Implementation of the WHO-6-step method in the medical curriculum to improve pharmacology knowledge and pharmacotherapy skills

Aim: The only validated tool for pharmacotherapy education for medical students is the 6-step method of the World Health Organization. It has proven effective in experimental studies with short term interventions. The generalizability of this effect after implementation in a contextual-rich medical curriculum was investigated. Methods: The pharmacology knowledge and pharmacotherapy skills of cohorts of students, from years before, during and after implementation of a WHO-6-step-based integrated learning programme were tested using a standardized assessment containing 50 items covering knowledge of basic (n = 25) and clinical (n = 24) pharmacology, and pharmacotherapy skills (n = 1 open question). All scores are expressed as a percentage of the maximum score possible per (sub)domain. Results: In total, 1652 students were included between September 2010 and July 2014 (participation rate 89%). The WHO-6-step-based learning programme improved students' knowledge of basic pharmacology (mean score ± SD, 60.6 ± 10.5% vs. 63.4 ± 10.9%, P