Classes

[Cju101]

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[LECOMorBUST]

Not sure if this is the best place to ask this, since most here are only pre-pharm.

I'll give it a try. I know someone who will be graduating this spring from a pharmacy school. She tells me Organic I is a must, but Organic II is not really used in pharm school. Also, she said physics and calculus is never applied. Best source to answer your question would be the particular school's curriculum.

 

[Zeke1955]

That's pretty much what I've been told too. Elementary Organic Chemistry - mechanisms, steric effects, etc. are analogous to a religious leader's corresponding text [so "PC"... ] and that the anatomy portion of General Biology is very important as well. A lot of Med students have said that taking Biochemistry in undergrad was a big help for Med school Biochemistry for learning to apply O-Chem to Biology, but that there was a completely different focus between the two classes. Current students could certainly answer that better.

 

[NDGirl]

I'm currently taking a human pharmacology class and a drugs subject to abuse class. I'm planning on them helping me a lot on pharmacy school. I'm learning a lot of the drug names, uses, interaction, and adverse effects. I'm also learning about their pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, etc. And I'm learning more about addiction, abuse, tolerance, and withdrawl.

I also think that biochemistry, chemistry, and a little ochem are really important. Another class I think will help is physiology.

 

[Farmercyst]

Which undergraduate classes are the most useful in pharmacy school. OChem, Microbiology, Calculus, Biochemm,...

A lot of what your curriculum will entail has to do with how drugs do what they do from the chemical and physiological standpoint.

I'd say some essential concepts.

Physiology- which organs detoxify. Filtration, hormone/mineral regulation, digestion, what produces what and where does it go.

Biochemistry- enzymes, regulation (allosteric, biofeedback mechanisms), causes/effects of chemical imbalances (biomolecule buildup/deficiency/syndromes: PKU, etc) prion based disease states

Anatomy: basic body part location, you don't need everything, but general information is very useful.

Organic Chemistry: Functional group naming, Le Chatlier's principle, pH = pKa + log [A-]/[HA], Schiff bases, amino acid chemistry.

GChem: Acid/Base chemistry, redox chemistry

Microbiology: (especially medical Micro) which bugs are major causes of disease, how antibiotics affect different bugs (cell wall, ribosomes, etc) Problem bugs (MRSA, VRSA, etc)

Psychology: Neurotransmitters, chemical imbalance based psych problems, neurotoxins, etc.

Not prereqs, but handy if you can get them

Medicinal Chemistry: Common ways body metabolizes drugs, structure function relationships, prodrugs.

Pharmacology: Drug names, actions, categories, antidotes, etc.

Pharmaceutical Chemistry: Same as medicinal plus some drug discovery/formulation techniques.

There are more than this, but these are some major ones. If you think, "Wait, that wasn't in this class, but it was in that one." It's because there are multiple cross-overs and some subjects are treated differently in different schools. Just pay attention when the above material is taught and you should have a good background for your first year.