Pharmacology Course for Graduate, Medical and Pharmacy Students
The primary course objective is to provide the student with basic pharmacologic information that can be used as a foundation for the practice of medicine, pharmacy or for a career in research. Our goal is to provide the student with a basis for understanding the underlying pharmacology of therapeutic agents. It is not our purpose to discuss the specific details of therapeutics, but rather to present the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic aspects of various classes of drugs as a basis for the understanding of the pharmacology of all drugs and to gain a proper respect for the potential hazards involved with the administration of all drugs.
To achieve these objectives, two sequential courses cover the following broad topics:
- General principles of pharmacology: drug-receptor concepts, dose-response relationships, specificity of drug action, biological variations in response, factors altering drug actions, and pharmacokinetics, i.e., the factors involved in the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs.
- Systems pharmacology: drugs which act on the various physiological systems and functions of the body, including the central and autonomic nervous systems, the cardiovascular, renal, and gastrointestinal systems and endocrine and metabolic functions.
- Chemotherapy: drugs used as antimicrobial, antineoplastic, antiparasitic and antiviral agents, including drugs that affect the immune system.
- Toxicology: types of toxic or poisonous -effects of non-medical, non-therapeutic chemicals and the pharmacologic principles involved in dealing with toxic agents.
- Drug interactions: kinds of drug interactions that occur, with emphasis on the resultant adverse effects and therapeutic failures that may occur.
- Misuse and abuse of drugs: problems and dangers inherent in the misuse of drugs, both intentional and inadvertent.
For more information contact:
Dr. David McMillan
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
985800 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, Nebraska 68198-5800
Phone: (402) 559-8146
FAX: (402) 559-7495
dcmcmillan@unmc.edu
