The Use of Patient‐Oriented‐Problem‐Solving (POPS) in Pharmacology Exercises to Develop Simulated Scenes for Application during TBL

Purpose Teaching pharmacology with the use of pre‐recorded simulation scenes can be an effective, active‐learning pedagogy. To help teach basic pharmacology in a manner that can more easily integrate with clinical sciences, we have used simulated clinical scenarios. One unique approach involves a combination of simulation with exercises known as Patient‐Oriented Problem‐Solving (POPS) during Team Based Learning (TBL) sessions. POPS was developed in the 1980s as part of a movement to provide students with more problem‐solving sessions. Most recently, these exercises have been formatted so that they can be adapted to various course‐management software, with the objective that the POPS could be used by trainees in various health science professional programs (medicine, pharmacy, nursing, etc.), making them suitable for interprofessional education. Here, we describe a unique application of the cases in an educational setting using TBL where the episodes were re‐created with simulation and presented in the same order during the application exercises. This abstract describes the project and its outcomes. Methods According to an AAMC report, simulation is any educational activity that utilizes simulative tools and methods in order to create learning opportunities. Our goal at the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine is to maximize pharmacology learning and bridge that knowledge with more clinical concepts using simulated scenes. The preparation of the simulated scenes involved both basic and clinical faculty along with the active participation of third year medical student‐fellows who recorded the episodes. The episodes were then presented during the application exercises of TBL sessions delivered to first‐year and second‐year medical students. After each scene, there was opportunity for group discussion followed by questions. Audience response software was used to capture the overall group responses. Student participation was recorded using TurningPoint and learning was later assessed through examination. A Likert scale was used to determine student satisfaction with the use of this method. Results The incorporation of simulation helped bridge basic science and clinical sciences in a manner that made the group discussion more engaging. Our results indicate that more students were satisfied than dissatisfied with this method and more agreed that this was a valuable use of their time. Conclusion Faculty and student participation in these scenes was well‐received during the application exercises in TBL sessions. The educational approach described here encouraged discussion during the TBL session and promoted active learning, which led to successful outcomes and proved to be an efficient process.