Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34288559›Full record

ArticlePharmacology research & perspectives2021

Identifying the core concepts of pharmacology education.

Paul J White, Elizabeth A Davis, Marina Santiago, Tom Angelo, Alison Shield, Anna-Marie Babey, Barbara Kemp-Harper, Gregg Maynard, Hesham S Al-Sallami, Ian F Musgrave and 3 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Pharmacology research & perspectives, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Reimagining pharmacology education.Pharmacological reviews · 2026
    Review
  4. Review
  5. Concept-based curriculum: An evidence-based approach to developing a new framework for dietetics education?Nutrition & dietetics : the journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Reflections on the Core Concepts of Physiology and Pharmacology.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2025
    Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Unpacking and Utilizing Neuroscience Core Concepts.Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience · 2024
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Paul J WhiteFaculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, VIC, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-7524-1808
Elizabeth A DavisDepartment of Pharmacology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
Marina SantiagoDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Tom AngeloEshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Alison ShieldDiscipline of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Bruce Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Anna-Marie BabeyFaculty of Medicine and Health, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia.
Barbara Kemp-HarperDepartment of Pharmacology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
Gregg MaynardSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga, NSW, Australia.
Hesham S Al-SallamiSchool of Pharmacy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Ian F MusgraveAdelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Lynette B FernandesSchool of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
Suong N T NgoFaculty of Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA, Australia.
Tina HintonSchool of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pharmacology education currently lacks an agreed knowledge curriculum. Evidence from physics and biology education indicates that core concepts are useful and effective structures around which such a curriculum can be designed to facilitate student learning. Building on previous work, we developed a novel, criterion-based method to identify the core concepts of pharmacology education. Five novel criteria were developed, based on a literature search, to separate core concepts in pharmacology from topics and facts. Core concepts were agreed to be big ideas, enduring, difficult, applicable across contexts, and useful to solve problems. An exploratory survey of 33 pharmacology educators from Australia and New Zealand produced 109 terms, which were reduced to a working list of 26 concepts during an online workshop. Next, an expert group of 12 educators refined the working list to 19 concepts, by applying the five criteria and consolidating synonyms, and added three additional concepts that emerged during discussions. A confirmatory survey of a larger group resulted in 17 core concepts of pharmacology education. This list may be useful for educators to evaluate existing curricula, design new curricula, and to inform the development of a concept inventory to test attainment of the core concepts in pharmacology.

Indexed as

CurriculumAustraliaDelphi TechniqueFacultyHumansNew ZealandPharmacologySurveys and Questionnairesconcept inventorycore conceptpharmacology educationpostgraduate educationundergraduate education

Identifiers

PMID34288559
PMCPMC8292785

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.