COURSE OBJECTIVES

The aim of this course is to equip students with key skills to develop and demonstrate advanced pharmacy practice. This course focus on the clinical skills and the role of clinical pharmacist in hospitals giving considerations and skills required for formulating, recommending and applying full pharmaceutical care plan including individualization of therapy and the appropriate drug selection. The student can develop rational drug therapy and pharmacotherapeutic care plans for the pathological conditions under study in order to provide safe and effective management of the diseases concerning neurological, psychiatric, endocrinological, arthritic and infectious disorders. This course also focuses on profiles of some narrow therapeutic index drugs.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES (CLO)

CLO: 1. To identify, assess and prioritize drug related problems and promotion of rational prescribing
CLO: 2. To develop rational drug therapy & care plan for the pathological conditions concerning neurological, psychiatric, endocrinological, arthritic and infectious disorders.
CLO: 3. To memorize the names and clinical pharmacokinetics of narrow therapeutic index drugs

COURSE CONTENTS

  1. RATIONAL USE OF DRUGS:
    • Rational Prescribing, Rational Dispensing, Problems of Irrational Drug Use, Learning about drug use problem, Sampling to study drug use, Indicators of drug use.
  2. INTRODUCTION TO ESSENTIAL DRUGS:
    • Criteria for selection, Usage and Advantages. Development of EDL.
  3. DISEASE MANAGEMENT:
    • Unit V: Central nervous system unit (Stroke, epilepsy, Psychosis)
    • Unit VI: Infectious diseases (Meningitis, tuberculosis, dermatological infections, Rabies, Urinary tract infection, Malaria fever, typhoid fever, fungal infections of skin, Dengue Fever, Common Cold, Pharyngitis & Tonsillitis, Conjunctivitis)
    • Unit VII: Endocrinology Unit (Diabetes Mellitus, Hyper/Hypo thyroidism, pituitary gland non-malignant disorders)
  4. DRUG UTILZATION EVALUATION & DRUG UTILIZATION REVIEW (DUE/DUR):
    • Development of protocol of use of few very low therapeutic index drug groups like Steroids, Vancomycin and Cimetidine.
  5. CLINICAL PHARMACOKINETICS:
    • Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Digoxin, Theophylline, Gentamycin, Lithium, Phenytoin, Carbamazepine, Phenobarbitone, Valproic Acid, Cyclosporins and Vancomycin.