Should one memorize dosages and brand names?

[AgentRaiden]

The question says it all: should I make an extra effort to memorize the brand names and dosages of each medication I encounter to help with prep for the shelf? Of course,I am gonna do the side effects.Anything else I should add-on?

I've been going like this 😱 with Tarascon's.So what was a helpful strategy for you when you were dealing with pharmac study?

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[Jolie South]

Dosages are not covered on the shelf, neither are brand names.

 

[DrBowtie]

Dosages are not covered on the shelf, neither are brand names.

Agree, but almost everyone uses trade names for drugs on the wards so its pretty useful to learn.

 

[Jolie South]

Agree, but almost everyone uses trade names for drugs on the wards so its pretty useful to learn.

Depends. We didn't use them at the county or the VA.

On the other hand, the private world is an entirely different story.

 

[jdh71]

For common drugs yes, especially commonly used in-patient antibiotics. Not necessary but helpful.

 

[premed2007]

The question says it all: should I make an extra effort to memorize the brand names and dosages of each medication I encounter to help with prep for the shelf? Of course,I am gonna do the side effects.Anything else I should add-on?

I've been going like this 😱 with Tarascon's.So what was a helpful strategy for you when you were dealing with pharmac study?

For the shelf it wouldn't help you. For general practice (depending on field of course) it would be a great assistance during residency. So dont bother for shelf preparation. But I would assume you would get to know that anyways during residency after writing so many prescriptions for the drug.

 

[SLUser11]

The question says it all: should I make an extra effort to memorize the brand names and dosages of each medication I encounter to help with prep for the shelf? Of course,I am gonna do the side effects.Anything else I should add-on?

I've been going like this 😱 with Tarascon's.So what was a helpful strategy for you when you were dealing with pharmac study?

Dosages are not covered on the shelf, neither are brand names.

While not useful for the shelf, knowing dosages and brand names is useful to becoming a good doctor.

I have this conversation often with our med students. Third year of med school is not just about doing well on tests....it's about learning how to be functional in a clinical environment. As a busy intern, you just don't have time to look up meds and dosages constantly in your pharmacopoeia, and when taking histories from patients, they almost never know the name of the drug or dose they are taking, so you have to coach them along.

The vast majority of things you learn during 3rd and 4th year of med school will not show up on a written exam. I still recommend that you make room in your brain for these facts. You don't want to be the weak intern....and every program has a weak intern.

 

[45408]

If someone tells you they take 2mg of Toprol every night and 100mg of Coumadin twice a day, you should know what they're talking about, and which doses they've switched. It's just good practice.

It wasn't on the shelf though.

 

[BigRedBeta]

As a student, it won't help on the shelf, and with the constant switching between specialties, it's difficult and frustrating. For residency, it come naturally - you use the same medications over and over.

What I'm getting at is don't sweat it. You'll pick up some of the common stuff readily if you're paying attention, and in terms of making a difference, when it matters, it'll happen.

 

[coldweatherblue]

no brand names on any shelf or USMLE that I've seen, but I've definitely made an effort to learn the common trade names of drugs used in the hospital and clinic. There are times when patients give me a list of meds and I don't know a few trade names; I'm not going to ask, "Do you know the generic for this commonplace med you take every day for your heart?" so I end up having to look it up after the encounter and it is a time-waster only a student can afford. Thus I try to learn the common trade names as best as possible.

as for dosages.. as a third-year I can't sign orders.. but medicine is my career, and it's been waaay too long and way to much of a PITA for me not to be semi-enthusiastic about learning common dosages, if for no other reason than being able to joke about someone needing "10mg haldol IM" etc.. these are things that are just fun and important to learn imo even if they aren't tested on the shelf.

 

[MrPolarZero]

In the case of dosages, yes, memorizing them is important. On the other hand, it would be better if you go with the generic name, this would make it easier for you to work with different brands of the same medicine.