hi everyone. am a second year MBBS student nd it would be great if u could tell me some efficient methods to study Pharmacology as the drug names are often confusing. Thank you.
I remember when i was studying pharmacology , I was creating tables with similar drugs "name of drug - mechanism of action - uses - side effects ... etc."
You should categorize them so you can understand and feel the difference antibiotics for example Gram positive or Gram negative - Bactericidal or bacteriostatic Bacterial cell wall synthesis , inhibtors of protein synthesis , inhibitors of nucleic acid synthesis .. etc if you studied it for one time , 100 % you will forget it You should study it many many times cause it is easily forgotten Make your own notes , one word for each drug may help you remember everything about it
write each group of drug in charts.it helps you remember them.write mechanism of action up the chart.pharma really need repeat flash card can be helpful.good luck
I taught Pharmacology in nursing for 20 years. The key is : starting with the first day of class, read your notes for one hour every day. By the end of the week, you will have looked at that week's drugs for seven hours, before the next week's lecture will introduce new drugs. Schedule this hour on your calendar as if you were scheduling a doctor appointment. Perhaps this will mean waking up an hour earlier or staying up an hour later, or that your lunch hour will become your pharmacology review hour. The key is having a handle on the first week's content before the next week's content is introduced. Pharmacology is not something that can be crammed the week before the exam. You should also be studying by drug class, learning the prototype for each drug class. This way, you won't need to memorize so many examples in each class. Know how the classifications differ. Ask yourself these questions for each drug class: 1) who needs this class of drugs? Or who would I want to prescribe this drug for? ( diabetics? Heart failure patients? Someone with an infection? Someone with inflammation ?) 2). What is the prototype of this class of drugs? 3) what does the drug do to the body (pharmacodynamics)? 4. What does the body do to this drug ( pharmacokinetics) ? 5. If I prescribe this drug, What do I want to happen? (Intended effects) 6. What do I NOT want to happen ( adverse effects). 7. Who should not ever take this drug ? Students who took this advice on day one, did well in my course. Those who did not, invariably ended up crying in my office wondering why they were doing so poorly. Good luck to you! I am retired now but was a nurse for 30 years. Ten in ICU and 20 as a nursing professor. I hope you find that pharmacology is one of the most interesting and enjoyable subjects you will ever learn about. I truly loved teaching it Suzanne Carpenter, Ph.D., R.N., C.N.E.
I left a more comprehensive post earlier that may help, but here are a few tips for remembering drug names: ( remember, these tips will help with most of these classes but not all. Some don't follow the rules....) 1). "prils" drugs ending with these letters are the ace inhibitors. 2). "Sartans" drugs ending in these letters are the ARBs. 3). "Sones" Drugs ending in these letters are the corticosteroids. 4). "Ephedrines" drugs ending in these letters are the decongestants (should not be used with hypertension. ) 5.) "ipine" drugs ending in these letters are generally the calcium channel blockers. (Of course, Diltiazem and Verapamil are exceptions) . 6). "0lol" drugs ending in these letters are the beta blockers. 7). When distinguishing between types of inhalers "piums" drugs ending in these letters are the anticholinergic inhalers. As said earlier, drugs ending in "sones" are the steroid inhalers; and drugs ending in "terols" are the beta 2 adrenergic agonists. This is not an all inclusive list, but my students told me over the years they were helpful
I remember things a little differently as I often also struggle to remember difficult names of drugs. Of course you need to know drug classes etc. but try to break the names down into shorter words and attach pictures to each word that relate to the action of the drug. Sometimes it might only make sense to you but a picture speaks a thousand words.
For students asking for help remembering drug names......sometimes looking at how the generic names are spelled can help!!!! Here are a few tips for remembering drug names: ( remember, these tips will help with most of these classes but not all. Some don't follow the rules....) 1). "prils" drugs ending with these letters are the ace inhibitors. 2). "Sartans" drugs ending in these letters are the ARBs. 3). "Sones" Drugs ending in these letters are the corticosteroids. 4). "Ephedrines" drugs ending in these letters are the decongestants (should not be used with hypertension. ) 5.) "ipine" drugs ending in these letters are generally the calcium channel blockers. (Of course, Diltiazem and Verapamil are exceptions) . 6). "0lol" drugs ending in these letters are the beta blockers. 7). When distinguishing between types of inhalers "piums" drugs ending in these letters are the anticholinergic inhalers. As said earlier, drugs ending in "sones" are the steroid inhalers; and drugs ending in "terols" are the beta 2 adrenergic agonists. This is not an all inclusive list, but my students told me over the years they were helpful Suzanne Carpenter, Ph.D., R.N., C.N.E.
