Integrating the pharmacy curriculum: More to consider than improving learning

The number of curriculum committees within schools and colleges of pharmacy that are implementing or considering integrating concepts within the professional curriculum is growing. With the dynamic nature of the knowledge in pharmacy and health care in general, some people have become convinced of the futility of building "siloed" curricula, leaving the student to integrate the information into the practice of the profession. To become professionally intelligent, i.e., making pertinent associations with information learned, students need help in analyzing, synthesizing, relating, and applying information to specific practice situations or problems. The associations that are made between information and practice should come about when there is a convergence of faculty from multiple disciplines, demonstrating to students how a particular topic is viewed and used by different disciplines. Disease state management, for example, is best taught when the pathologist, chemist, pharmacologist, clinician, and others come together to discuss not only the disease and the drugs that may be used to treat the disorder, but also how and why the choices are made and how these choices can be applied to patient care. This article reviews the benefits and problems associated with curricular integration, examines one school's approach, and discusses solutions and lessons learned.