Pharmacogenomics teaching in MENA curricula remains largely lecture-based
Pharmacogenomics education is still taking shape across the Middle East and North Africa, and the gap is visible in both curriculum design and learner performance. A scoping review published in Pharmacology Research & Perspectives examined how pharmacogenomics is delivered in healthcare training programs across the region and what students and healthcare professionals actually know after instruction. The picture that emerges is not one of full integration, but of early-stage adoption: limited studies, uneven placement in curricula, and knowledge that rarely rises beyond a moderate level.
The review is clinically important because pharmacogenomics sits at the center of precision medicine. Drug response is shaped by inherited variation in enzymes, transporters, and receptors, so gaps in this area can translate into avoidable adverse reactions, suboptimal dosing, and missed opportunities for individualized therapy. When the people prescribing or dispensing medications do not understand when a genetic result should alter management, the test itself loses much of its value.
Seven studies, mostly from the Gulf, mapped a narrow educational footprint
Investigators searched PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL through June 2023 and identified seven cross-sectional studies published between 2014 and 2023. More than half came from the Gulf region, accounting for 57% of the included literature. The limited number of studies alone signals how early this field remains in the MENA region, where educational expansion appears to be ahead of comprehensive evaluation.
Educational delivery was concentrated in undergraduate training, which represented 71% of the included programs. Pharmacy and medicine dominated the curricular settings, and the material was most often delivered as part of an integrated professional program rather than as a fully independent module. Every study described didactic lectures as the teaching format. Only 29% reported a standalone pharmacogenomics course.
The structure matters because pharmacogenomics is not just another pharmacology topic. It demands repeated exposure to genotype-phenotype relationships, familiarity with clinical decision support, and the ability to translate laboratory data into bedside action. A single lecture can introduce the vocabulary, but it rarely builds the confidence needed to interpret a result in real practice.
Knowledge levels rarely moved far beyond the middle range
Learner performance was assessed after completion of the course using either objective scales or subjective self-assessment. Across the studies, knowledge levels were reported as low in 43% and moderate in 43% of participants. The remaining studies did not shift the overall narrative toward strong mastery. In practical terms, this means that even where pharmacogenomics was present in the curriculum, educational exposure did not consistently produce high competence.
One sentence captures the gap between teaching and preparedness: classroom exposure did not reliably convert into confident pharmacogenomics knowledge.
That finding fits the biology of the subject. Pharmacogenomics depends on precise translation from genetic variant to clinical decision, and the leap from memorization to application is substantial. Students may recognize common terms, yet still struggle to choose when a dose should change, when an alternative drug is safer, or when a result has no immediate clinical consequence. Without structured case-based training, the material remains abstract.
Barriers extend beyond curriculum design
The review identified several barriers to implementation, including knowledge gaps, economic constraints, and system sustainability. Those obstacles are familiar in precision medicine, where the cost of testing, the need for trained faculty, and the lack of durable institutional support can slow adoption even when interest is high. In regions where educational infrastructure is already stretched, pharmacogenomics can be treated as an optional add-on rather than a core competency.
The review also points to a deeper problem: the field lacks standardized ways to measure whether learners are truly gaining clinically meaningful knowledge. Some studies relied on objective scales, while others used self-assessment, a method that can overestimate competence or fail to capture gaps in applied reasoning. A student who feels familiar with pharmacogenomics terms is not necessarily prepared to use the information safely in a prescribing decision.
Standardized assessment tools would help separate awareness from proficiency. They would also make it easier to compare programs across countries, institutions, and healthcare professions. In a field where outcomes depend on the correct interpretation of small but consequential differences in genotype, measurement quality is not a technical footnote; it is the basis for judging whether education is doing its job.
Why curriculum placement matters for clinical adoption
The review’s findings have direct implications for the future of precision prescribing in the region. If pharmacogenomics is taught mainly through integrated lectures, its clinical relevance can be diluted by competing course demands. Standalone instruction appears less common, yet it may be better suited to building the repeated exposure needed for retention and clinical reasoning. Pharmacy and medicine programs are natural entry points, but broader interprofessional teaching would likely be needed if pharmacogenomics is to influence prescribing, medication review, and patient counseling across the care team.
There is also a workforce issue. Pharmacogenomics cannot be implemented by one profession alone. Prescribers need to understand how results alter medication choice and dosing, pharmacists need to recognize when testing may be clinically useful, and educators need the expertise to train both groups consistently. A curriculum that stops at introductory lectures may produce familiarity without readiness, which is a poor match for a specialty that depends on exact interpretation.
One consequence is easy to foresee at the bedside: a genetic report may be available, yet still fail to change treatment.
More detailed reporting is needed before the field can mature
The review closes with a call for more detailed reporting of the pharmacogenomics educational landscape, standardized assessment tools, and direct evaluation of knowledge acquisition across professions. Those priorities are sensible because the current evidence base is thin and heavily descriptive. Seven cross-sectional studies can outline a problem, but they cannot define the most effective teaching model for the region.
Future work will need to move beyond simply asking whether pharmacogenomics is present in a curriculum. The more useful questions are whether students can apply it to real cases, whether knowledge persists after graduation, and whether clinical behavior changes when genetic information is available. Until those questions are answered with stronger study designs, pharmacogenomics in MENA education will remain an emerging subject with uneven delivery and uncertain bedside impact.