Should I take Pathophysiology before Pharmacology?

[FAworld]

I'm still trying to figure out my summer schedule, argh.

I have figured out that I can take Pharm or Patho but not both. I was set to take Pharm but a friend pointed out it would be helpful to know about diseases before I learn about drugs.

Curious what others' experience have been with taking one before the other.

Thanks. :)

[FAworld]

bump :)

[carolinagirlRN]

i took pharm first and learned nothing. without knowing the patho of why the drug does what it does it pretty much useless taking pharm first. this is just my opinion...hope it helps

[dlaura22]

I would say Yes! So much of patho is integrated into Pharm. Better to have that understanding down first. In our program we had to take Patho first. Good luck!

[shoegalRN, RN]

I would recommend taking Patho first. But not sure if you should take it during the summer since it's not a regular semester. But that all depends on what kind of learner you are. I'm taking Patho while in my nursing program and it's been a challenge, but doable. I take Pharm next semester and from what I hear so far is that Pharm is mostly memorization where Patho is more application.

Good luck!

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

I had to take Patho b/f Pharm, and doing it that way made applying the pharm easier (for me, anyway).

I wouldn't worry about taking it in the summer. My experience with summer courses has been you get everything you need to know regardless of what semester it is. Of course, ask people who took it in the summer at your school to be sure.

Good luck!

[future L&Dnurse]

I would take patho first. Your friend is right, it will help a lot to know something about the diseases before you try to learn how the drugs treat them.

[gt4everpn, BSN, RN]

Patho first it will help you understand how diseases and disorders come about and then you can learn about how drugs work on the patho of these diseases to prevent or stop them. Good Luck. God Bless!

[GratefulHeart]

Another vote for patho first...

[kalmeira]

Yes, I would say Patho first. I took patho and pharm concurrently, and it worked out, but I think if you have to option, by all means take patho first. In Patho we learned alot of Pharm too, in talking about how to treat different conditions, so it will probablly give you a bit of a foundation to build on in your Pharm class.