Evaluation of advantages and feasibility of spiral curriculum in Pharmacy Education

Abstract

Introduction: The concept of spiral curriculum is based on the repetition of the subject over the course of the course, and in particular on clinical problem-based integration and outcome-based learning. Objective: To study the advantages of spiral curriculum and its implementation in pharmacy education at Tabriz Faculty of Pharmacy Methods: This was a descriptive-analytic study. The designed questionnaires were randomly distributed to 70 senior students of Tabriz Faculty of Pharmacy and also 20 members of university professors in year 2018. Finally, the analysis of the results using software SPSS 17 was carried out. Results: Our results showed that 54.28% of the students attended the pharmacy as part of the pre-specialized training, and 70% stated that the number of units offered for attending the pharmacy was not sufficient. The results also indicated that, for professors, more than 58% had the utility for repetition of courses, and in 33.75% there was a modest possibility for repetition of courses in pharmacy. In terms of professors, the integration and simultaneous presentation of basic science courses and specialized courses in 52% of cases was high and in 37.5% of them had moderate feasibility. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that, in terms of students, the number of units spent on attendance at the pharmacy is not enough and they should have had more relevant courses during the student period. Also, in terms of repetition, the professors' lessons agreed with the students to repeat lessons to increase feasibility and desirability.