Pharmacotherapy

Integrated pharmacotherapy courses in this program will be introduced via an introductory basic pharmacotherapy course, where it will teach the students basic pharmacodynamic principles. It will introduce the students to the normal physiology of Autonomic nervous system ANS and the pharmacology of drugs acting on parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. This knowledge will give the student a fundamental background to understand the actions of various groups of drugs and their clinical applications. This course also will cover drug toxicity and poisoning lectures along with principles of treatment of poisoning. The concepts of environmental, occupational, and forensic toxicology will be introduced to the students by the end of the course. This course is quiet important because it will introduce the student to the concept of integration in learning process as, various discipline are involved such as; pharmacology, physiology, pathology, as well as pharmaceutical practice.

Case based seminars is a practical application of the knowledge the students acquired from the concomitant pharmacotherapy course. This course in particular will focus on application of the knowledge acquired from basic pharmacotherapy course with regard to pharmacodynamics, autonomic nervous system, drug poisoning and environmental as well as occupational toxicology. The course will start with a series of lectures focusing on communication and presentation skills. Followed by the usual conduct of such course via '93case based seminars'94 which applies '93case-based collaborative learning'94 which integrate problem-based learning (PBL), with team-based learning (TBL). The students are divided into small groups with the help of the tutor, to work on a case-based scenario that works as a problem they might see in the future. The group will analyze the case, and determine the learning objectives that helps to find the best management plan for it. The group needs to work as a team on the management plan that will be eventually presented as student seminars to their colleagues. Seminar presentation is a good experience to develop their presentation and communication skills, and their ability to handle discussion. This course should parallel basic pharmacotherapy course delivery over 7 week'92s period.

Antimicrobials are a large group of diverse structures with myriad mechanisms of actions against bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. This course will introduce the student to general classes of antimicrobial drugs. The student will understand how the biological activities will be derived from their chemical structures and physicochemical properties. Pharmacological principles of these classes will be covered afterwards, such as pharmacokinetics, mechanism of action, patterns of kill, adverse effects and mechanisms of resistance. The concept of antimicrobial stewardship will be introduced to the student to emphasize its goals; to enhance patient health outcomes, reduce resistance to antimicrobial agents, and to decrease unnecessary costs.