Member), Restini, C. (Member), Koenig, J. (Member), Babey, A.-M. (Member), Karpa, K. (Member), Hawes, M. (Member) & Netere, A. (Member)
Nov 2021 → …
Activity: Membership › Membership of network

Cite this

White, P., Guilding, C., Angelo, T., Kelly, J., Gorman, L., Tucker, S., Fun, A., Han, J., Chen, G., Samak, Y., Babey, A.-M., Caetano, F., Sarangi, S., Keonig, J., Hao, H., Goldfarb, J., Karpa, K., Vieira, L., Restini, C., ... Ishii, K. (2023). Identifying the core concepts of pharmacology education: a global initiative. British Journal of Pharmacology, 180(9), 1197-1209. https://doi.org/10.22541/au.166162685.51927349/v1, https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.16000

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title = "Identifying the core concepts of pharmacology education: a global initiative",

abstract = "Background and Purpose: In recent decades, a focus on the most critical and fundamental concepts has proven highly advantageous to students and educators in many science disciplines. Pharmacology, unlike microbiology, biochemistry or physiology, lacks a consensus list of such core concepts . Experimental approach: We sought to develop a research-based, globally relevant list of core concepts that all students completing a foundational pharmacology course should master. This two-part project consisted of exploratory and refinement phases. The exploratory phase involved empirical data mining of the introductory sections of five key textbooks, in parallel with an online survey of over 200 pharmacology educators from 17 countries across six continents. The refinement phase involved three Delphi rounds involving 24 experts from 15 countries across six continents. Key Results: The exploratory phase resulted in a consolidated list of 74 candidate core concepts. In the refinement phase, the expert group produced a consensus list of 25 core concepts of pharmacology. Conclusion and Implications: This list will allow pharmacology educators everywhere to focus their efforts on the conceptual knowledge perceived to matter most by experts within the discipline. Next steps for this project include defining and unpacking each core concept and developing resources to help pharmacology educators globally teach and assess these concepts within their educational contexts.",

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author = "Paul White and Clare Guilding and Tom Angelo and John Kelly and Laurel Gorman and Steve Tucker and Ashleigh Fun and Jae Han and Guanliang Chen and Yassmin Samak and Anna-Marie Babey and Fabiana Caetano and Sudhir Sarangi and Jennifer Keonig and Haiping Hao and Joseph Goldfarb and Kelly Karpa and Luciene Vieira and Carolina Restini and Margaret Cunningham and Patrik Aronsson and Roisin Kelly-Laubscher and Mark Hernandez and PK Rangachari and Janet Mifsud and Fatima Mraiche and Ramzi Sabra and Octavio Pi{\~n}eros and Xuechu Zhen and Helen Kwanashie and Betty Exintaris and Nilushi Karunaratne and Kuniaki Ishii",

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White, P, Guilding, C, Angelo, T, Kelly, J, Gorman, L, Tucker, S, Fun, A, Han, J, Chen, G, Samak, Y, Babey, A-M, Caetano, F, Sarangi, S, Keonig, J, Hao, H, Goldfarb, J, Karpa, K, Vieira, L, Restini, C, Cunningham, M, Aronsson, P, Kelly-Laubscher, R, Hernandez, M, Rangachari, PK, Mifsud, J, Mraiche, F, Sabra, R, Piñeros, O, Zhen, X, Kwanashie, H, Exintaris, B, Karunaratne, N & Ishii, K 2023, 'Identifying the core concepts of pharmacology education: a global initiative', British Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 180, no. 9, pp. 1197-1209. https://doi.org/10.22541/au.166162685.51927349/v1, https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.16000

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AU - White, Paul

AU - Guilding, Clare

AU - Angelo, Tom

AU - Kelly, John

AU - Gorman, Laurel

AU - Tucker, Steve

AU - Fun, Ashleigh

AU - Han, Jae

AU - Chen, Guanliang

AU - Samak, Yassmin

AU - Babey, Anna-Marie

AU - Caetano, Fabiana

AU - Sarangi, Sudhir

AU - Keonig, Jennifer

AU - Hao, Haiping

AU - Goldfarb, Joseph

AU - Karpa, Kelly

AU - Vieira, Luciene

AU - Restini, Carolina

AU - Cunningham, Margaret

AU - Aronsson, Patrik

AU - Kelly-Laubscher, Roisin

AU - Hernandez, Mark

AU - Rangachari, PK

AU - Mifsud, Janet

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AU - Sabra, Ramzi

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AU - Zhen, Xuechu

AU - Kwanashie, Helen

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AU - Karunaratne, Nilushi

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Identifying the core concepts of pharmacology education: a global initiative

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

The International Core Concepts of Pharmacology Education Project

SULSA Network Award - Global Pharmacology Mapping Network

Research output

Inclusive pharmacology: Using Objective Structured Practical Examinations (OSPEs) to identify knowledge gaps in pharmacology undergraduates

Defining and unpacking the core concepts of pharmacology: a global initiative

Activities

British Pharmacological Society (BPS) - Workshop Applying the Core Concepts of Pharmacology to a range of professions

Concept-based pharmacology education: Teaching, learning and assessment resources

The International Core Concepts of Pharmacology Education Project (External organisation)

Cite this