Our Approach to Updating the Cardio System Pharmacology Knowledge Objectives

Introduction: In medicine, pharmacology content introduced during pre-clerkship years must align with best practices and guidelines taught in the clinical years of training. Due to the large volume of content students must master during pre-clerkship training, learners often rely on board preparation resources, which may contain errors. Furthermore, the rapidly changing landscape of new drug approvals and practice guidelines requires frequent updates to pharmacology curricula. These issues prompted an update to the Pharmacology Knowledge Objectives (KO) last published in 2012, which have traditionally served as a standard content guide for educators. The purpose of this abstract is to present our approach in reviewing and updating the KO for the Cardiovascular System.
Methods: During the ASPET annual meeting in Philadelphia in 2022, the Division of Pharmacology Education sponsored a session detailing plans to update the KO, which in the past had been updated by the American Association of Pharmacology Chairs (AMSPC). A call for ASPET members was made to participate in the process and committees were formed. The Cardiovascular System Committee discussed the intent of the KO and best practices for the update. A shared Google document was used for timely updates and commentaries, and weekly meetings via Zoom were used to facilitate dialogue. A 3rd year medical student who completed the required medical licensing examination and clerkship rotations was invited to provide input from a medical student perspective.
Results: A numbering system with subheadings was proposed with a process of referencing KO from other organ systems. Objectives were revised to be more concise, with a focus on using terminology that is more specific and accurate. Action verbs were updated to target higher order cognitive processes of learning. Where appropriate in the clinical pharmacology section, a reference on most recent recommendations by the American College of Cardiology guidelines were included.
Conclusions: Since last published in 2012, drug discontinuation and/or removal from the market and new drug approval with novel mechanisms of action led to updated practice guideline for the management of hypertension (2017), hyperlipidemias (2018), and heart failure (2022). New classifications were also proposed for antiarrhythmic drugs (2018). Pharmacology textbooks lag in describing new therapies and treatments. Leading electronic resource tools often do not provide specific information related to basic science content. The process for updating the KO was a learning experience for all involved. Pharmacology educators are encouraged to use the KO when developing new curricula and even provide the KO to learners to guide their self-directed study. Likely in 2023, additional updates to the Cardiovascular System KO will be needed as the field is constantly evolving.