The Effect of a Blended Learning with the Simultaneous Presence of a Clinical Specialist and a Pharmacist on the Learning Rate of Medical Students in the Heart Department of Birjand University of Medical Sciences

Considering the importance of diagnosing and prescribing the right medicine by physicians, it is important that due to the shortness of the training period, this is not possible. Clinical pharmacology is increasing the awareness of medical students in managing the use of drugs.

In the year 2021, 34 interns and stagers entered the study at the Razi Specialized-Subspecialized Hospital of Birjand University of Medical Sciences. During the one-month cardiac course, the students visited the patients in the cardiac training clinic one day a week with the presence of a cardiologist and a clinical pharmacologist. There was a discussion about how to prescribe drugs, their side effects, and drug interactions. To evaluate the course, a test before and after the course was conducted to check their learning level. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-test.

Thirty-four students (22(65%) stagers, 12(34%) interns, 14(41%) women, 20(59%) men) were included in the study. The results showed that the scores of the students increased after the course (before the course 6±1 and after the course 11±2) and this increase was significant (p<0.001). Besides, the increase in the group of stagers (12±1) was significant (p<0.001), while it was not significant (p = 0.092) in the group of interns (8±1); that is to say, in the group of interns there is a difference in the score before and after the course was not observed, while this difference was significant in the group of stagers.

Integrated educational methods with the presence of clinical expert and clinical pharmacist can play an effective role in improving drug therapy management among medical students and it is recommended to do this method in different groups.