When Carolina Restini, PharmD, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Michigan State University Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, talks about teaching pharmacology her enthusiasm fills the room. A pharmacist by training with a Ph.D. in pharmacology, she has spent nearly a decade at the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) refining how future physicians approach one of the most complex areas of medicine. Her most recent research, published in June 2025, focuses on causal mechanistic reasoning, or CMR, a way of thinking that connects cause and effect to explain why things happen.
Her goal is clear. “It is not enough for students to memorize a drug name or a list of side effects. I want them to think critically about why a drug works and how it works,” Dr. Restini said.
Dr. Restini’s teaching career began in Brazil, where she experimented with active learning methods, such as problem-based and team-based learning, to engage students as active participants in their education. She brought that philosophy with her to MSUCOM but shifted her focus toward helping students apply what they learned in the classroom to patient care. In pharmacology, that means connecting basic sciences like physiology and biochemistry with the practical decisions physicians make every day.
“If they understand the drug’s target in the body, they can anticipate possible side effects even without prior experience prescribing it,” Dr. Restini said.
Her recent study explored whether students could take a specific drug, identify its adverse effects, and explain the underlying mechanism causing those effects. The results revealed something important: while many students correctly identified the adverse effect in a multiple-choice question, only about a quarter could fully explain why it happened in the short-answer portion.
For Dr. Restini, that gap matters. It means medical students may be able to recognize the right answer but lack the deeper understanding needed to think through new and unfamiliar situations. She explains that in the real world, new drugs will always be entering the market, ones that students never learned about in school. But if they understand what the drug is targeting and how that target works, they can anticipate possible side effects even without prior experience prescribing it. In her view, pharmacology is not just another basic science. It is the bridge between foundational knowledge and real-world clinical decision-making.
Her work also looks toward the future of education, especially with artificial intelligence (AI) now a fixture in the learning process. She is already exploring how students use AI to study pharmacology and whether it is helping or unintentionally creating misconceptions. Sometimes, she said, AI provides correct but incomplete answers that leave out key context. Those missing pieces might be obvious to an experienced professional, but for physicians in training, they can leave gaps that make it harder to apply the information later. That is why she believes part of her job as an educator is helping students identify what they do not know, even when they do not realize something is missing.
Ultimately, Dr. Restini’s measure of success is not higher test scores. It is producing thinkers who can adapt, problem-solve, and take ownership of their learning. She wants students to have the independence and confidence to reason through complex problems, anticipate risks and educate their patients. That philosophy extends beyond her own classroom. She also works with MSUCOM students on community outreach projects, such as substance use prevention programs in Michigan high schools, where students learn how to tailor their communication to different audiences.
“Every future physician is also a future educator because teaching patients is just as important as treating them,” Dr. Restini said.
As she reflects on her work, Dr. Restini makes it clear that her mission is about more than pharmacology. It is about preparing health care professionals to think critically, communicate effectively, and never stop learning. “If we can give students the autonomy for their own learning,” she said, “we know they will be ready to solve problems in real life, and that is the real win.”
by Alex Ziourdas
When Carolina Restini, PharmD, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Michigan State University Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, talks about teaching pharmacology her enthusiasm fills the room. A pharmacist by training with a Ph.D. in pharmacology, she has spent nearly a decade at the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) refining how future physicians approach one of the most complex areas of medicine. Her most recent research, published in June 2025, focuses on causal mechanistic reasoning, or CMR, a way of thinking that connects cause and effect to explain why things happen.
Her goal is clear. “It is not enough for students to memorize a drug name or a list of side effects. I want them to think critically about why a drug works and how it works,” Dr. Restini said.
Dr. Restini’s teaching career began in Brazil, where she experimented with active learning methods, such as problem-based and team-based learning, to engage students as active participants in their education. She brought that philosophy with her to MSUCOM but shifted her focus toward helping students apply what they learned in the classroom to patient care. In pharmacology, that means connecting basic sciences like physiology and biochemistry with the practical decisions physicians make every day.
“If they understand the drug’s target in the body, they can anticipate possible side effects even without prior experience prescribing it,” Dr. Restini said.
Her recent study explored whether students could take a specific drug, identify its adverse effects, and explain the underlying mechanism causing those effects. The results revealed something important: while many students correctly identified the adverse effect in a multiple-choice question, only about a quarter could fully explain why it happened in the short-answer portion.
For Dr. Restini, that gap matters. It means medical students may be able to recognize the right answer but lack the deeper understanding needed to think through new and unfamiliar situations. She explains that in the real world, new drugs will always be entering the market, ones that students never learned about in school. But if they understand what the drug is targeting and how that target works, they can anticipate possible side effects even without prior experience prescribing it. In her view, pharmacology is not just another basic science. It is the bridge between foundational knowledge and real-world clinical decision-making.
Her work also looks toward the future of education, especially with artificial intelligence (AI) now a fixture in the learning process. She is already exploring how students use AI to study pharmacology and whether it is helping or unintentionally creating misconceptions. Sometimes, she said, AI provides correct but incomplete answers that leave out key context. Those missing pieces might be obvious to an experienced professional, but for physicians in training, they can leave gaps that make it harder to apply the information later. That is why she believes part of her job as an educator is helping students identify what they do not know, even when they do not realize something is missing.
Ultimately, Dr. Restini’s measure of success is not higher test scores. It is producing thinkers who can adapt, problem-solve, and take ownership of their learning. She wants students to have the independence and confidence to reason through complex problems, anticipate risks and educate their patients. That philosophy extends beyond her own classroom. She also works with MSUCOM students on community outreach projects, such as substance use prevention programs in Michigan high schools, where students learn how to tailor their communication to different audiences.
“Every future physician is also a future educator because teaching patients is just as important as treating them,” Dr. Restini said.
As she reflects on her work, Dr. Restini makes it clear that her mission is about more than pharmacology. It is about preparing health care professionals to think critically, communicate effectively, and never stop learning. “If we can give students the autonomy for their own learning,” she said, “we know they will be ready to solve problems in real life, and that is the real win.”
by Alex Ziourdas