Some time ago I published a similar post on how to study anatomy. I received a lot of positive feedback from you which is why I decided to continue this “series” and tackle a big one today - pharmacology :)
Main tips
in my opinion (and it worked out pretty good for me) the right approach and learning strategy is crucial during your pharmacology course. I would always start with a big picture:
Start with learning groups of drugs acting on a certain system
Learn the pathophysiology background first (it is very evident in drugs used to treat cardiac diseases –you have to know/revise the pathomechanism so that you know exactly what events take place in what order e.g. how the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system causes hypertension and on how it can be prevented.)
In case of drugs acting on the autonomic nervous system, learn what kind of receptors are important (alpha, beta-adrenergic, muscarinic, nicotinic), their location, what happens when stimulated, what happens when blocked
Knowing the basic functions, mechanisms, receptors of a certain system now you can go into more detail aka learning specific drugs one by one; look out for characteristics: mechanism of action, side effects, contraindications
What is crucial here, as you learn drugs from the same group (for example all the drugs that are beta-blockers) you’ll know that the main mechanism of action of all of them is pretty much the same – but exam questions often highlight how we can differentiate them, which one suits the needs of a certain patient best, why this drug, not the other form the same group? Great solution here is to make tables of some kind of graphs where you specify what makes those drugs different from one another (e.g. b-blockers differ in terms of generations, 1st generation b-blockers are not selective hence they won’t work for every patient-indications/contraindications; additional vasodilation mechanisms – nebivolol stimulates NO production while propranolol doesn’t etc)
The next step of mastering pharmacology is to learn the doses and in what form a drug can be administered (e.g. when in an emergency (acute angina) you’ll give your patient aerosol instead of pills because such form acts quicker)
When you’ll learn few groups of drugs it is important to study drug interactions, which can be co-administered, which can’t; learn CYP enzyme inhibitors and inducers (you’ll thank me later)
This list is a general take on learning pharmacology, this is the order which made the most sense to me and (I hope) is quite logical. Of course, feel free to modify the order of the process, whatever suits your needs.
Some extra things I want to stress out:
When I learned pharmacology I became aware that my study method and approach was different depending on what chapter/groups of drugs I was studying, so be aware, you’ll need to make adjustments as you study, some examples:
Autonomic drugs: at first figure out the receptors (where and how they work) then accordingly proceed with learning drugs
CNS: at first revise psychiatric disorders, neurotransmitters, pathomechanisms, symptoms, then study drugs
Respiratory, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular systems: revise physiology and pathophysiology in general, then learn groups of drugs, then drug details etc
Endocrine: take your time and revise how hormones work (sounds silly but made sense to me), what are major endocrine disorders, then learn drugs
Antimicrobial drugs: revise major micro information (Staph, Strep, H. influenzae, aerobic, anaerobic, which microbes are characteristic for respiratory disorders in children and elderly, meningitis, zoonoses…) so you know what is happening for starters and then just stick to sketchy pharm videos and antibiotic therapy guidelines of your country, it’s not as hard I promise
Antiviral, monoclonal antibodies, antifungals: SKETCHY, SKETCHY SKETCHY, they were the hardest in my opinion
Resources
Sketchy (link) - best thing that could happen to us, pharmacology warriors, check it out
anki flashcards (based on sketchy videos or you can make your own) (link) - spaced repetition is the KEY to success, be systematical and revise the material unless you know it perfectly, it works
lecture notes/class notes + Lange Pharmacology book (link) - pay attention what your professor emphasises, here you’ll have the basic information as well as the details
Pharmacology recall (link) - great source to begin working on a certain chapter (read and answer first chapters of questions) and then very helpful as you prepare for an exam - you just go by and check if you can answer all of the questions
Summing up
It takes a lot of time and effort to learn pharmacology. The subject itself is not quite enjoyable and very demanding yet it is very important for your clinical knowledge. Prepare yourself to struggle and fail sometimes but get up right on the spot and try again until you pass your exam - I passed mine, so will you.
Feel free to message me if something here was unclear to you or you simply need some motivation/someone to talk to :)
I hope it helps some of you!
