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Real-world teaching on virtual island

19 November 2008

Monash University's Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is leading the way in worldwide teaching innovation with the development of a virtual hi-tech teaching tool that is being enthusiastically adopted by leading pharmacy schools around the globe.

An interactive virtual laboratory has been developed on Pharmatopia, the faculty's island in the internet-based virtual world, Second Life.

Pharmatopia, which is accessible only to students and teachers, is part of a new collaborative teaching model involving 10 leading universities in the UK, Sweden, Denmark, USA and Australia.

Monash has developed an interactive virtual tabletting laboratory that gives students the opportunity to develop and test medicines, each with different ingredients and qualities, in a virtual environment.

Australian pharmacists are not required to manufacture commercial tablets, but they do need to know about tablet ingredients and how inactive ingredients, such as those that control a medication's ability to dissolve, affect the properties and quality of the final product so they can properly advise consumers.

Dr Ian Larson from the faculty's Department of Pharmaceutics said the virtual environment provided a new learning experience to students.

"In this virtual lab on Pharmatopia students can learn by doing rather than by listening and observing a lecturer, and they can complete their practicals at any time as they're available 24/7," Dr Larson said.

"There are also occupational, health and safety and security considerations around the use of the tablet presses and different drug formulations, not to mention the logistics of timetabling the practical classes.

"Changes to practical classes in tabletting were also necessary due to the high cost of replacing tablet presses as new technology was developed."

Dr Larson said the faculty was now looking at ways to combine pharmacy teaching with other health professions.

"In collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and our international partners, we are building a virtual hospital that combines the skills of doctors, pharmacists and nurses so that each cohort can fully understand the role the others play in patient health," Dr Larson said.

"The future possibilities for this type of teaching are almost limitless."

To see Pharmatopia in action and to learn more about the Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science and Bachelor of Pharmacy visit the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences website.