title: Laboratory exercises to teach clinically relevant chemistry of antibiotics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To design, implement, and evaluate student performance on clinically relevant chemical and spectral laboratory exercises on antibiotics.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the first of 2 exercises, second-year pharmacy students enrolled in an integrated laboratory sequence course studied the aqueous stability of ß-lactam antibiotics using a spectral visual approach. In a second exercise, students studied the tendency of tetracycline, rifamycins, and fluoroquinolones to form insoluble chelate complexes (turbidity) with polyvalent metals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On a survey to assess achievement of class learning objectives, students agreed the laboratory activities helped them better retain important information concerning antibiotic stability and interactions. A significant improvement was observed in performance on examination questions related to the laboratory topics for 2012 and 2013 students compared to 2011 students who did not complete the laboratory. A 1-year follow-up examination question administered in a separate course showed >75% of the students were able to identify rifamycins-food interactions compared with <25% of students who had not completed the laboratory exercises.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of spectral visual approaches allowed students to investigate antibiotic stability and interactions, thus reinforcing the clinical relevance of medicinal chemistry. Students' performance on questions at the 1-year follow-up suggested increased retention of the concepts learned as a result of completing the exercises.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, Louisiana.
authors.forename: Khalid A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: El Sayed
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, Louisiana.
authors.forename: Candace T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Chelette
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical / Q000193:education*; D004512:Education, Pharmacy; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D007858:Learning; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D013339:Students, Pharmacy
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: drug interactions; medicinal chemistry; pharmacy practice laboratory; spectral and chemical visual approaches; ß-lactam antibiotics