Indian Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology

Page: 23-29

Background: Blueprinting is designing a structured framework that outlines the assessment content, aligning with learning objectives and assigned weightage. Developing a CBME-based pharmacology blueprint is essential, therefore the present study was conducted.

Objectives: 1. To develop a valid and structured blueprint for the summative written theory examination in pharmacology. 2. To assess the weightage assigned to various topics in 2nd MBBS pharmacology university summative theory examinations. 3. To compare topic weightage in the developed blueprint and weightage assigned to that topic in university theory examination.

Materials and Methods: All competencies outlined in the CBME guidelines, were evaluated for Impact i.e. pharmacological importance (I) and Frequency based on teaching importance (F). The weightage for each competency was calculated by multiplying I X F, summing these values to obtain T, and deriving the Weightage Coefficient (W = I X F/T). The final weightage was estimated by multiplying W with the total marks for each paper (100 marks). Comprehensive analysis of 12 theory question papers was done to calculate weightage for various topics based on their mark’s distribution.

Results: Blueprints were developed to guide the design of the Pharmacology Summative Theory Examination for Paper I and Paper II. In Paper I, General Pharmacology received the highest weightage, i.e. 37 marks, followed by the Central Nervous System. In Paper II, Chemotherapy received the greatest weightage of 39 marks, followed by the Cardiovascular System and Blood.

Conclusion: The analysis revealed non-uniform year-to-year distribution of marks across pharmacology topics in summative theory examinations. The developed blueprints were aligned with the 2024 CBME guidelines.