Teaching Pharmacovigilance to Healthcare Students: Identifying Gaps and Opportunities for Improvement

Abstract

The literature indicates that the limited pharmacovigilance knowledge demonstrated by healthcare professionals is the main reason for the underreporting of adverse drug reactions. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate pharmacy, dental and medical students’ knowledge and attitudes to pharmacovigilance and pharmacovigilance education. The cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted at the University of Split School of Medicine in November 2020. In total, 350 students participated in the study. The results have shown that pharmacy students showed a significantly higher knowledge score compared to dental and medical students (P < 0.001). In total 92.2% of pharmacy, 21.8% of dental and 70.8% of medical students had knowledge of patients’ involvement in adverse drug reactions, reporting (P < 0.001). Interestingly, only 44.3% of all students knew that adverse drug reactions could be reported using a mobile application. Moreover, significantly more pharmacy students (74.4%) were aware of the adverse drug reactions monitoring center in Croatia, with 47.5% of dental and 39.2% of medical students correctly identifying it (P < 0.001). The results showed that most students felt that pharmacovigilance was not adequately covered in curricula; therefore, there is a great need to increase the knowledge and awareness of pharmacovigilance among students aspiring to become future healthcare professionals, and improve their reporting practice in clinical future.

Pharmacovigilance teaching and learning: a mixed cross-sectional analysis of the Portuguese public higher education system

“…The low presence of pharmacovigilance in the curricular plan of courses in health may contribute to the apparent lack of knowledge, both of current students and of health professionals, who constitute a preponderant element in this field and, consequently, constitute a relevant cause for underreporting. Thus, the insufficient knowledge demonstrated regarding this theme can be improved through continuous professional development programs, reinforcing theoretical and practical knowledge in the pregraduate curriculum of the different courses in this area [ 6 ]. Furthermore, postgraduate training should be further developed through the creation of more programs, be they accredited courses/webinars, workshops [ 6 ], or private training, by, for example, INFARMED, I.P.…”

“…Thus, the insufficient knowledge demonstrated regarding this theme can be improved through continuous professional development programs, reinforcing theoretical and practical knowledge in the pregraduate curriculum of the different courses in this area [ 6 ]. Furthermore, postgraduate training should be further developed through the creation of more programs, be they accredited courses/webinars, workshops [ 6 ], or private training, by, for example, INFARMED, I.P. (National Authority for Medicines and Health Products), to promote them [ 22 ].…”

“…It is also known that “learning by doing” , meaning teaching and raising awareness of this topic using real-life situations, can be more effective than exclusively theoretical teaching, as it enhances the acquisition of skills [ 27 , 33 ]. Pharmacovigilance interventions that are effective range from short lectures/workshops and more innovative clinical experiences [ 6 , 34 ] regarding the reporting and assessment of suspected ADRs [ 32 ], as well as repeated pharmacovigilance training during internships [ 35 ]. Another identified problem is the translation from education on pharmacovigilance to practice.…”

“…Another identified problem is the translation from education on pharmacovigilance to practice. Research has shown that this transition is still not adequate and that reporting practices could be further increased by using user-friendly methods, such as electronic reporting and educational interventions [ 6 , 23 ].…”

“…Spontaneous reporting of suspected ADRs is one of the main sources of information in pharmacovigilance, as well as a right and a duty, so it should progressively become a habit of professionals and citizens, thus integrating joint work [ 4 ]. The underreporting that persists may be related to the lack of knowledge about the process of reporting suspected ADRs [ 3 , 6 ], and Portugal is not an exception [ 4 , 7 – 9 ]. For this reason, an aspect to be highlighted is the strengthening of the participation of health professionals and patients, as well as the general population in pharmacovigilance systems worldwide.…”