The effectiveness of role-play videos as an auxiliary tool to teach pharmacology to medical undergraduates and to assess their perception

Context: In Medical education, the unidirectional transfer of knowledge through didactic lectures alone is not effective for increasing competence for a better doctor-patient relationship. Novel teaching methodologies such as role-play videos which emphasise interactivity would be more effective in increasing competence in health care provision. Objective: To assess the effectiveness of role-play videos as an auxiliary tool in improving the retention of knowledge and to assess student's perception on role-play video-based learning. Method: Quasi-experimental study involving fifth and fourth semester undergraduate medical students (51 + 21), who were divided into five and three groups, respectively, and were delivered lectures on eight topics from Pharmacology. Pre-test score conducted after the lecture, following which the role-play videos on the topics made by the students were presented. Two post-tests within a gap of 1 week were conducted. Perception of the students was gauged using a pre-designed questionnaire. Results: Significant difference was observed between mean scores of pre-test and short-term post-test and between pre-test and long-term post-test p < 0.05. For the fifth semester students, in the intragroup analysis long-term post-test score vs. pre-test score showed significant difference for all groups. In the intergroup analysis of the short-term and long-term post-test scores of one group against other groups showed no significant difference between groups p > 0.05. Gender difference did not have significant effect on perception p > 0.05. Conclusion: Roleplay video is an effective teaching method in improving the retention of knowledge of undergraduates.