Coffee in Class: An Alternative to Animal Experiments in Pharmacology? Anoop Kumar Agarwal, Syed Ilyas Shehnaz, Razia Khanam and Mohamed Arifulla The stimulant effect of coffee on psychomotor performance was introduced as a potential alternative clinical pharmacology experiment for medical and pharmacy students DISCUSSION Animal experiments have been designed and stan- dardised to demonstrate the effects of certain drugs on body organs, as part of undergraduate health pro- fessional education. However, the logistics of animal availability, the expenses incurred, increasing aware- ness of concerns about animal welfare 1–3 and the ‘Three Rs’ concept (i.e. Replacement, Refinement and Reduction), 4 have often either reduced these experiments to tutor demonstrations or have resulted in their complete withdrawal from the undergraduate curriculum. 5 As an alternative to satisfy the ethical concerns of animal rights activists, Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) was introduced. 6–8 Although CAL is an effective means of fulfilling the educational objectives of lab- oratory sessions, the lack of hands-on experience with living tissues, the lack of practical experience to facilitate the future application of the procedures in research, as well as the absence of biological vari- ation, are the major limitations of CAL. 9 In view of the current scenario, we considered it necessary to investigate alternative exercises which would expose the students to experimental method- ology with scientific explanation. Clinical pharmacol- ogy experiments, such as dosage calculations, rational drug selection, evaluation of drug informa- tion, and the analgesic effect of NSAIDs, have been used to supplement CAL. 10 In an effort to identify alternatives to animal experiments and CAL at the undergraduate level, the Department of Pharma- cology, Gulf Medical University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates, introduced a new experiment in the teach- ing curriculum of Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Pharm D (Doctor of Pharmacy) programmes. The aim of the experiment was to demonstrate the stimulant effect of coffee on psy- chomotor performance in students, by using simple paper and pencil tests, namely, the Six-Letter Cancellation Test (SLCT) and the Digit/Letter Substitution Test (DLST). These tests objectively assess the psychomotor functions of an individual, and integrate different mental functions, such as per- ception, recognition, integration and reaction, in the assigned task. These tests are not meant for assessing memory or intelligence. Since they are speed tests, performance is influenced by mental alertness, con- centration and coordination abilities. Both tests con- sist of three sections: instructions, the key (target) letters, and the working-out part. In the SLCT, the subject identifies the key letters in the working-out part, whereas in the DLST, the numbers in the work- ing-out part have to be substituted by the correspon- ding letters given in the key. The duration of each test is 90 seconds. In both the tests, the extent of the working-out part exceeds the potential for com- pletion in the stipulated time. The maximum and minimum scores for these tests vary in different sub- groups. Parallel worksheets (with a different key) are used on each occasion (Figure 1 and Figure 2), to nul- lify the effect of memory. 11 Minimal materials are required The equipment required for the experiment is readily available at low cost. It comprises three sets of par- allel worksheets for the SLCT, three sets of parallel worksheets for the DLST, a stop watch, an office bell, and standard hot coffee (2g instant coffee/200ml). The protocol The experimental protocol is divided into five indi- vidual stages: 1. The practice session: The tutors familiarised themselves with the tests and planned the exper- iment to ensure smooth implementation. Ethical approval was granted from the Institutional Ethics Committee prior to the conduct of the experi- ment. The tests were administered during the pharmacology laboratory sessions to seven batches of 25–30 medical and pharmacy students. ATLA 43, P17–P21, 2015 P17