Principles of Pharmacology II: The Physiological Basis of Therapeutics

Catalog description

This course focuses on human physiology of organ systems including the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and those systems (gastrointestinal, hepatic, and renal) that are involved in determining the pharmacokinetics or time course of drug action in vivo. A second major emphasis is placed on disease-based sessions where normal physiology, pathophysiology, and key drug classes to treat pathophysiologies are discussed. The students learn key concepts in endocrine pathologies, inflammatory disorders, pulmonary diseases, infectious diseases, and cancer. The main learning objectives are for the student to gain an understanding of basic principles of modern pharmacology and physiology and to build self-directed learning skills. This is a highly interactive course in which faculty lectures are minimized. A heavy emphasis is placed on student-directed learning experiences including presentation and discussion of primary literature, problem solving applications, small group discussion and team-based learning. This 3-credit hour course meets 3 hr per week during the fall semester of year 2.