Recently, Page, Sutter and Walker, summarizing admirably the content of a pharmacology curriculum, have emphasized the need for a broad-based training that produces individuals who are'jacks of all trades' and'masters of their own.'Fuller 2, expressing similar sentiments, though from the perspective of industry, was concerned about'the emergence of highly specialized scientists-knowledgeable and skilful in some specific technique, but who do not have a very holistic view of what drugs do'. Page et al. 1 briefly discussed the training of such pharmacologists and emphasized the need for'hands-on'experience and a low student: Faculty ratio. Any educational endeavour is designed to produce changes in knowledge, skills and attitudes, these being explicitly stated as objectives. The knowledge or content objectives of any discipline must include both'instructional'and'expressive'objectives. The former are the concrete items of information that the student is expected to acquire. The latter permit each student to individualize learning by inviting them to explore and focus on issues of peculiar interest 3. Page et al. 1 succinctly summarized some of the key components of a pharmacological curriculum, which include, among others, a knowledge of dose-response relationships, general principles of pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics and toxicology, an understanding of drug metabolism, bio-assays and screening procedures and an awareness of techniques in cellular and molecular biology. The student should also be aware of broader social and epidemiological issues, as they pertain to the development, use and regulation of drugs. The skills required should include not only those technical manipulations that are specific to pharmacology, but also more generic ones that permit the student to become a life-long learner. These are the skills of information retrieval, critical analysis of information, effective communication and those interpersonal skills that foster team and group learning. Perhaps the single most important attitude that needs to be nurtured is a reflective, critical one.

In essence, a programme should be developed that permits greater student autonomy. Current pedagogical practice suggests that enlisting the student as an active component in the learning process fosters the development of life-long learning 4-6. Thus in 1989, McMaster University set up an Honours Biology and Pharmacology Cooperative Programme, a venture run jointly by the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Science (Department of Biology). The objective was to create a cadre of enthusiastic, resourceful, skilled undergraduate students, flexible and resilient for future academic and industrial research in Canada.