Evaluating student understanding of core pharmacokinetic concepts
Babey A.-M. Koenig J. Cunningham M. Shield A. Restini C. Djouma E. Mraiche F. Mifsud J. Kelly J.P. Nicolazzo J. Karpa K.J. Volbrecht K. Santiago M.J. Hawes M. Aljofan M. Kelly-Laubscher R. Karunaratne N. Tucker S.J. Hinton T. Liang W. Guilding C. White P.J.
5 March 2025Elsevier B.V.
European Journal of Pharmacology
2025#990
Both educators and graduates have expressed concern about a perceived pharmacology knowledge gap that includes difficulty applying fundamental principles to clinical and research problems. Consequently, we sought to determine the extent to which current students can explain the meaning of, and appropriately apply, a subset of core concepts, and to identify any misconceptions arising from the responses. Of the twenty-four pharmacology core concepts arising from the recent international collaboration, four pharmacokinetic concepts were chosen, namely drug bioavailability, drug clearance, volume of distribution, and steady-state concentration. A total of 318 students from 11 universities across seven countries chose to participate in this study. Expert analysts identified the essential elements for each concept, then independently assessed each students response. Teams of two experts compared their evaluations to reach a consensus and grouped misconceptions thematically. For each core concept, less than 30% of students provided responses that encompassed all essential elements. Participants found drug clearance most challenging, generally conflating it with the rate of elimination, whereas they demonstrated a better understanding of drug bioavailability. There were 34 misconception themes coded in a total of 813 statements, with volume of distribution and drug clearance producing the highest numbers (13 and 12, respectively). Overall, results suggest that students found it easier to apply the concept than to explain its meaning, which might reflect the shift from didactic to active learning approaches. These findings may be useful for educators who are developing introductory pharmacokinetic courses by providing conceptual focus and revealing common misconceptions to explicitly address.
Core concepts , Misconceptions , Pharmacokinetics , Pharmacology
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School of Science & Technology, University of New England, Australia
School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Strathclyde Institute for Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Discipline of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Bruce, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, College of Osteopathic Medicine, East Lansing, MI, United States
Department of Microbiology, Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, College of Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Pharmacology and Therapeutics, School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Australia
East Tennessee State University, Quillen College of Medicine, Johnson City, TN, United States
Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, 2109, NSW, Australia
Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Surrey, United Kingdom
Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine Nazarbayev University, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Dept. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health, University College Cork, Ireland
School of Medicine, Medical Science and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Sydney Pharmacy School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
School of Medicine, Faculty of Medical Science, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
School of Science & Technology
School of Medicine
Strathclyde Institute for Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS)
Discipline of Pharmacy
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Department of Microbiology
Department of Pharmacology
Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
East Tennessee State University
Macquarie Medical School
Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Department of Biomedical Sciences
Dept. Pharmacology & Therapeutics
School of Medicine
Sydney Pharmacy School
Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy
School of Medicine
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