.Strengthen medical education in relation to Pharmacology for medical health care professionals including dental, nursing and other paramedical fields
.Provide services related to use of medicines for better patient care
.Disseminate information and guidance for rational use of medicines
.Support research in basic and clinical pharmacology
.Foster mentorship and guidance in medical education
.Create resources for use in education and research
The Department is involved in the following activities.
. Education
. Patient care services
. Community Health
. Research
. Administrative
The Department is at present involved in teaching medical undergraduates(MBBS), postgraduates(MD), dental undergraduates(BDS) and BSc Nursing students. The Department also trains Medical Laboratory Technicians(MLT). The annual intake of MBBS students is 250, BDS students is 40 and MD post graduates is 3 annually .Teaching learning methods involve use of both large and small group teaching methods.
The Department provides holistic education in the subject of Pharmacology. The teaching learning activities are conducted using traditional and newer teaching learning methods. The curriculum is continuously revised and updated keeping the aims and objectives of teaching Pharmacology to the students as specified by Medical Council of India and University of Delhi
Regular formative and summative assessments are done and feedback given to students. The Department conducts extra classes for students deficient in the subject outside the regular scheduled hours. The department has recently introduced two activities in the MBBS program:
This activity has been started to increase the students engagement with the learning of the subject of Pharmacology as well as to make the learning more interesting. Here a large batch of 250 students is divided into smaller batches. Each batch has a facilitator. A topic is divided into different parts. Each group is then given time to discuss the topic with their facilitator and team mates. On a assigned day all groups present their work orally, making models, posters, skits etc. The feedback of both the students and facilitators for the activity has been positive. This has provided encouragement to the Department to have more such activities.
A program for regular feedback to students on their performance has been formalized. The students are shown their formative assessment at regular intervals. They are asked to introspect and reflect upon their assessment and reasons for the same. They are also asked for suggestions as to what is the way forward. This has been introduced to help students self realize and look for ways to improve their learning. The feedback process also provides the department to understand what further needs to be done in the educational process to help students learn.
It is hoped that with early introduction of this program the students are able to utilize their teaching learning time in the department better.
The programme is based on self directed learning. The program encompasses of seminars, journal clubs, case presentations, adverse drug reaction reports, practicals and project discussions. The postgraduates are encouraged to visit laboratories in other institutes, participate in other teaching programs, conduct research, publish papers and present in conferences.
The training is directed towards making postgraduates capable of handling pharmacological concepts for use in Academics, Teaching, Research, Patient care, Public health and the Pharmaceutical industry.
The Department regularly conducts CME workshops for doctors, pharmacists and nurses in areas concerning safe and rational use of medicines. CME programmes in Research methodology and Ethics are also organized.