How to study for pharm

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Help! Looking for ways to study meds, drug interactions, adverse affects, etc. And ideas? Thanks in advance :)

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Unfortunately it a lot of memorization. No real tricks. These may help.

https://allnurses.com/pharmacology-flashcards-drug-cards-t394218/

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Specializes in ER trauma, ICU - trauma, neuro surgical.

Try and group the medications based on the generic name b/c most of them have a similar base term. Dibucaine, lidocaine, benzocaine, tetracaine all cause numbness. Learn how they interact with the body. How do they cause numbness? What is happening on a cellular level in the neurons? Many of them have the same side effects, drug interactions, and mechanism of action. Where they vary is metabolism or elimination. Some may have a half life of 1 hr or 12 hrs. Know their classifications. Diazepam, midazolam, lorazepam, alprazolam are all benzodiazepines. They all have the same effects.

Know the difference between agonist, antigonist, anticholenergic, cholenergic, adreneric etc. Knowing what a beta2 agonist does can help you identify how a med reacts with the body. These terms close specify the mechanism of action and I was really bad a mixing up agonists or adrenergics b/c it all sounded the same. I zeroed in on the beta2 part and didn't play attention to whether it was blocked or enhanced, which I payed for on the exam.

Next, study the tables in the book. It will list all the drugs together in one group. Stare at it. Identify the names and catch how they are similar. Almotriptan, frovatriptan, naratriptan, eletriptan, rizatriptan all end in triptan and all of them are selective serotonin receptor agonists. Most of these drugs are very similar minus a couple of specifications. If one of the listed drugs are different, make a note (sometimes they like throwing that curve ball).

They are mostly looking for use, mechanism of action, side effects, half life, or drug interactions. They love asking drug interactions. What med can you not take with grapefruit or what happens if these two are given together.

Study toxicity levels. What happens if someone takes too much of a tricyclic antidepressant? Some drug only work after a therapeutic levels is reached, but there are factors that can lead to toxicity. Renal failure, liver failure, infection can all lead to toxicity and the side effects become enhanced or dangerous.

Lastly, study the same things over and over. Give yourself tons of time before the test. Don't study 2 days before b/c it won't work. There's to more info.

On top of normal studying, dedicate every Sunday to studying your notes (for the week) as if you are taking an exam. Even though my next exam was 4 weeks away, I would have a mock cram section for the week. So when I had to take the real exam, I had already engrained it in my head 3 weeks ago. Then, I would constantly go back and review the same thing over and over until it was redundant.

Good luck!

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Thank you both for your help! :)

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Specializes in ER trauma, ICU - trauma, neuro surgical.

Happy to help!

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I just need to have a particular set of drugs memorized every other week. Usually 10 or so. How would you handle that? They seem to relate it to what we are studying.

heres what I got this week:

Kayexalate

Aldactone

K-Dur

Alupent

Humibid

KCl

Antitussive

Aminophylline

Budesonide (Pulmicort)

Furosemide (Lasix)

Codeine cough syrup

Narcan

IV fluids

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Specializes in ER trauma, ICU - trauma, neuro surgical.

If you only need to study 10 drugs, the easiest thing to do is use flashcards. It's a good way to test yourself.

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