title: Evaluating knowledge retention of third-year medical students taught with an innovative pharmacology program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the degree of retention of pharmacologic knowledge of third-year medical students taught in a new pharmacology teaching program.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 1997, the authors administered a retention test consisting of 100 multiple-choice questions, each with only one correct answer, to 457 third-year medical students at the National University of Mexico. Students were not told in advance about this diagnostic evaluation, which was given eight months after they completed the second-year pharmacology course. As a comparison, the authors also analyzed the results obtained by the same students in the three partial examinations taken during the second-year pharmacology course. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov procedure and Wilcoxon and chi-square tests were used to analyze data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The distribution of scores obtained in the partial exams well approximated a symmetrical bell-shaped curve, and the mean score was 59.9%. In contrast, in the retention test the distribution was negatively skewed, the mean score (69.8%) was significantly higher (p <.001), and the curve was clearly displaced to the right of that corresponding to the partial exams. The percentage of students obtaining at least a passing score (60%) was considerably higher for the retention test (82.5 versus 51.9).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings, indicating that medical students taught in a new pharmacology program developed adequate basic pharmacologic knowledge, should encourage other medical schools to formally evaluate their teaching programs and continue efforts to improve pharmacologic education of medical students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Mexico, D.F.
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Efrain
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Campos-Sepulveda
authors.forename: Horacio
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vidrio
authors.forename: Eusebio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Contreras
authors.forename: Fermin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Valenzuela
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D010600:Pharmacology / Q000193:education*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods