
If you have aspirations for a medicine or nursing profession, pharmacology is one of the key competencies you need to master. Without an appropriate learning approach, pharmacology can be intimidating especially given the huge number of drugs one needs to learn about. In this post we share with you easy ways to study pharmacology.
As a nursing student, you may not have had the time or resources to learn pharmacology while in high school or college, but there are plenty of easy ways to study the subject. Flashcards are one of the best ways to learn pharmacology concepts quickly, and you can even create mnemonic devices and use a drug handbook.
Contents
- 1 Map Out a Learning Method That Works for You
- 2 Sort Drugs
- 3 Making use of the Action mechanism
- 4 Creating Mnemonics
- 5 Leverage Technology to Commit Information to Memory
- 6 Using Flashcards
- 7 Use Mnemonics
- 8 Using A Drug Handbook
- 9 Get A Drug Handbook
- 10 Taking Pharmacology Courses In High School
- 11 How to Prepare For Pharmacology Exams
- 12 Master Dosage Calculation
Map Out a Learning Method That Works for You
Pharmacology is difficult to enter. Many medications, side effects, counterindications, and interactions. Chills yet? Okay. It’s scary. Creating a workable learning strategy is key to studying effectively. Know what and how to learn. Without the technique, you can’t learn important facts.
Drug-by-drug learning doesn’t work for antibacterial medications that aren’t properly categorised. Vomiting and nausea are non-specific adverse effects that apply to practically all medicines. Learn medication side effects. So, you can stay focused and learn only what’s necessary for examinations and beyond.
Sort Drugs
To thrive in pharmacology, memorize class-by-class topics and medicines. Trying to learn everything at once can make you confused, lose your confidence, and hinder your learning. Class-by-class learning helps you focus on one mechanism, set of indications, route of administration, metabolism, elimination, adverse effects, and medication interactions.
Don’t learn too much at once. Focus on details to succeed. After absorbing fundamental knowledge, you can study supplemental information.
Making use of the Action mechanism
Start by studying how different pharmaceuticals influence the body, such as higher heart rate, slower heart rate, greater urine, lower blood sugar level, etc. Understanding why medications are used and how they affect the body might help you understand their impact. When you know how the body reacts to medications, classify them.
Creating Mnemonics
To memorize pharmacology material, students can create fun, easy-to-remember mnemonics. They can make cards with an acronym of a drug’s name on one side and the rest of the information on the other.
They can bring the cards to class and use them to study. As the class consists of a large amount of material, creating mnemonics can help students make the most of their study time.
Pharmacology is a complex field that can become overwhelming for students, especially nursing students. There are vast amounts of information to memorize, and it’s difficult to keep up with them all. Fortunately, there are many ways to make the material easier to remember.
Leverage Technology to Commit Information to Memory
There are plenty of apps and websites on the market that can help you with this. A good app to download is the Pharmacology Mnemonics, which provides mnemonics for different drugs. This app features mnemonics for pulmonary, nervous system, gastrointestinal, and renal functions.
Another useful mnemonic is the “I ESCAPED CPR.” This acronym helps students remember the critical parameters of CPR. Pharmacy students are expected to make complex pharmacotherapeutic decisions, and they need to have a systematic way of doing so. Using mnemonics will improve their ability to make good clinical decisions.
For a more straightforward approach, a student can use a patient-centered mnemonic. Using a patient-centered mnemonic can help pharmacy students remember important drug therapy parameters. One study evaluated the effectiveness of a patient-centered mnemonic in improving clinical exam scores. Second-year pharmacy students were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group was given a 30-minute presentation on the application of mnemonics to pharmacy practice, and the other group received a case-based multiple-choice clinical examination.
Mnemonics are a great way to memorize key information and help you learn more quickly. They are also useful when studying for nursing exams, such as the NCLEX.
They can help you remember important information like the symptoms of a drug’s adverse effects, which can seem unrelated, but in reality are related. An educated RN would know how to treat these patients and would not confuse the symptoms with the drug’s name.
Using Flashcards
Using flashcards to study pharmacuology is a great way to memorize important information. This course will require you to learn hundreds of medications, so you need a way to review everything quickly.
It is also essential to learn all of the different names of drugs, their actions on the body, and any contraindications. You can also use infographics to memorize important information, such as the classification of medications and their effects on the human body.
Using flashcards to study pharmacognosy is also a great way to memorize pharmacology information fast. Unlike reading text, flashcards are designed to be easy to study and are easy to carry. They also allow you to focus on just one drug at a time, which makes them a more convenient option.
Use Mnemonics
Another way to study pharmacology is by using mnemonics to learn the names of drugs. Many drugs in the same class have similar effects on the body. Using flashcards can help you learn the differences between similar-sounding drugs and different ones with different effects on the body.
Pharmacology flashcards are small, durable, and portable, and are available in both spiral-bound and laminated versions. They feature illustrations and mnemonics that make them easy to learn, and are color-highlighted for easy reference.
They are ideal for studying pharmacology for both Steps. Because there aren’t many changes between Steps, you can use the same flashcards for Step 1 and Step 2 exams, which is great news for anyone taking a Step 1 and Step 2 examination.
Pharmacology flashcards contain detailed information about drugs, including pictures and links to further information. They’re portable, easy to carry, and can be studied at any time, whether you’re at home, in the library, or on the go. In addition to maximizing the convenience of study, flashcards also make the study process more fun.
Using A Drug Handbook
One easy way to study pharmacology is to use a drug handbook as a reference. The drug handbook should list all the drugs that are in a category on one side and their information on the other. If you have trouble remembering the names of medications, you can use a medication organizer to remind yourself.
Another helpful way to study pharmacology is to make mnemonics for the terms. You can find mnemonics for drugs on the internet, including Brainscape and Anki. Also, remember that this type of study method requires some time, so make sure to plan your schedule accordingly.
Pharmacology can be a difficult subject to learn, and the material can be overwhelming. It is best to study a little bit every day. This way, you’ll have more chances to retain the information. If you have difficulty memorizing drug group and individual names, you can use mnemonics like Picmonics or nursing mnemonics.
Drug handbooks and study guides will help you learn the names of drugs by class. Each class is made up of similar medications with similar mechanisms of action. You can save time by learning which drugs are in a particular drug class. You can even download a free pharmacology cheat sheet.
Get A Drug Handbook
A drug handbook will help you remember more information about drug interactions. Pharmacology is an important subject for healthcare professionals. You’ll need to know how to administer medications safely and effectively to your patients.
You’ll also need to know the five rights of medication administration, including the correct dosage, route, and time of administration. Using a drug handbook can help you master these concepts faster and more efficiently.
When you study pharmacology, make sure to study during periods when your brain can focus. If you try to study when you’re not able to focus, you’ll end up reviewing the same medications over again, wasting your time. It’s better to dedicate a certain time each morning or evening for studying.
Taking Pharmacology Courses In High School
Students in a health care program need pharmacology knowledge in order to provide safe and effective care to patients. As patient safety continues to be a priority, pharmacology knowledge is increasingly important for health care professionals. As a result, many institutions are working to improve the quality of pharmacology courses offered to students.
This course aims to give students an understanding of basic concepts of pharmacology and drug classification. It helps students learn about the effects of natural and synthetic agents on the body.
Having a good understanding of how these agents affect the body is essential for providing safe and effective health care. Because pharmacology is a fast-growing field, it requires a good deal of time and education for students to become knowledgeable about the field. Students can use a textbook or online materials for this course. However, the local adaptation must meet the TEKS.
The curriculum has been modified slightly in recent years. The preclinical curriculum is still the same, but the clinical curriculum has been reorganized to give students a better understanding of how pharmacology works.
Students in the M3 cohort took an integrated clinical pharmacology course in 2018 instead of taking a separate course in the subject.
To improve student engagement and learning outcomes, teachers can incorporate more interactive methods such as case studies and games. A lecture-only approach struggles to keep students engaged. However, a study by Vana et al. showed that students who learned more from the computer-aided course improved their understanding of pharmacology.
Students who are interested in becoming pharmacists may want to shadow a pharmacist or gain experience working in a pharmacy. In addition, they can conduct informational interviews to ask questions about the profession.
This is not only helpful in understanding the intricacies of the job, but it can also help establish a long-term mentor in the field.
How to Prepare For Pharmacology Exams
Choosing a textbook to prepare for pharmacology exams is a good way to ensure you know as much as you can about the subject. A textbook offers a clear and concise presentation of important topics, minimizing the time spent on reading and maximizing the time spent studying.
It also includes helpful hints and memorization aids to make the subject easier to learn. The content in a pharmacology textbook is arranged into several sections, such as general pharmacology, antihypertensive drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, anaesthetics, anti-malaria drugs, and more.
To prepare for pharmacology exams, you will need to learn about hundreds of drugs and the interactions between them. This is particularly important for nursing students because they must know how to administer specific medications to patients. Moreover, they must know when to give each medication and what the proper dosage is.
Master Dosage Calculation
Correct dosage calculation is essential, as it prevents mistakes due to improper nurse practice. Regardless of your educational background, it is important to learn about pharmacology. In order to master this subject, you will need to design a study plan that works for you. It may involve reading lecture notes, studying textbooks, and writing down notes.
Using a study guide for pharmacology is a good idea if you want to maximize your chances of passing your exam. For example, Essentials of Pharmacology, 9th edition, offers clear explanations of concepts and case studies. The author, Dr. Shah Nawaz, is an active participant in medical education and training, so his book has great detail.
The book contains a variety of resources, including MCQs. These MCQs are carefully selected by the author and cover the main subject matter of each chapter. It also provides important information about the learning objectives of each chapter.