Developing a core curriculum in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics: a Delphi study

that the ne detail needed to be left to local discussion. TheMedical school curricula are rapidly changing across the UK GMC also suggested that specialist groups might dene thein response to the calls from the General Medical Council core content of courses [1].(GMC) for a more student centred approach [1]. This These gave an impetus to the development of a coreapproach should place less emphasis on acquisition of curriculum for the UK, for which the American coreknowledge and more on establishing lifelong patterns of self curriculum might provide a useful starting point. A furtherdirected learning. Such new courses are less subject based impetus to this approach was given by the establishment ofthan traditional courses, which may lead to concern on the a review committee of the Royal College of Physicians topart of traditional teachers that their subject is no longer review the current status and role of clinical pharmacologyconsidered important or even relevant. and therapeutics in the UK. A working party of theThe GMC identied the ‘principles of therapy’ as a key committee of the Clinical Section of the Britishcomponent of what should constitute a core curriculum for Pharmacological Society was therefore established to assistundergraduate training, implicitlyrecognising theimportance this review by developing the core course content.of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics [1]. But academicclinical pharmacologists have little room for complacency:aws in the traditional teaching of clinical pharmacology