Trends in undergraduate teaching of parasitology in medical schools of Pakistan

Objective: parasitic diseases are a major public health problem in the tropical and sub tropical countries including the subcontinent region. we aimed to assess methods of parasitology education in medical schools of karachi pakistan. methods: ten medical schools in karachi, pakistan were sent a structured questionnaire collecting information on different aspects of parasitology education. the collected data was analyzed using spss version 14.0. results: the response rate of this study was 90%. majority of the schools in karachi, pakistan (78%) taught parasitology concurrently with microbiology, pathology, pharmacology and forensic medicine in third and fourth year of undergraduate training. more than 20 hours were spent on teaching through didactic lectures (56%), interactive lectures (22%), problem based learning (pbl) (22%), clinical cases (11%) and small group discussions (89%). a clinical microbiologist or parasitologist taught parasitology by using transparencies, handouts and/or computer aids. variation in education methods existed mainly in the private medical schools. conclusion: medical curricula were meeting the european standards for teaching of parasitology. however, there is a need for revision and modification in the curricula owing to the high burden of parasitic diseases in the subcontinent region.