Favorable effect on postgraduate clinical practice of a drug-interaction exercise for undergraduate students

Aim: Undergraduate students in Jichi Medical School participated in a laboratory exercise investigating the furosemide-probenecid interaction at the end of their clinical pharmacology (CP) course. The aim of this study was to determine whether they learned to recognize drug interactions better than students who did not take such a course. Methods: We conducted a postal survey of physicians who had graduated from Jichi Medical School or from other medical schools without a CP course including the exercise. Questions were asked concerning: (1) the recognition of furosemide-probenecid and nine other drug interactions, and (2) the need to anticipate drug interactions and their adverse effects before writing prescriptions. Results: The degree of the recognition of all drug interactions, and the percentage of physicians who responded that knowledge of drug interactions and adverse effects were essential before writing prescriptions, were significantly greater in physicians who had taken an undergraduate CP course than in those who had not. Conclusions: CP courses with specific laboratory exercises on drug interactions lead future physicians to recognize drug interactions and their adverse effects.