Implementation of a practical class on medical devices in the career of pharmacy at the Univesidad Nacional del Sur

GALLO LOREANA; RAZUC MARIELA; NATALINI PAOLA; CALCAGNO ADRIANA

Rosario

Congreso; 2º Reunión Internacional de Ciencias Farmacéuticas; 2012

Universidad Nacional de Rosario-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

Introduction: Biomaterials are natural or synthetic substances which do not damage tissues when get in contact with them, maintaining their physical and biological effectiveness (e.g. latex, silicone, polyvinyl chloride). Medical devices are made of biomaterials which have been transformed or processed in order to be used in diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, prevention of disease; and in the substitution or modification of the anatomy or physiological processes. Medical devices do not achieve their functions through chemical action. The sanitary relevance of medicinal devices products makes important that pharmacist acquire knowledge about these products. In this context, the aim of the present work was the implementation of a practical class on medical devices for pharmacy students in order to understand in an integral way the features and functionalities of medical devices often dispensed in pharmacies. Materials and methods: The authors of the present work wrote a textbook containing a literature review of medical devices dispensed at the pharmacy. In the book, medical devices were classified according to the anatomical-physiological apparatus where they perform their function. The students, at the practical class, analyzed each medical device carefully, identifying characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, and materials. For this purpose, the students used the book above mentioned. Furthermore, the teachers have developed systems constituted by different medical devices assembled, to show students its functionality. The students had the possibility to make liquids flow through the systems and were able to open and close valves and to exchange their parts. One of the systems consisted of a urinary catheter and a urine collection bag assembled, where the student poured a liquid (simulated urine) through the catheter and into the bag. Another system was the one commonly used for drug and blood infusion for both children and adults. Results: The results were highly satisfactory. The students acquired the basic required knowledge in a simple and didactic way, finding it easy to understand the characteristics, operation and applications of each medical device. The participation of the students in the practical class and the good marks they obtained in the exams corroborated the effectiveness of the methodology employed by the teachers.Conclusions: The study tools allowed the students to achieve a general knowledge of the characteristics and functionality of medical devices. Based on these results, the authors conclude that the proposed teaching methodology was effective, simple and didactic.