Principles of Pharmacology and Therapeutics

17 September 2018

This course will build on the introductory concepts of pharmacology introduced in Phase 1. It is intended to aid students in understanding the basic principles of drug action. Using a combination of didactic teaching, self-directed learning and team- based learning, the students will be guided through a journey of where and how drugs work in the body (primary sites of action e.g. receptors, enzymes), the consequences of such interactions (the actions and effects of drugs on the body or ‘pharmacodynamics’), how the body handles drugs (the factors that determine drug concentration changes with time following dosing or ‘pharmacokinetics’), and why drugs affect people differently (pharmacogenomics). A variety of physiological models for the pharmacological action of drugs will be used to consolidate the basic principles of pharmacology.