Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
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Pharmacology in the School of MedicineCourses in PharmacologyCourse DirectorJoseph Goldfarb, Ph.D.Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics Instruction in pharmacology emphasizes the mechanisms and principles of drug action, both pharmacokinetic (how the body handles drugs) and pharmacodynamic (how drugs affect functions). The goal is to enable students to understand and use not only drugs presently available, but also those that will be approved in the future. In the second-year pharmacology course, the principles are presented and then reinforced in a systemic survey of the major families of drugs used therapeutically. Course material is presented in lecture, reading assignments, and conferences in which students are asked to apply their knowledge by interpreting case reports and experimental studies. A weekly e-mail tutorial in which individual feedback is available in response to students' answers to problems, as well as computer simulations in pharmacokinetics, supplements the teaching. Paralleling this course is a weekly two-hour review devoted primarily to questions and problems raised by the participating students. Extensive individual tutoring is available for students with special needs. |