Pharmacology has historically been a subject that required a hands-on approach for students to learn pharmacology and the mechanisms of action, interactions, and physiological effects of drugs. Learning is best accomplished with experiential learning. It is limited if done with traditional laboratory tests based upon ethical limitations on using animals, resource limitations, limited availability of materials, safety concerns, and logistics. As part of evolving Pharm Software technologies, MyCALPharm bridges traditional pharmacology education with digital innovation to support research in pharmacy and pharmacological research.
These limitations on traditional laboratory tests have provided educators with motivations to find more effective, ethical, better-for-students, and scalable alternatives. Virtual laboratories allow students to obtain similar experiences and simulations of real-life pharmacological experiments in an interactive learning environment. Virtual laboratories also help or allow:
- Instant feedback with personal analytics
- Support student learning through self-regulated learning
- They are the only risk-free open training experiments.
Such digital environments also contribute to pharmaceutical research and pharmaceutical medicine education through simulated experiments and data-based learning outcomes.
