Department of Basic Pharmacology
Pharmacology provides students with a solid grounding in the basic concepts and scientific underpinnings of pharmacological agents. It provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the fundamental Pharmacology and uses of the major classes of clinically important drugs currently used in medical practice.
- Course Objectives
- The course enables the students to learn the following.
- Discuss indications, rationale, efficacy and risks for commonly prescribed medications in primary care settings.
- Describe appropriate strategies for monitoring the expected effects and potential adverse effects of medication.
- To understand the fundamental scientific principles of drug action and the various mechanisms by which drugs can mediate their pharmacological effects.
- To understand the fundamental principles of pharmacokinetics those, underlie the absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of drugs in the body and thereby affect drug effectiveness.
- To understand the biochemical reactions that result in the metabolism of drugs within the body.
- To understand the rationale behind designing different dosing regimens of particular drugs in specific patient populations.
- To understand how specific patient characteristics and genetics can affect the response to a particular class of drugs.
- To understand the scientific basis underlying how two different drugs can interact within the body and can have undesirable effects either on drug concentrations or on drug clinical effects.
- To understand the Pharmacology and clinical use of the major class of clinically important drugs. These include drugs affecting the autonomic nervous system, anaesthetics and analgesics, drugs to treat the heart and diseases of the cardiovascular system, drugs affecting the pulmonary system, antibiotics, drugs used to treat psychiatric disorders, drugs of abuse and drugs used to treat addiction, drugs that affect the immune system, drugs that affect the endocrine system, dietary supplements and herbal medications, antiviral drugs and chemotherapeutic drugs used in the treatment of cancer.