Pharmacokinetics Education: Addressing Core Learning Challenges Through Innovations in Teaching.

Abstract

Pharmacokinetics is fundamental to drug discovery, therapeutic optimization, and patient safety. Despite its importance, students consistently demonstrate limited mastery of pharmacokinetic core concepts. Studies reveal that students have persistent misconceptions of pharmacokinetic core concepts, difficulty applying mathematical principles, and challenges in transferring theoretical knowledge to medical and biomedical practices. Contributing factors include mathematical skill deficits upon entering university programs, fragmented curricular integration, and limited opportunities for active application of knowledge. These gaps raise concerns about the preparedness of graduates entering health professions and drug design/discovery fields, where pharmacokinetic competence directly impacts the fundamentals of drug discovery, therapeutic optimization, and patient safety. In addition to student challenges with learning pharmacokinetics, this commentary highlights innovative teaching strategies for educators to support student comprehension and application of pharmacokinetic core concepts. Approaches such as team-based learning, case-based exercises, simulations, games, and prerequisite review tutorials have shown promise in strengthening conceptual understanding and bridging theory with practice. These strategies have largely been studied in isolated contexts, underscoring the need for broader evaluations examining how course design, delivery methods, and teaching strategies shape student learning of pharmacokinetic core concepts. Future research could explore pharmacology educator and student perspectives on pharmacokinetics to develop an international framework for pharmacokinetics education. Such a framework would ensure progressive reinforcement of core concepts, integration across curricula, and alignment of teaching practices with real-world application, ultimately preparing students for diverse careers where pharmacokinetics proficiency is essential.