Course Coordinator - Clarkson
Exams - Clarkson
Medical Pharmacology Course Committee: Clarkson, Beckman, Kadowitz, Agrawal, Taylor

A current list of the office room numbers, phone numbers and email addresses for the Medical Pharmacology teaching faculty can be found in the "Faculty" section on the Pharmacology Web Site. This web site contains an up-to-date version of the course schedule, learning objectives for each contact hour, links to relevant on-line resources, and interactive self-assessment exams that will be posted a few days prior to each block exam

Each lecture, lab & problem based learning session will have a handout covering the content of the lecture or exercise, along with a list of learning objectives. It is recommended that you purchase a text to use as a reference for finding further detail on subjects covered in class or in PBL sessions, or to clarify a point made in lecture. The 10th edition (2007) of Katzung's "Basic & Clinical Pharmacology" is our recommended text. This text should be considered your authoritative reference that you can rely upon for accurate information. It is an information resource and supplement to the information that is presented to you in lecture & PBL sessions.

Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, 10th Edition, 2007, B. G. Katzung (Editor).
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-145153-6 McGraw Hill / Lange Med. Pub., Norwalk, Conn./San Mateo, CA.
(An excellent text with a good balance of depth of coverage & illustrations.) $59.95 softback

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Some other texts commonly favored by faculty & students are also listed below (in alphabetical order).

Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics 11th Edition. 2006
Brunton Laurence L. et al. Editors. ISBN: 0-07-142280-3.
(The most authoritative text. It covers all the details on a topic, with large & small text, similar to an encyclopedia. It’s big: 8 lbs hardbound) $140.

Katzung & Treavor's Pharmacology. Examination & Board Review. 7th Edition 2005. McGrawHill/ Lange ISBN: 0071422900.
(Covers the basic points of a drug or drug class, but does not give any details. Good for board review. Some students have been happy with it as a text. Contains a thousand or more USMLE type questions & practice exams.) $39.95

Lipincott's IlIustrated Reviews. Pharmacology 3rd Edition. 2006.
Harvey Richard A & Champe, Pamela C. Editors. ISBN: 0-7817-4118-1.
(A student favorite. Less text & more illustrations. However, it contains some errors in some of its chapters & hence it is not a faculty favorite. Does not have references.). $47

Pharmcards, 2nd Edition. May 2002. E.C. Johannsen and M.S. Sabatine.
Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. ISBN: 0-7817-3401-0.
(Remember those flash cards you had as a kid? Some students find these quite useful.) $36.95

Principles of Pharmacology. The Pathophysiologic Basis of Drug Therapy, 2nd Edition, 2007.
Golan David E. et al. Editors. ISBN-13: 978-0-7817-8355-2. Wolters Kluwer, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia 2007.
(An integrated mechanism-based & systems-based approach to understanding the actions of pharmacological agents. An excellent new text). $64.95

Lectures will be given in the main 6th floor lecture hall (Room 6065) or the 1st floor auditorium at 1555 Poydras, once it becomes available. See the lecture schedule for exact times. Lectures will cover primary concepts such as mechanisms of drug action, drug indications, contraindications, drug interactions & side effects. Each lecture will have a handout that will include most of the essential concepts and facts to be learned. Each handout will include a list of learning objectives that clarify the major facts and concepts for that topic. Handouts will also typically contain a drug list, which will list the essential drugs covered during the lecture. All of the material provided in the handout may not be covered in lecture, however, students are still responsible for all material included in the handout as it pertains to the learning objectives. The drugs included in the drug lists represent those that you should be familiar with prior to an exam, with respect to the learning objectives. You are not expected to ever know every detail about each drug. The information you are expected to know about each drug is outlined in the learning objectives. A list of “Drug Profiles” containing a summary of information on the indications, contraindications, mechanisms of action, side effects, drug interactions, and pharmacokinetic information on each drug will also be provided. This is intended to be used as an information resource only. It is not something to be memorized word for word. A copy of the drug lists, learning objectives and drug profiles are also available on the course web site. Links to additional on-line resources are also typically provided for each drug.

In the case-based PBL sessions you will work with a group of ~14 students to answer questions related to a developing clinical problem. You should bring resources with you to all PBL sessions (e.g. text books, class notes or PDA/laptop). One instructor will be assigned to each group as a facilitator. Attendance is mandatory (rooms and groups as assigned) & participation will contribute towards the "professionalism" component of your final grade (5%). The following case-based PBL sessions are scheduled:

1.   Drug Metabolism (Coordinator: Dr.Clarkson)
2. Antibiotics (Coordinator: Dr. Agrawal)
3. Chemical Warefare (Coordinator: Dr. Clarkson)
4.   Antiarrhythmic Drugs (Coordinator: Dr. Clarkson)
5. Hypertension (Coordinator: Dr. Kadowitz)
6. Psychotherapeutic Drugs (Coordinator: Dr. Clarkson)
7.   Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus (Coordinator: Dr. Beckman)
8. Contraception (Coordinator: Dr. Beckman)

3. Cardiovascular Labs
   
   Two lab sessions have been designed to provide you with the opportunity to evaluate the effects of various adrenergic & cholinergic agonists and antagonists on cardiovascular function. Attendance is mandatory & will contribute towards your final grade (professionalism component). During the first lab you will observe & evaluate the effects of selected agonists & antagonists. During the second lab you will work as a group to apply your knowledge of autonomic pharmacology to deduce the identity of 4 different “unknown” drugs (all cardiovascular responses have been previously recorded on chart paper). These laboratories have been titled:
   
   1. Adrenergic & Cholinergic drugs
   2. Autonomic Unknowns

One of the main purposes of the PBL & Lab sessions is to give you an opportunity to assess your mastery of a topic using interactive exercises that require you to apply your knowledge of a topic using deductive reasoning to “solve” a problem or to answer a series of questions. Information covered in the PBL & Lab sessions will be covered on upcoming progress exams.

Sharing of information between different PBL & Lab groups (e.g. between those in Section A vs. Section B) will “short circuit” the learning process for the latter groups taking the lab. For this reason it is an honor code violation for students to share information between lab groups/sections until all groups have completed the lab exercise.

Make-up sessions will be made available for the CV PBLs for students who have an excused absence. Absences from Case-based PBLs will need to be made up independently (students may consult their classmates & faculty for answers to case-based questions).

4. Review Sessions

   Review sessions will be held at the end of most blocks, a few days prior to block exams.  These will be held in the main lecture hall. Attendance is optional. You are expected to come prepared to ask questions of the Instructor(s) (i.e. having studied and reviewed the lecture content) .

5. Exams
   There will be ~11 progress exams and an NBME shelf exam as a final exam. The NBME shelf exam will count for 25% of your course grade. On progress exams, you will be held responsible for the lecture material, laboratories, lecture handouts, roundtable discussions, problem-based learning sessions, self studies and assigned readings. Up to 15-20% of each exam will be cover cumulative material covered in the prior block, beginning with Exam II. These review questions over the previous block will focus on the most important concepts & objectives, and not “minutiae”. Interactive versions of questions from previous progress exams are available on the Medical Pharmacology Web Site. Due to the uneven number of contact hours in each "Subject block", there will be a highly variable number of questions on each exam (e.g. varying from 4 to 60 questions). This is a consequence of the coordination of our schedule with the other 2nd year courses, and the variable number of contact hours per block. While there will be a variable number of questions on each exam, each question on each exam will have equal weight.

An answer key will be posted within an hour after the exam is completed, and will remain posted until 4-5 p.m. on the day of the exam, and then reposted from 9 AM till 5 PM the following “non-holiday” weekday (typically a Monday). Challenges to the answer key may be submitted on-line from the exam section of the course website. For most exams (given on Friday morning) the deadline for acceptance of key challenges will be Sunday the day after the exam.

A zero will be given for an unexcused absence from an exam. A letter is required from Dr. Marc Kahn, Associate Dean of Student Affairs, to obtain an excused absence from an exam. Students with valid excuses will typically be required to take the exam within a week of the original date.

Goals of the Examinations:

They are used:

1.             As a motivational force to stimulate you to achieve a minimal knowledge of drug actions to prepare you for the practice of medicine.

2.              To determine your areas of strength and weakness.

3.              To stimulate you to study further in your area of weakness.

4.              As a teaching modality and learning process.

Your course grade will be determined from the percent of the total possible points you obtain from all exam questions. While there will be a variable number of questions on each exam, each questions on each exam will have equal weight, except for the final. The final exam will count for 25% of your final course grade. As an example, if you obtained a score of 35 out of 40 possible correct on the first exam, 10 out of 15 correct on the second exam, 20 out of 25 correct on the third exam, and 50 out of 60 correct on the forth exam, your current cumulative average would be: (35+10+20+50)/(40+15+25+60) = 82.1%. It is anticipated that there will be ~255 possible points that can be earned from progress exams, prior to the final exam.

Reference:
1) URL for Medical Pharmacology Course Web Site:
http://www.som.tulane.edu/departments/pharmacology/medpharm