Value of animations in medical pharmacology teaching

In a medical student's perception the science of pharmacology is all about drug names, its mechanisms and side effects. The mechanism of action of drugs are diverse and sometimes very complex. A thorough knowledge about the drug mechanism is vital to medical student learning as most of the times the adverse drug reactions are nothing but an extension of the drugs biological action. This being the fact, many medical students have difficulty learning basic science, either because they find the material challenging to comprehend or because they believe it has limited clinical application. Computer animations can clarify instruction by allowing students to visualize complex, dynamic processes in an interesting presentation. There a limited few Pharmacology animations on the web and we incorporated the use of animations in the class to explain the mechanism of action of drugs including, hematopoietic drugs and most of the antimicrobial drugs. A questionnaire was then created to assess the value of such animations in their comprehension of the related concepts. The results show that the students strongly supported the use of animations in pharmacology teaching and demonstrate that animations can be an effective tool for relating pharmacology concepts to medical students by improving comprehension and eliciting interest in the lessons.