Pharmacology

[francais7979]

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i'M planning to take pharmacology in the fall. anyone have any opinon on this? It is an upper division course in biology. Do you think it will look favorably with the admission people?

Also will this help me in med school?

 

[RySerr21]

Its just one class, its not going to do anything positive (or negative) for your application or for your future medical career. Take it if you actually have an interest in learning about pharmacology. If you are taking it b/c you think it might help you somehow, find something else you will enjoy.

 

[nlax30]

Don't take it try and "look good" to admissions folks, only take it if you're actually interested in taking it. If you get a good grade then of course it can only help you, if you get a bad grade it'd hurt you. The class in and of itself being a pharm class wouldn't mean much in my opinion.

Not sure how much it would help for med school, never took a pharm course in undergrad so I'm not sure what the "focus" is on, but if you actually learn and retain some of what you learn there it certainly can't hurt.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Nobody will care. Take whatever you want.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

I should add that if it interests you, by all means take it. I wish I knew a little more about pharm before I started med school.

All I really knew from working at the ER was...

1. Ativan, Zyprexa, Haldol
2. Etomidate, Sucs
3. Atropine
4. Lidocaine. But I didn't really understand why it was given IV for trauma patients, and why it was also used to numb up a lac.

I think that's about it.

It is probably something good to have some kind of background in, but nobody will give a **** in terms of admissions.

 

[scpod]

To me, Pharmacology was absolute mysery. If I had taken it in undergrad, knowing I'd have to take it again in med school.... I might have become a crane operator instead.

That said, Pharmacology is one of the heaviest tested things on COMLEX-- remember "bugs and drugs". Most of my classmates who wished they had studied harder say that Pharm is one they should have known better. I doubt that taking it early will have any effect, though, because it's mostly brute memorization.

My first IM attending told me that by the time you finish med school you'll know 200 drugs and 20 uses for each of them..... but by the time you've been an attending for a while you'll know 20 drugs and 200 uses for each of them. Just wait and memorize the stuff when you have to, IMHO.

 

[rotatedline]

I'm finishing up my second pharmacology class right now (I took intro last semester, and cellular and molecular pharmacology this semester). I was done with almost all my requirements and was just looking for a class that would be interesting. It was. I learned more about the body and the cell in those two classes than almost any other class I had taken in college, granted my school seems to have a great pharmacology dept (all classes were taught by an different phd or md who was a specialist in the field and also taught the pharm class in the med school), but I'd recommend it.

 

[antapolar]

Depending on how well the course is taught in your school, it may be a great way for your to get a head start or some understanding on pharmacology.

However, as mentioned earlier, if u can't manage it well. It could pull down ur marks which is undesirable :S

My school offers a pharmacology specialist (major) bachelor degree which I took. It did generate interest among my interviewers. However, I think he merely was curious because Stats doesn't offer such program (i'm from Canada). I seriously doubt it has much impact on my selection.

 

[engineeredout]

If you're looking at a 12 credit semester next year then why not? If you've already got 18+ credits then pass on it.

 

[thanecyan]

If you can take psychopharmacology, I highly recommend it

 

[supergumbo]

Psychopharmacology was a fun class for me in undergrad. It was interesting to actually learn about the processes of drugs into context regarding the body. Of course, I had a good albeit easy teacher for the class.

 

[Isoprop]

taking pharm in undergrad made me realize i want to be a pathologist. 😎

 

[beachblonde]

Have you had physio, OP?

I can't imagine taking pharm without having had physio first. It would be like trying to take organic chem 2 without knowing what a functional group is.

I thought it was interesting, but I'm a nerd like that.

 

[lastcall]

Only if you want to. I am guessing you would have to take it again when you're in med school?

I took it a few years ago. I honestly don't remember much from that class (and it was one of those classes that took up a substantial amount of my studying time).

 

[francais7979]

Only if you want to. I am guessing you would have to take it again when you're in med school?

I took it a few years ago. I honestly don't remember much from that class (and it was one of those classes that took up a substantial amount of my studying time).

I took physiology but long time ago. I am taking 12 credits in the fall but I want to take another 3 credit upper div bio course and this course seemed interesting.

All of you have been very helpful, thanks!

 

[endocardium]

i'M planning to take pharmacology in the fall. anyone have any opinon on this? It is an upper division course in biology. Do you think it will look favorably with the admission people?

Also will this help me in med school?

If you like it, think you can get a good grade in it, then by all means take it. However, it probably won't mean dork in terms of making you look more favorable beyond, perhaps, that you did well in an upper-level science class. I also doubt it will be of much use for you in preparation for medical school. It's about as good as any upper-level science class you could take.

 

[linkDO]

i took a grad level pharm class cause i thought it would look good on my apps. nobody really cared or mentioned it at all in my interviews.

take what you think will help you through med school to gain a solid background on. the admissions process is much more of a crapshoot anyways for them to care about pharm.

 

[linkDO]

The lidocaine is given as a means to blunt the increased ICP that can accompany laryngoscopy (for head trauma patients during RSI). It's also been shown to reduce cerebral blood flow and cerebral vascular resistance. This protocol is pretty standard for head injured patients that have to be intubated.

future gunner alert

 

[TexasTriathlete]

No I know what it is used for now. I just didn't before I started med school, even though I worked at a busy trauma center and saw it given all the time. Thanks though.

 

[scpod]

The lidocaine is given as a means to blunt the increased ICP that can accompany laryngoscopy (for head trauma patients during RSI). It's also been shown to reduce cerebral blood flow and cerebral vascular resistance. This protocol is pretty standard for head injured patients that have to be intubated.

There really are no studies that show lidocaine directly blunts ICP. It does, however, suppress the cough and gag reflex, which can increase ICP. In fact, there are studies that suggest a detrimental hemodynamic response due to Lidocaine. The June 2007 Annals of Emergency Medicine has an article on opposition to it.

Its been used for a lot of things. Consider the pharmacology of it-- it slows down sodium channels and slows down diastolic depolarization. So, it works as an antiarrhythmic. Until the last update it was part of ALS protocol, but has been removed. Most long-time docs, though, will still use it.

Keep in mind that there really are no studies that have determined the effectiveness of most of the drugs in ACLS. A group of "experts" gets together now and then and they kind of decide what they think based on their own experiences. There's really not all that much "science" to it.