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The goal of the Core Medical Pharmacology course is to assure that our students obtain a thorough comprehension of the basic pharmacological principles necessary for developing effective and safe therapeutic regimens for their patients.
At the end of this course, each student should be able to:
Demonstrate an understanding of the terminology used to describe basic pharmacologic principles and drug classification.
Describe the basic pharmacokinetic principles governing uptake, distribution, metabolism and elimination of drugs and apply these principles in the therapeutic management of patients.
Describe and explain pharmacodynamic concepts of drug-receptor interaction to accurately predict drug responses at all levels of biological organization.
Interpret pharmacological data such as dose-response curves in the context of optimizing drug therapy.
Differentiate between terms such as efficacy, potency and therapeutic index as they relate to drug therapy.
Demonstrate an understanding of the basic mechanisms of drug-induced toxicity and drug interactions and develop appropriate approaches to their management.
Demonstrate an understanding of the basic mechanisms involved in modification of drug responses by disease, genetics, and age.
Apply the above concepts to all major drug groups in the development of the most effective and safe therapeutic regimen for patients presenting with a variety of diseases.
Describe the effects exerted by drugs on cells, tissues, organ systems, and patients and be able to explain the mechanisms underlying these effects at various levels of biological organization.
Utilize appropriate resource materials (i.e. textbooks, literature & colleagues) to supplement their basic fund of knowledge in developing a rational and safe therapeutic approach for patients.