Page 66 - 633 102 Professional English for Pharmacists E-Course book

Case studies are about tires to simulate a real-life situation with an objective to get you to
think about the situation from various angles. Participants are asked as a group to resolve the
situation. This type of group discussion is normally used by management institutes, and also by
clinical pharmacy.

3. Group tasks

These are an extension of case studies where specific objectives are to be achieved as a
group. MTM project is an example.

Process of group discussion

Process of group discussion deal with the following steps:

1. 8-10 students (can be a huge group upto 16 people may be included in a group, or might
be people in a department) are taken as a group, though in some cases. The group
discussion lasts for 10-15 minutes. They will be allowed for some certain minutes to talk
or study about it and give them a topic for discussion.
2. For a topic-based group discussion, 2-3 minutes of thinking time may be given; though
the group is often told to start right away. For case studies, it needs a longer time of about
15 minutes because of the long story and need to understand inside out about the
situation.
3. Evaluation is done by experts. They will observe all details, even if the group discussion is
chaotic.
4. Candidates may be seated in a round or oval table. In a psychological way, it will make
more power because everyone has an equal chance to talk and you can see people in the
eyes whether they are listening to you or not.
5. Discussion may be stopped until you have written a summary based on your discussion.
Then, make a conclusion and report back to the boss.

Evaluation criteria for group discussion

Evaluation for group discussion depends on following criteria:

1. Personality

It includes smartness, cheerfulness, enthusiasm, attitude, and confidence.
● Are you just sitting there?
● Are you sitting with no life, no joy or torment?
● Are you trying to help the group?
● Are you just killing your time?
● Are you confident in the information that you share?

63 633 102 Professional English for Pharmacists