Pharmacology help

[HueySmith]

Hi everyone,

I have trouble learning pharmacology. I have been doing pretty poorly (but not failing). My learning strategies for this class was to read lectures, go to lectures, and try to make some flash cards, and test myself with the flash cards.

I think there is just so many indications, side effects, and contraindications for each drugs, that I get them mixed up on the tests. I could probably remember the exact mechanism, and also indications for each drug. But, if you put them side by side, and ask what's different about those, I wouldn't be able to tell you.

Does anyone have any good ways to learn pharmacology? I feel like that is my biggest weak point.

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[trs88]

Tried Sketchy Pharm yet?

 

[HueySmith]

No not yet, I haven't had the time...

 

[MightBeACylon439]

No not yet, I haven't had the time...

 

[IslandStyle808]

No not yet, I haven't had the time...

Usually when I hit a wall with pharm, I would "memory palace" all the drugs. This was helpful for those side effects, risk factors, and other random trivia that you had to know is associated with the drugs. There are clips explaining how it work. However, the crux is that it takes time to build.

 

[samac]

Sketchypharm.

 

[pseud0]

look at the drug classes you need to know for the current exam block, watch those sketchy videos. watch them again. listen to them while commuting. just learn the videos back and forth
watch the class lecture once at 2x speed to get any hints on minuteae for exam questions.

 

[CoomassieBlue57]

You sound like me (I thought I was going to hate pharm this year). 100% use ALL of SketchyPharm. Pharm is now my favorite class because of sketchy. You’ll hear people say the videos are too long and not worth the time, but for people like you or me who have trouble comparing minute details, SketchyPharm is the answer.

 

[DO2015CA]

Sketchy pharm is all you need. I started not even opening the lectures except for to get the list of drugs. You might miss a stupid super low yield question on the test but it’ll pay massive dividends on boards to start early.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Step 1: download the Zanki deck
Step 2: do the pharm section for whatever system you are in (it’s broken into sub decks and is easily accessible)
Step 3: dominate pharm questions

*the cards are built from FA and sketchy, it pulls the sketchy pic up on every card highlighting what you are supposed to remember.

 

[deleted645092]

Personally I haven't used Sketchy Pharm so I'll add how I have been learning it. Disclaimer though, I'm more naturally gifted with pathways and concepts so biochem came really easy for me, which has helped a ton with where drugs act within different pathways. However pure memorization is one of my weak points so things like the spectrum for each antibiotic is near-impossible for me if I don't continuously review.

My method is flashcards for it, 95%. When first learning the drugs I draw out the pathway that a class of drugs is involved in disrupting/ enhancing, and insert each category or specific drug in it's correct place. This will put the visual in my head to help with the next part, which is flashcards for the mechanism of action. I will then go ahead and make separate Anki cards (but you can substitute for your flashcard method of choice) that ask me to identify:

-Class and it's drugs; "Selective Beta 1 Blockers: a,b,c,d,e". And then I'll insert the relevant drugs as the answer, but then have it set up so for the same card I get the drugs and have to tell you what class they are in, which takes about 1 second to do with Anki since you just cloze-delete them.

-Clinical uses: I'll make a card that just says "What condition is _(drug)_ the drug of choice for?", and then another that says "_(drug)_ is the drug of choice for _(condition)_". Again I cloze-delete both parts so that I have to answer the question both ways. I tend to include the drug of choice for each condition and then all of the conditions/drugs that my professor emphasizes for each drug/condition, which is usually +/-2 compared to First-Aid.

-Side Effects: I will make separate cards for each class and then a completely separate card for any extra side effects that apply to only 1 or 2 drugs.

-Extra facts: This can include if a drug is structurally similar to drugs of other classes, like the diuretics and Sulfonamides, off-label uses for drugs,

While it is tedious to make the flash cards at first, you get used to it and can bang them out in 1-2 hours per lecture. Then you have flashcards for all of the facts for any given drug, and can take 20-30 minutes to review them every day. Eventually they will stick, and while I'm only a 2nd year so I can't say definitively if it helps, you can use these same cards to stay fresh every day of 3rd and 4th year, they might just help with a pimp question.

 

[Espressso]

make anki decks for each pharm lecture with MOA, indications/contraindications and weird give away or high yeild points. Hit the cards once or twice a day and you'll know the drugs after a week

 

[Ho0v-man]

Are the specific cyp 450 enzymes (I.e. this one is metabolized by cyp2c19 but blocks cyp3a4 etc) important for boards? Haven’t seen it come up yet on sketchy or zanki but my school really loves to test it.

 

[DO2015CA]

Are the specific cyp 450 enzymes (I.e. this one is metabolized by cyp2c19 but blocks cyp3a4 etc) important for boards? Haven’t seen it come up yet on sketchy or zanki but my school really loves to test it.

Outside of the mnemonics about inhibitors and facilitators, no

 

[DO2015CA]

Are the specific cyp 450 enzymes (I.e. this one is metabolized by cyp2c19 but blocks cyp3a4 etc) important for boards? Haven’t seen it come up yet on sketchy or zanki but my school really loves to test it.

If it’s not kenytoin rides shotgun in barbies girl car or CRACK AMIGOS then it does not matter. I did have a question or two ask pharm questions by asking about elimination of a second drug due to one of those drugs.

 

[Ho0v-man]

If it’s not kenytoin rides shotgun in barbies girl car or CRACK AMIGOS then it does not matter. I did have a question or two ask pharm questions by asking about elimination of a second drug due to one of those drugs.

Thanks brah. Haven’t heard of either of those mnemonics before so hopefully I’ll get to them later. I have no idea why they’re torturing me w this minutiae then!

 

[SpartanDOnoharm]

First, learn the drugs and the classes. This is important. Start out with the basics, Lidocaine is a Class Ib anti-arrhythmic, cephalexin is a 1st generation cephalosporin, etc.. Once you learn which drugs are part of which classes, then figure out what that class of drugs can be used for, then do the side effects. Repetition with medications is key. They have weird names, they don't always make sense, there are exceptions to the rules. Use mnemonics when you can. Repetition and trying to tie them into clinical context that will help the most.

And above all else, try to understand the physiology behind why the drugs work, this makes it 1000x easier to remember the side effects of medications and their uses.