CONTEXT: Pharmacology is one of the most fundamental subjects in the field of medicine and a good grasp of this subject is vital for any clinical practitioner. The teaching of pharmacology in medical and dental colleges of India has evolved from mere didactic lectures to audio-visual aid based lectures and computer based learning. Evolution of teaching methods is an ongoing process and a docent needs proper feedback from the pupils regarding their opinion on what is satisfactory and what needs improvement. AIMS: By way of this survey-based study we aim to grasp the MBBS and BDS students' opinion regarding the teaching practices in pharmacology and changes recommended for the betterment of the same. METHODS AND MATERIALS: After obtaining due approval of the Institutional Ethics Committee, the study was conducted amongst 2 nd year exam going MBBS and BDS students of M R Medical College and S Nijalingappa Dental College, Gulbarga, Karnataka in the Department of Pharmacology M R Medical College. An exhaustive questionnaire based survey was prepared of 17 questions with choices ranging from 3-8 different options. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The result of our study favours the need for pharmacology as a subject to be more clinically oriented as well as being technologically sound. The students overall have a positive outlook of pharmacology (53%) and consider lectures as the most appropriate and helpful teaching method (62%). Introduction of group discussion is one change that is warranted by students overwhelmingly (41%), followed by introduction of clinical pharmacology exercises (31%). A vast majority of the students (70%) found the lectures in pharmacology to be interesting and want them to be more clinically oriented. The importance of pharmacology in clinical decision making is well understood by the majority of students and they aim to act in that behest. Also, we find that computer based learning is a new and important tool coming up in the arsenal of the pharmacology teacher.

CONTEXT: Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) are a growing problem throughout the world causing significant patient morbidity and mortality, therefore, its monitoring has become exceedingly important in today's practice of medicine. In a country with limited medical and financial resources such as ours, eliminating or even reducing this potential source of morbidity and mortality is a worthy challenge. The primary source of information for pharmacovigilance is from spontaneous reporting by health care professionals. Spontaneous reporting of ADRs has played a major role in the detection of unsuspected, serious and unusual ADRs previously undetected during the clinical trial phases. The Pharmacovigilance Program of Indian (PvPI) was started with an aim of generation of ADR database in the Indian population subset. One of the major hurdles faced by PvPI was the underreporting of ADRs. India, with its sizeable population and varied diseases and treatments, is still not a major contributor to the international ADR database. AIMS: The aim of our study is to deduce by a survey the knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance amongst the various cadres of medical healthcare professionals (interns, postgraduate students and teaching faculty) in a tertiary care hospital. As spontaneous reporting forms the backbone of pharmacovigilance, especially in developing countries like India which lack a more structured approach, proper training in the knowhows of ADR reporting is mandatory for the healthcare professionals at the grass root level. We intend to investigate whether our healthcare professionals are inclined to, and are properly equipped to spontaneously and properly report ADRs. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This questionnaire based survey was conducted in Basaveshwar Teaching and General Hospital (BTGH), attached to M.R Medical College, Gulbarga, Karnataka. The study was conducted in the month of March-April 2014 on a total of one hundred (100) participants, comprising of interns, postgraduate students and teaching faculty of various clinical departments of BTGH. The study instrument was a pre designed questionnaire which was structured to obtain information on the knowledge of the ADRs reporting, the attitudes towards the reporting, and the factors that in practice could hinder the reporting among the doctors. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Our study revealed that the doctors in this tertiary care hospital were inadequately aware about the aim and methods of pharmacovigilance. Moreover, the primary tool of pharmacovigilance, that is spontaneous ADR reporting, was poorly understood by a vast majority of the participants. The International landscape of pharmacovigilance has changed from "reactive" nature, where it looked into safety as a mere regulatory requirement, to a more "proactive" approach which helps get safer drugs in the market.

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