Postgraduate Course: Principles of Clinical Pharmacology (GMED11061)

Course Outline
School	Deanery of Clinical Sciences	College	College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)	Availability	Not available to visiting students
SCQF Credits	10	ECTS Credits	5
Summary	This programme aims to ensure that practitioners have a sound understanding of basic pharmacology principles and practices. Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetics principles will be taught using clinical examples. Reasons for individual variation, drug monitoring, and types of adverse drug reactions will be discussed using interactive and problem based scenarios. Students will also learn and reflect on medication compliance, why medication errors occur and will discuss safe prescribing guidelines. Students will increase knowledge and understanding of drug regulation in the UK and internationally. Students will gain a good understanding of the mechanisms of action and effects of recreational misused drugs. They will discuss common clinical toxicology/ poisoning case scenarios and develop analytical reasoning to aid diagnostic and management decisions.
Course description	Not entered

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Semester 1
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 15, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5, Online Activities 50, Summative Assessment Hours 10, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 20 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 70 %, Coursework 30 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Formal summative written assessment will constitute 70% of the student¿s grade. This will take the form of an online MCQ exam, covering clinical cases and pharmacology theory. Online assessment (participation in discussion boards, group work or short written assignments) will constitute the other 30% of their overall course grade and is taken to represent a formative assessment of their learning throughout the module.
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
Intended learning outcomes: At completion of this course the candidate should have a good understanding of the basic principles of pharmacology to guide prescribing in a general medical setting. Students should be able to diagnose and initiate appropriate treatment for common clinical toxicology presentations and understand why good prescribing practices are required to ensure patient safety. The basic framework of medicines management, internationally, nationally and locally should be appreciated. The candidate should: ¿Understand basic principles of dose adjustment and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics ¿Understand the factors contributing to individual variation including consideration of patients with organ failure and pregnant women ¿Understand type of adverse drug reactions and why they occur ¿Understand factors contributing to poor medication compliance ¿Understand why medication errors occur, their impact and be able to theorise about practice to improve safe prescribing ¿Be aware of the effects and side effects of common recreational drugs misuse ¿Have the ability to diagnose and treat common presentation to a toxicology unit