HIGH-YIELD PRINCIPLES IN

Pharmacology

  Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics

  Autonomic Drugs

  Toxicities and Side Effects

  Miscellaneous

“Take me, I am the drug; take me, I am hallucinogenic.”

—Salvador Dali

“I was under medication when I made the decision not to burn the tapes.”

—Richard Nixon

“I wondher why ye can always read a doctor’s bill an’ ye niver can read his purscription.”

—Finley Peter Dunne

“Once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.”

—Hunter S. Thompson

Preparation for pharmacology questions is straightforward. Know all the mechanisms, clinical use, and important adverse effects of key drugs and their major variants. Obscure derivatives are low-yield. Learn their classic and distinguishing toxicities as well as major drug-drug interactions. Reviewing associated biochemistry, physiology, and microbiology concepts can be useful while studying pharmacology. The exam has a strong emphasis on ANS, CNS, antimicrobial, and cardiovascular agents as well as on NSAIDs, which are covered throughout the text. Specific drug dosages or trade names are generally not testable. The exam may use graphs to test various pharmacology content, so make sure you are comfortable interpreting them.

  PHARMACOLOGY—PHARMACOKINETICS AND PHARMACODYNAMICS

  PHARMACOLOGY—AUTONOMIC DRUGS

  PHARMACOLOGY—TOXICITIES AND SIDE EFFECTS

  PHARMACOLOGY—MISCELLANEOUS

  NOTES