A standardized patient-oriented approach to teaching clinical toxicology

Objective. Design, implement, and evaluate a standardized approach to teaching clinical toxicology for pharmacy students. Design. An extensive review of the literature was conducted and a standardized approach to teaching Clinical Toxicology, a 1-credit-hour elective course, was designed, consisting of 9 key questions to address any clinical poisoning. A patient-oriented and problem-solving approach to clinical toxicology was adopted throughout the course. Assessment. Average performance on course examinations for the academic years 1996-2001 (N=604) when the course was required and the academic years 2002-2007 (N=37) when the course was changed to an elective was 83.4% and 81.7%, respectively. Conclusions. A standardized, patient-oriented approach to teaching clinical toxicology allowed successful conversion of this material from a required course to an elective and facilitated students' exposure and interest in this important area of practice.