Development and Implementation of Pharmacology Museum as a Teaching-Learning Tool: A Prospective, Interventional Study

Objective: To evaluate the perception of 2nd-year medical undergraduates on pharmacology museum as teaching–learning (TL) tool. Materials and Methods: The Institutional Ethics Committee permission was taken before initiation of the study. After voluntary written consent, II MBBS students were enrolled in this study. An additional museum was created for easy visibility and access. The display cards with drugs about two finalized biological systems were displayed in the museum. The TL activity was planned for 2 phases; in Phase 1, students were mandatorily instructed to visit the museum and see the various dosage forms of drugs for a given period. A pretest and posttest, consisting of 21 validated multiple‑choice questions on dosage forms, were conducted in Phase 1. Phase 2 comprised voluntary visits to the museum. Students were given the opportunity to clear their doubts with regard to dosage forms of drugs displayed. At the end of Phase 2, the perception of the student for the museum as a TL tool was recorded on a twenty‑item perception questionnaire. Results: The performance of students was increased from pretest score of 7.59 ± 2.9 to 10.25 ± 3.03 (P < 0.001). Of 173 students, 85 felt that display information was adequate and 77 opined that this information brought clarity. Students (n = 97) felt that visualizing the drugs helped them to remember the various dosage forms better, museum‑inspired them to read about the dosage forms (n = 90), and encouraged self‑learning (n = 107). They expressed that they can score better in examinations (n = 88). Conclusion: Students perceived that the museum improved their knowledge regarding dosage forms. In spite of this, they did not appreciate museum as a teaching tool, which has posed a bigger challenge to the teaching faculty to make the museum interesting and resourceful.