Pharmacology study tips, please.

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Right now I am in pharmacology and I'm doing well in the class but the exams are bringing me down! Whenever I take an exam, it feels like my mind goes blank when I come across a question pertaining to medications. Don't get me wrong, I do study, A LOT. But has anyone come across a better way to study other then flashcards?

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, clonazepam, midazolam, lorazepam, alprazolam are all benzodiazepines. They all have the same basic effects. They all end in -zolam or -zepam. If a new drug called forazepam hits the market next year, you can bet on it being a benzo.

Know the difference between agonist, antigonist, anticholenergic, cholenergic, adreneric etc. Knowing what a beta2 agonist does can help you identify how a medication reacts with the body. These terms closely specify the mechanism of action. I was really bad at mixing up agonists or adrenergics b/c it all sounded the same. I zeroed in on the beta2 part, but didn't pay attention to whether it was blocked or enhanced. 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 the similarities. Almotriptan, frovatriptan, naratriptan, eletriptan, rizatriptan all end in -triptan. 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 is different, make a note (sometimes they like throwing that curve ball).

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

Study toxicity levels. What happens if someone takes too much of a tricyclic antidepressant or maybe digoxin? Some drugs 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 toxic.

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

On top of normal studying, dedicate every Sunday to studying your notes (for the week) as if you are taking an exam on Monday. Even though my next exam was 4 weeks away, I would have a mock cram session 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!

This is great advice, especially the "mock cram sessions" - I am hoping to enter an Accelerated BSN (12 months!!) program this fall and will need all the strategies and tips I can get! Thanks for the advice, we all appreciate it!

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Some flash cards.....enjoy

♪♫ in my ♥ 3

Greetings.

Attached are 12 Word documents which I made when I took pharmacology. All the information was based on the ATI study guide since that constituted the final exam in our class.

They are formatted as 3x5 cards and were printed on individual 3x5 cards.

Have at 'em if you think they'll help... they certainly worked for me.

Again, they are entirely my own creation based on the information out of the ATI book. I make no promises as to their accuracy (though I rocked pharm so they couldn't be too bad).

Feedback is welcome.

Attached Files

very generous of you!!

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
very generous of you!!

Don't thank me I give credit where credit is due.....I just carry on the link they were made by another member ♪♫ in my ♥ 3

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This link is for autonomic pharm.... Sympathomimetic, cholinergic, anticholinergic etc....helped a ton

Subscribe to this guys YouTube page.....does a great job at making it simple

Hope it helps

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Also when you get to med surg.... Check this guy out.... He is a med student but explains challenging concepts soooooo well..

Subscribe to him also....

Resp/Meta acidosis/alkalosis

:)

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I just finished Pharmacology and got an A. It was extremely difficult, it was my hardest class. I studied everyday, even if it was just for 20 or 30 minutes. Our class was podcasted, so I listened to the podcasts over and over until I had literally almost memorized them. If you can record your classes and are a auditory learner I suggest doing that. I would listen to the podcasts in the car, shower, even while I was at the grocery store shopping! lol. I also created drug maps because flashcards did not work for me. I could not see the big picture, which is what I needed and could see that with the drug maps. If you are interested, pm me and I can send you a copy of a few ones that I made so you can see examples.

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