PHAR3101, Drug Discovery, Design and Development, is a third-year course that is part of the Pharmacology major in the suite of Science degrees. This course follows the process of drug discovery from project and target selection through lead identification, pre-clinical studies, and clinical trials to registration

The issue: By the time we arrived at term 3 (mid Sept – late Nov) in 2020, the third-year students were disengaged, tired and fed up with online learning. I looked for ways to keep the students engaged and build a sense of community.

The solution: The approach I took to this problem was an immersive learning experience with a master scenario that was woven through all aspects of the course. We set the scene by telling the students that they are ‘graduate interns’ in a company called Somsceuticals. The teaching staff are the CEOs, each leads a different division (e.g. R&D / pre-clinical /Clinical) and we have an HR manager (Convenors’ pets have played this role). The interns do rotations through each division as the course progresses.

The assessment tasks are set by different divisions of the company such as this infographic to educate the rest of the company about the benefits of different models of teamwork and team structure, set by the HR department.

In tutorials, students work in teams to come up with a solution to a problem or question the company has at that stage of the process. These problems challenge the students to apply their knowledge of the process while experiencing and learning that there’s no single correct solution to the problem (something that really challenges many of them), to formulate justifications for decisions made and to think about a decision made can affect outcomes further along in the process. These tutorial tasks develop the students’ analysis and problem-solving skills.

In 2022, we revised the practical classes to further incorporate authentic tasks.  This included the student teams producing a summary document for each task for the company board or their division leader. These documents were prepared using templates we made that included the company branding. Students saved these documents on the Somsceuticals SharePoint site and worked on them collaboratively on SharePoint replicating a “real” working environment.  As part of this refresh, I also developed a new suite of practical classes to address issues previous cohorts had in understanding the concepts of choosing, optimising and validating assays for use in high-throughput screening. The students submitted a technical report documenting their findings from these practicals for assessment. This is an authentic task that would be produced in a pharmaceutical company.

The course also includes a careers workshop with former course alumni working in industry invited to talk to the students about their career pathways and the jobs they currently do. Many of the points the alumni discuss can be related back to the activities we are doing in the course.

To help build a feeling of community we also implemented a virtual tearoom (the course Teams site) and a company social club. The social club posted fun online activities in the virtual tearoom each week, such as posting pictures of pets, things we had made (food, craft, art) or a virtual scavenger hunt for Halloween. This was implemented to encourage connection between the students and with the staff.  We continued this virtual tearoom in 2022 when we went back to face-to-face teaching and it was as successful as the two fully online years.

Outcomes: We had lots of positive feedback from students each year we used this approach and continued this model in 2022 when we were back in person. Examples of free-text responses to the question "What were the best things about this course?" given below.

MyExperience Comments 2020

• It gave a good overview of the pharmaceutical industry and helped me decide sectors that I would be interested in pursuing a career in. I can also appreciate how challenging this year has been for students and staff alike, and the efforts the course convenors went to, in order to try and make this course as engaging and exciting as possible
• The course simulates a real pharmaceutical company. Really helps create an image of how a scientist in pharmaceutical works and develops a drug.
• I loved how it was in the scheme of "SOMSEUTICALS" as it kind of made us all feel like we almost were learning for an end goal.
• The careers day was so helpful. Actually meeting people like us (who now have jobs) and even meeting people who are successful in their careers was very eye–opening. I didn't realise the kind of jobs even available to me and this is one part of the course which should be integrated every year. I almost really liked this being online as you could go to the session which you wanted to hear about, and I actually felt a lot more confident in asking questions and it meant that the professionals could come and go as they pleased. (Although, in saying this perhaps it would be good to meet them? Unsure).
• Loved the idea of being one company,

MyExperience Comments 2021

• The social club activities were engaging
• I liked how the course was set up so we were 'interns', it made it more fun!
• Simulating a mock pharmaceutical company was definitely different but I think it works really well. It ties together the course content and assessment tasks very well

MyExperience Comments 2022

• I loved the lectures, tutorials, practicals, Q&A, the fake pharmaceutical company and social club
• There is a social club
• The concept of the SOMSceutical programme was engaging and allowed me to engage with the material in a productive and encompassing way. The social club activities were engaging
• The weekly social club activities were also a really fun addition, it allowed me to get to know my colleagues and my lecturers.
• The use of the teams channel to hold social activities was a great idea
• The "somsceuticals" theme was a good way to bring a professional aspect to the course.
• The dedication to making it feel like we were actually a part of an internship
• – The "somsceutical" company is a very fun concept
• Loved the innovative internship setup with Dr. Olivia as our HR manager. Careers day was great as well. Q and A sessions every week were a big help. Looked forward to seeing everyone's posts for the social club challenge every week.
• The concept of the SOMSceutical programme was engaging and allowed me to engage with the material in a productive and encompassing way.