Trend and Weightage of Problem-based Questions in Undergraduate Pharmacology Written Question Papers of Bangladesh

Background: The key objective of pharmacology education is to make graduates competent enough to prescribe safely and effectively. There is worldwide speculation of inadequacy of pharmacology education to achieve the expected learning outcomes. Problem-based pharmacotherapy is considered as one of the crucial way to prepare future physicians as rational prescribers. As assessment drives learning priorities, adequate weightage on problem-based questions in undergraduate pharmacology examination might be helpful. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to analyze the undergraduate pharmacology written question papers (SAQ) of MBBS curriculum of 07 different universities (Bangladesh University of Professionals, University of Dhaka, University of Chittagong, University of Rajshahi, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology, Chittagong and Gono Bishwabidyalay) of Bangladesh in last 10 years (January 2010 to November 2019). Total 131 question papers were collected, and trend and weightage of problem-based questions were evaluated. Results: Problem-based questions have been reduced dramatically over the decade and mean percentage of marks allocated for problem-based questions was 1.2 (SD1.3) over last years. There was significant difference (<0.00001) of weightage of problem-based questions among different universities of Bangladesh. Highest presence of problem-based question was observed in Gono Bishwabidyalay (GB), followed by Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), University of Rajshahi (RU) and Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) but there was not a single problem-based question in University of Dhaka (DU), University of Chittagong (CU) and University of Science and Technology (USTC) over 10 years period. Conclusion: Current study revealed negligible presence of problem-based questions in undergraduate pharmacology written question papers of Bangladesh over 10 years period.