ME549 Clinical Pharmacology II

This course is the second in a series of four courses designed to introduce students to the broad scope of clinical pharmacology through an organ systems-based approach. The Clinical Pharmacology II course will specifically cover therapeutics used to treat conditions found in the cardiovascular, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal organ systems. During this course, the student will be given the opportunity to demonstrate the ability to: 1) identify the classes of drugs used to treat diseases commonly encountered in a primary care and emergency settings; 2) recognize the commonly used drugs in each class; 3) identify the basic pharmacodynamic properties of each class of drug, the mechanism of action, and important consequences of using each class of drug; 4) recognize the signs and symptoms of common adverse effects and of possible toxic or life-threatening effects of drugs; 5) identify precautions or contraindications to the use of a drug; 6) identify significant drug-drug interactions; 7) recognize the importance of patient education in determining compliance, avoidance of potential problems, and success of therapy; 8) apply statistical and critical thinking skills to evaluate literature data; 9) use resource materials for determining proper usage of chemotherapeutic agents; and 10) understand the role of the physician assistant in writing prescriptions.