Guide to practical classes in pharmacotherapy

 

For the first time in the Pharmacy program, the discipline "Pharmacotherapy" was introduced in the already distant 1997/1998 academic year. As one of the main pillars of the biomedical training of future pharmacists, this subject has gained particular popularity and attracts the attention of both teachers and students. About 5 years have also passed since the publication of the textbook on Pharmacotherapy under the editorship of Prof. M. Karaivanova. This book was very well received by Pharmacy students and proved the need for standardization and continuous updating of the taught material. Drug treatment is an extremely dynamically developing medical-pharmaceutical field, in which the half-life of established schemes and algorithms is too short. Over the years, the need to update and renew the teaching material has matured. This necessitated the creation of a guide for practical classes in Pharmacotherapy for Pharmacy students. We have tried to respond to the specific interests of our students and some of the topics proposed in this Guide are the ideas of the students themselves, for which we are very grateful. In number, the titles exceed the meager 15 topics allocated in the program, but the titles not represented in the respective semester will hopefully be the object of independent preparation of the students and offer them accessible, up-to-date and understandable information in the relevant therapeutic areas, which are inextricably linked to the teaching of Internal Medicine, which is also part of the Pharmacotherapy discipline. We sincerely hope that we have added the aspect so desired by the students, useful for practice, with the acquisition of specific methodical skills.

Rational pharmacotherapy - criteria for drug selection - individualization of therapy. Choice of beta-adrenergic antagonist. Choice of agent for treatment of hormone-sensitive breast cancer (anti-estrogen, aromatase inhibitor or gonadorelin analogue)
Pain syndrome - guidelines for pharmacotherapy, analgesics and adjuvants. Routes of administration of painkillers. Rules for subcutaneous and intramuscular injection - working with a phantom.

Headache and migraine - pharmacotherapeutic control. Hemicrania, neuralgia and N. Trigeminus (V), signs of meningeal irritation and increased intracranial pressure. Insomnias - guidelines for pharmacotherapy. Fever – mechanisms, etiology, guidelines for pharmacotherapy. Diarrheal syndrome - antidiarrheal drugs. Constipation - prevention and treatment guidelines.

Nausea and vomiting - motion sickness, postoperative nausea and vomiting, and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Pharmacotherapeutic control - "setrons" and NK-1 antagonists. Depression - treatment guidelines

Atherosclerosis - etiology, pathogenesis, complications. Dyslipidemic syndrome - clinical significance and modern pharmacotherapy. Blood pressure monitoring - practical rules for measuring blood pressure, 24/7 monitoring. Medicines for the treatment of hypertensive crisis
Ischemic heart disease (IHD). Syndrome of cardiac arrhythmias - guidelines for pharmacotherapy. ECG - classic, unipolar and precordial leads, 24-hour monitoring for extrasystoles

Disorders of erythropoiesis - types of anemia, drug treatment. Reference values of hemoglobin, erythrocytes, hematocrit, leukocytes, serum iron, VLDL, leukogram. Collection and examination of a blood sample from a laboratory rodent (mouse) - smear and Giemsa staining. Rules for working with a hemocytometer
Osteoporosis - forms, manifestations, prevention and treatment. Osteolytic lesions - etiology, pathogenesis, possibilities for pharmacological control. Calcium reference values - hypercalcemia. Demonstration of conventional and three-dimensional culture of transformed human osteoblasts – SAOS-2. Osteoarthritis - risk factors, pathogenesis, guidelines for treatment (COX-inhibitors). Gouty arthritis

Upper dyspeptic syndrome - etiology, pathogenesis and treatment. Eradication of Helicobacter pylori. Pharmacotherapy and guidelines for hygienic-dietary regime of patients with ulcer disease. Metabolic and electrolyte disorders. Practical guidelines for monitoring blood sugar - working with a glucometer

Pharmacotherapy in sexually transmitted infections
Drug therapy in pregnancy
Pharmacotherapy in reproductive disorders
Main characteristics of eye disorders. Refractive abnormalities - myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, cataracts, glaucoma, allergic and infectious eye diseases

Basic nosological units in dermatology. Dermatological drugs
Parenteral nutrition
Antibiotic pharmacotherapy in respiratory and uroinfections