Knowledge Of Pharmacology Research Articles

Seizures and Phytotherapy: The Most Important Medicinal Plants Used for Seizures in Children and Adults in Iranian Ethnobotanical Documents

Due to the relatively high prevalence of seizures (8%), the cases of prescribing these drugs are very high and usually have many side effects, so in this review study, the use of medicinal plants in different regions of Iran in ethnobotanical documents was extracted and reported. In this study, for this purpose, keywords such as convulsion (seizure), medicinal plants, ethnobotany, identification of medicinal plants, region and Iran were performed. Databases such as ISI Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, ISC, Magiran and Google Scholar were used to review articles and resources. Based on the results, Anthemis nobilis L., Leonurus cardiac L., Lotus corniculatus L., Hyoscyamus niger L., Salvia spp., Grammosciadium platycarpum Boiss. & Hausskn., Nigella sativa L., Anethum graveolens L., Papaver fugax Poir., Lotus corniculatus L., Verbascum thapsus L., Ferula assa-foetida L., Ferula gumosa Boiss., Heracleum persicum Desf.ex Fischer., Angelica archangelica L., Vicia faba L., Verbascum pseudonobile Stoj & Stef., Melissa officinalis L., Teucrium polium L., Datura stramonium L., Hymenocrater spp. and Melissa officinalis L., are medicinal plants that are used in different parts of Iran to treat seizures. The data collected in this study were analyzed using Microsoft Excel program. According to the results, the plants of this study belong to 11 plant families. The aerial part with 32% is the most plant part used for seizures. Also, most of the medicinal plants used to treat seizures were related to the northern region of Khuzestan. Ethnobotanical knowledge can provide pure ideas for modern pharmacological knowledge and lead to the production of effective natural anticonvulsant drugs.

Clinical studies of new antiviral drugs for chronic hepatitis B

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major global public health issue. Clinical cure (also known as functional cure) of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is the ideal therapeutic goal recommended by the latest guidelines for the prevention and treatment of CHB in China and globally. Optimized treatment regimens with direct-acting antiviral agents [e.g., nucleos(t)ide analogues] or immunomodulators (e.g., pegylated interferon-α) sequentially or in combination tend to have low cure rates. Rapid development has been achieved in the research and development of drugs for the treatment of CHB. This article reviews the clinical study of new antiviral drugs for CHB, including the selection of subjects, study design, dosage, dose escalation, adverse events, and efficacy evaluation. It is necessary to introduce the knowledge of quantitative pharmacology to analyze the association of drug exposure in body with efficacy and adverse reactions, and exploratory indicators should be incorporated for comprehensive analysis. This review provides related experience and new ideas for the clinical research and development of new anti-HBV drugs.

The importance of collaboratively designing pharmacology education programs.

A grounded knowledge of pharmacology is essential for healthcare providers to improve the quality of patients’ lives, avoid medical errors, and circumvent potentially dangerous drug–drug interactions. One of the greatest tools to achieve this foundational knowledge of pharmacology is the dedicated pharmacology educators who teach in health sciences programs. Too often, the pharmacology educators responsible for teaching this material are left siloed at their own institutions with little room for dialog and collaboration. As scientists, we know that it is through dialog and collaboration that ideas grow, are refined, and improve. More collaborative work is needed to identify and describe best practices for pharmacology education in health sciences programs. While evidence‐based, outcomes‐focused studies are the optimum standard for this work, there is also a place for descriptive studies and innovative reports.

Pharmacologic Management and Treatment of Osteoporosis: A Small Group Case‐Based Learning Activity

Background: An estimated 50% of women and 20% of men over age 50 will suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture. Because osteoporosis is the most common bone disease in the world, osteoporosis-related pharmacology should be prioritized in medical education. Nevertheless, the AAMC has voiced concerns that medical schools may not provide adequate instruction on musculoskeletal medicine, particularly osteoporosis. We enhanced osteoporosis education in the preclinical curriculum through an interactive case-based learning session. Methods: To supplement in-class didactics during the second year Musculoskeletal Medicine course, all students (CO 2018, n=121) participated in a small group case-based session designed to address osteoporosis management and treatment. Groups of ten students worked with a single faculty facilitator. The 120-minute session integrated knowledge of osteoporosis pharmacology including indications for pharmacologic treatment, mechanisms of action, major adverse effects, and safe prescribing practices. Pharmacology knowledge acquisition was assessed by student performance on five session-related pharmacology multiple choice questions (MCQs) included on the internally developed final course exam. Student satisfaction was assessed by voluntary response to an anonymous post-session survey. This study was reviewed and deemed exempt by the FIU IRB. Results: Average student performance on the five session-relevant final exam MCQs was 94% (SD 0.04). 88.4% of students (n=107) responded to the anonymous post-session survey. On a 5-point Likert scale (Strongly Disagree – Strongly Agree), 101 of 107 students (94%) agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “The basic science-clinical combination lecture on osteoporosis followed by the small group case discussion on osteoporosis prepared me adequately to understand the topic” (mean 4.56, SD 0.63). Conclusion: The implemented case session provided a framework for the application of pharmacologic concepts related to the treatment and management of osteoporosis. Students performed well on session-relevant pharmacologic exam questions, demonstrating competency in the objectives. Student satisfaction with the session was found to be high, with most students feeling well prepared. Case-based learning is a valuable and favorably regarded strategy to teach the pharmacologic management and treatment of osteoporosis.

Drag‐a‐Drug: an interactive learning aid to complement pharmacology mnemonics

Mnemonics is an established method to help learners consolidate the retention of new information by memory. The use of mnemonics has demonstrated effectiveness in students across different disciplines and levels. An indigenous mnemonics system, pharmABCology, was created and introduced to medical, pharmacy and biomedical sciences students at the university several years ago. While learning outputs of students are enhanced, this mnemonics system takes a rather passive approach of delivering the contents. Thus, a drag-&-drop learning aid, Drag-a-Drug, was developed to incorporate elements of active learning in pharmacology knowledge retention. This learning aid is intended for use after a lecture on a particular topic. The user would first take a part in a short exercise in that s/he is asked to drag & drop items containing drug names to match with corresponding description of the drugs. The layout is presented in a way that also previews the mnemonics that follows after completion of the drag-&-drop exercise. The intended purpose is for the user to first be able to recognise the drug names, mechanisms of actions, and subsequently remember the drug names with the help of mnemonics. This learning aid was offered to two cohorts of Pharmacy students in years 2019 & 2020 as a non-mandatory supplement to the accompanying lecture on anti-dyslipidaemic drugs. Usage data, including number of correct vs. incorrect attempts in the drag-&-drop exercise and view rates of the mnemonics, were recorded on a learning management system (Blackboard®). User feedback was also obtained from 15 students who opted to fill in an optional questionnaire. On a 5-point Likert scale, 13 out of 15 respondents “strongly agreed” or “somewhat agreed” that the drag-&-drop exercise helped them in reviewing basic information about anti-dyslipidaemic drugs. For the mnemonics, 12 out of 15 respondents “strongly agreed” or “somewhat agreed” that memorisation of drug names was facilitated. The overall positive user experience with the Drag-a-Drug learning aid may support its broader coverage and use in other pharmacology topics.

Medical Student Perceptions of Integration and Effectiveness of Educational Methods Used in Analgesic Pharmacology Curricula

Despite the prevalence of pain, it's management complexity, and concerns about opioid over-prescription, literature does not make clear ideal ways to integrate analgesic pharmacotherapy education across medical education. While most institutions implement analgesic education during preclinical pharmacology, evidence suggests that impactful education must be integrated across the preclinical and clinical years. At our institution, opioid and analgesic pharmacology education is heavily taught in the second year (M2) and integrated across 4 years using interactive didactics, Team-based learning (TBL), Case-based learning (CBL), standardized patients, and simulations. Activities are housed in modules or clerkship, but also implemented through Interprofessional education (IPE) and Longitudinal Curricular Theme events (LCT) not coordinated with a pharmacology educator. Our goals in this poster are to share our analgesic curricula and outcomes evaluated by examining analgesic pharmacology knowledge and evaluating learner perspectives across time by surveying cohorts before they took pharmacology (CO2023, a baseline), in mid-clerkship (CO2022, had completed pharmacology) and nearing graduation (CO2021). Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for cohorts CO2022 and CO2021 on their M2 performance on opioid and analgesic pharmacology summative items. Students from 3 cohorts (N = 50, CO2023; 30, CO2022; 36, CO2021) volunteered to take a survey about analgesic educational themes related to comprehension, confidence in managing pain, educational methods, diversity within cases, and integration (basic and clinical; integration of IPE and LCT). Results Summative assessment showed M2's mastered opioid and pain concepts (Mean 86%) and retained knowledge through M3 & M4. Most agreed that education increased comprehension (25% CO2023, >80% for CO2022/CO2021) and confidence as they approached graduation (15% baseline, 67% CO2022; 80% CO2021) and most (>70%) agreed basic and clinical sciences were integrated effectively. However, less felt IPE or LCT analgesic education was integrated effectively (IPE: 21% CO2023; 36% CO2022; 50% CO2021: LCT: 13% CO2023; 44% CO2022, 50% CO2021), and few perceived that cases grew in complexity in M3 or M4 (60% CO2022; 57% CO2021) or represented diverse patients (16% CO2023; 55% CO2022; 56% CO2021). Conclusion Our analgesic curriculum is integrated across 4 years, and outcomes suggest that M2 and M3 educational activities promote learning and progressively increase perceptions of understanding and confidence in learners. However, our analysis indicates improvements are needed as many learners felt that IPE and LCT opioid events not coordinated with a pharmacology educator were not effectively integrated, cases did not increase in complexity across time, and educational experiences were not sufficiently diverse. Curricular details and suggestions for improvement will be presented in the poster.

Harnessing formulation and clinical pharmacology knowledge for efficient pediatric drug development: Overview and discussions from M-CERSI pediatric formulation workshop 2019

A pediatric formulation workshop entitled “Pediatric Formulations: Challenges of Today and Strategies for Tomorrow” was held to advance pediatric drug product development efforts in both pre-competitive and competitive environments. The workshop had four main sessions discussing key considerations of Formulation, Analytical, Clinical and Regulatory. This paper focuses on the clinical session of the workshop. It provides an overview of the discussion on the interconnection of pediatric formulation design and development, clinical development strategy and pediatric clinical pharmacology. The success of pediatric drug product development requires collaboration of multi-disciplinary teams across the pharmaceutical industry, consortiums, foundations, academia and global regulatory agencies. Early strategic planning is essential to ensure alignment among major stakeholders of different functional teams. Such an alignment is particularly critical in the collaboration between formulators and clinical pharmacology teams.

How aware the dental graduates of Kashmir are related to the pharmacology, drug reaction and efficacy of medicines they prescribe

Pharmacology is the science of drugs, their pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and their use in the treatment of disease and as a dental health care professional we need to be fully aware of the art of rational drug prescription. A questionnaire based study was distributed amongst dental internes of Government Dental College, Srinagar Kashmir to study the need of knowledge of pharmacology, the disease forms in dental practice and the type of medication prescribed and was conducted on 48 interns and junior residents of the hospital. From the survey it was concluded that 38 percent of them regularly updated themselves on the newer drugs available in the market and knew about the dosage of each medicine while as 42% often read about the updates. Of them 38% preferred brand names and 54% were aware of the mode of action of the drugs that were prescribed by them and of them informed the patient about the possible side effects after prescribing the certain medications. It was concluded that the majority of the practitioner had good knowledge of the pharmacology of medicine they prescribed.

Integrating DATA 2000 waiver training into undergraduate medical education: The time is now

Background: Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) significantly reduce morbidity and mortality from opioid use disorder (OUD). To prescribe MOUD, physicians must obtain a DEA waiver through requirements outlined in the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000). We developed an Addiction Medicine curriculum that features DATA 2000 waiver training at the Robert Larner, MD College of Medicine (LCOM). Methods: All third-year medical students completed a virtual DATA 2000 waiver training at the commencement of clinical clerkships. We conducted a curriculum needs assessment followed by pre- and post-training surveys to evaluate MOUD pharmacology knowledge and best prescribing practices. Results: Of LCOM students surveyed, 77.6% reported interest in being waivered to prescribed MOUD for OUD treatment. Third-year medical students demonstrated increases in both MOUD Pharmacology Knowledge from 64.2% to 84.8% (chi-squared = 40.8; p < .001) and MOUD Best Prescribing Practices from 55.9% to 75.2% (chi-squared = 29.9; p < .001). Discussion: Surveys showed the majority of students felt waiver training was relevant to their future practice. An online DATA 2000 waiver training format effectively improved student knowledge of MOUD. Conclusion: This curriculum exposed medical students to DATA 2000 waiver training, MOUD pharmacology and best practices, and increased the number of future physicians eligible to treat OUD using MOUD.

Introducing a flipped classroom in a pharmacology course

Flipped classroom pedagogy has been shown to improve nursing students' academic performance. The study aimed to determine the effect of a flipped classroom approach on students' pharmacology assessment scores in a school of nursing in Karachi, Pakistan. A retrospective chart review was performed. The pharmacology test scores of the BSc nursing cohort of 2020, when flipped classroom pedagogy was used, was compared with those of the BSc nursing cohort of 2019, where traditional pedagogy was employed. Students' summative evaluation for the course and their verbal feedback were analysed. The median continuous assessment test score of the 2019 cohort was 35 (interquartile range (IQR) 32-38), while that of the 2020 cohort was 38 (IQR 35-41). The difference in the score was statistically significant (P<0.001). The study gives an insight into a relatively novel pedagogy that was found to improve pharmacology knowledge test scores among nursing students.

The impact of online synchronous simulated clinical immersions on nursing students' pharmacology self-efficacy: A pre-test post-test intervention pilot study

BackgroundMedication errors are fatally significant, posing considerable threats to patient safety. To date, there is a lack of literature and no consistent recommended nursing pharmacology curriculum design to improve nursing students' pharmacology self-efficacy. PurposeThe purpose of this pilot study is to examine the effects of nursing pharmacology synchronous online scrabbling active learning classroom design with simulated clinical immersion experiences on the students' self-efficacy and perceived pharmacology knowledge acquisition. MethodsA pretest-posttest intervention design was used with a convenience sample of (n = 34) accelerated nursing students. The intervention included an online synchronous scrabbling active learning classroom design with simulated clinical immersion experiences for eight weeks. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Self-Efficacy Subscale (MSLQ-SE) questionnaire was applied before and after the intervention. The Survey for Knowledge Acquisition and Application (SKAA) was used post-intervention. The students also provided narrative, open-ended responses regarding their perceptions of the synchronous simulated clinical experiences. ResultsThe results of the simulated clinical immersions presented an improvement in self-efficacy scores. A one tailed paired t-test presented a significant increase from MSLQ-SE pre-test scores (M = 31.2, SD = 4.8) to MSLQ-SE post-test scores (M = 32.9, SD = 4.3); (t(33) = −2.1, p = .02). The SKAA results presented that the students perceived that simulated clinical immersions were promoting authentic learning and confidence. ConclusionThe finding of this study is significant to nursing pharmacology education. The online synchronous simulated clinical immersion experiences improved overall self-efficacy scores and provide an authentic teaching approach to connect pharmacology theory to the clinical practice.

A Systematized Review of Nurses’ Perceptions of Medication Errors Contributing Factors in Developing Countries

Introduction: Nurses are a main factor in maintaining the safety of a patient. Nurses are the main component and are indeed at the front of dispensing medicines to patients; they also have a responsibility to maintain the patient’s safety.&#x0D; Objective: This systematized review intends to review studies that assess and explore nurses’ attitudes and perceptions of medication errors in developing countries within the Middle East region, thereby contributing to knowledge regarding medication error risk.&#x0D; Methodology: a database search has been conducted for studies related to the research question that has been formulated using PEO framework, the database includes: MEDLINE and CINAHL EBSCO and OVID, NICE, Science Direct and ERIC. The reference lists and bibliographies were also analyzed, all the studies founded during the search process were assessed according to predefine inclusion and exclusion criteria. 10 studies (6 quantitative studies, 3 qualitative and 1 which used mixed methods) were chosen and were included in this review.&#x0D; Result: The studies assessed in this review were noted to have moderate to strong quality. The review found a range of factors that contribute to medication error, including both human and environmental factors. Among the contributing factors that most frequently mentioned inthis review were insufficient pharmacological knowledge, fatigue and overwork, communication breakdown, inadequate staff training, and high patient-to-nurse ratio.&#x0D; Conclusion and Recommendation: It would behave Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries to invest attention in this topic. Particularly advised would be additional theoretically focused research to determine the causes of medication errors.

Anaesthetic nurse training in South Africa and the role of the anaesthetist

One night during a polytrauma theatre case, I asked the anaesthetic nurse to run a blood gas analysis in a nearby intensive care unit. He returned with saline, glucose and insulin, announcing from the door that “we need to crank up the respiratory rate a bit and shift the potassium”. To me, that was the embodiment of the anaesthetic nurse. He referred to “we” because he saw himself as part of the team. In that one moment, he displayed not only his knowledge of physiology and pharmacology but every category of non-technical skill defined in the anaesthetists’ non-technical skills (ANTS) framework – teamwork, situational awareness, task management and decision-making. Of course it was not his first day on the job. He drew on years of experience, training and inquisitive self-learning.

The opioid-prescribing practices of Australian general practice registrars: an interview study.

Approximately half of the opioids prescribed by Australian GP and GP registrars are for chronic non-cancer pain-despite limited therapeutic benefit, and serious risks of harm. Understanding the factors driving non-evidence-based opioid prescribing may improve GP training and education. To explore attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and self-reported factors influencing the opioid-prescribing decisions of Australian GP registrars. Telephone interviews were undertaken with 20 GP registrars in 2018-19. Interviews were 30-60 minutes in duration, audio-recorded and de-identified. Braun and Clarke's 6-phase framework was adopted for reflexive thematic analysis of data and managed using QSR NVivo software. Twenty registrars were recruited; 8 men and 12 women. Three themes were identified. Difficult chronic pain consultations negatively affected the registrar well-being. Registrars role modelled their supervisors' opioid-prescribing practices, even if they perceived it to be unsafe. Registrars lacked confidence in initiating, prescribing and weaning opioids, recognizing drug-seeking behaviours and declining to prescribe-but felt confident in their knowledge of opioid pharmacology. Registrars were aware of evidence-based prescribing recommendations and risk reduction strategies but struggled to translate this into practice. Non-evidence-based opioid prescribing by Australian GP registrars is multifactorial. Emotionally difficult pain consultations, poor supervision and low prescriber confidence may contribute to unsafe prescribing. Improving registrar prescribing may require interventions to improve risk reduction, training in communication and role modelling by supervisors.

PERCEPTION REGARDING SELF-MEDICATION OF ANTIBIOTICS IN GENERAL PUBLIC SECTOR UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN PUNJAB: A COMPARISON BETWEEN MEDICAL AND NON-MEDICAL STUDENTS

Self-medication with antibiotics is a most rapidly emerging problem especially in developing countries like Pakistan. Antibiotics are easily accessible to the general public without consulting any practitioner even without prescriptions. So there are many risks linked to the inappropriate use of antibiotics. The main aim of this study was to assess the wrong practice of self-medication in public sector universities of southern Punjab. The current study also compares the self-medication practices in various departments of universities. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data and inferential statistics (chi-square test). The study was included data from 900 students including both males and females from various departments. Among 900 students, 450 students of medical while 450 were non-medical students. Frequency of self-medication was found to 57 %. The antibiotics more frequently use for self-medication were Augmentin (37 %), Amoxicillin (23 %). Fever and cough were the most frequent indication for the use of self-medicated antibiotics. Because of their sufficient knowledge of pharmacology, most students were self-medicated (40%). Academic knowledge is the principal source of antibiotic information (60%). Just (39%) of the students thought that self-medication is part of the self-core, 31% of the students perceived that the availability of non-prescription drugs could prevent the growing trend of self-medication with antibiotics. 30% of students perceived that antibiotics were aware of the harms of self-medication or informed about them. Based on this study, it can be concluded that a high proportion of medical students and non-medical students use antibiotics without medical prescription and such practices are more common in the general public sector.

Towards The Automated, Empirical Filtering of Drug-Drug Interaction Alerts in Clinical Decision Support Systems: Historical Cohort Study of Vitamin K Antagonists.

BackgroundDrug-drug interactions (DDIs) involving vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) constitute an important cause of in-hospital morbidity and mortality. However, the list of potential DDIs is long; the implementation of all these interactions in a clinical decision support system (CDSS) results in over-alerting and alert fatigue, limiting the benefits provided by the CDSS.ObjectiveTo estimate the probability of occurrence of international normalized ratio (INR) changes for each DDI rule, via the reuse of electronic health records.MethodsAn 8-year, exhaustive, population-based, historical cohort study including a French community hospital, a group of Danish community hospitals, and a Bulgarian hospital. The study database included 156,893 stays. After filtering against two criteria (at least one VKA administration and at least one INR laboratory result), the final analysis covered 4047 stays. Exposure to any of the 145 drugs known to interact with VKA was tracked and analyzed if at least 3 patients were concerned. The main outcomes are VKA potentiation (defined as an INR≥5) and VKA inhibition (defined as an INR≤1.5). Groups were compared using the Fisher exact test and logistic regression, and the results were expressed as an odds ratio (95% confidence limits).ResultsThe drugs known to interact with VKAs either did not have a statistically significant association regarding the outcome (47 drug administrations and 14 discontinuations) or were associated with significant reduction in risk of its occurrence (odds ratio<1 for 18 administrations and 21 discontinuations).ConclusionsThe probabilities of outcomes obtained were not those expected on the basis of our current body of pharmacological knowledge. The results do not cast doubt on our current pharmacological knowledge per se but do challenge the commonly accepted idea whereby this knowledge alone should be used to define when a DDI alert should be displayed. Real-life probabilities should also be considered during the filtration of DDI alerts by CDSSs, as proposed in SPC-CDSS (statistically prioritized and contextualized CDSS). However, these probabilities may differ from one hospital to another and so should probably be calculated locally.

Assessment of drug-prescribing perception and practice among dental care providers: a cross-sectional Lebanese study.

Background:Dentists play an essential role in providing high-quality dental care, taking into consideration the clinical context and concomitant medications taken by the patients.Objective:This study aimed to assess drug-prescribing perception and practices in addition to drug-related educational needs among Lebanese dentists; it also evaluated the need for interprofessional collaboration between dentists and pharmacists.Methods:An exploratory cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire targeted a sample of dentists from all Lebanese districts. Participants gave their consent by accepting to complete the survey (ethics approval reference: USJ-2016-63). The questionnaire consisted of closed-ended questions exploring: 1) drug-prescribing perception, 2) drug-prescribing practice, and 3) collaboration with pharmacists regarding their respective roles in providing appropriate counseling to patients. Two indexes were created: the first evaluated self-confidence in prescribing medications, and the second assessed dentists’ confidence in pharmacists. Logistic regressions were performed, taking each index as a dependent variable.ResultsA total of 137 dentists completed the survey (59% females; mean age: 42.17; SD: 13.78 years). The majority had a fair to good perceived knowledge in pharmacology and therapeutics (80.3%), only 30.7% reported to be sufficiently equipped to prescribe safely. Dentists exhibited particularly low perceived knowledge about prescribing in elderly patients, dosing, medication use in pregnancy, drug interactions, and adverse reactions. Dentists specialized in periodontics had the lowest odds of having self-confidence in prescribing drugs (aOR=0.25; p<0.001). Also, 64.3% declared that they routinely check a reference source before prescribing, and 78% relied on pharmaceutical companies and medical representatives to get information on medications. While 61% declared that pharmacists should provide oral care counseling, only half of them encouraged their patients to talk to their pharmacists about their medications. Only 15% considered that patients are getting enough counseling from the pharmacist, with a global confidence index below the median value, suggesting the need for more collaboration, especially with periodontists who exhibited the lowest confidence in pharmacists (aOR=0.45).ConclusionsLebanese dentists reported some lack of knowledge and confidence in prescribing practices. Education, training, and close collaboration between pharmacists and dentists are essential to overcome these problems and avoid potential harm to patients.

Клиническая фармакология антибактериальных препаратов в педиатрии

Currently, the use of antibacterial drugs is one of the most frequently recommended methods for treating a large number of infectious diseases. However, there are many cases of unjustified antibacterial therapy, errors in the use of antibiotics, irrational combinations, and undesirable drug reactions. And that is why the problem of rational antibiotic therapy remains relevant in modern medicine - the rational use of antibacterial drugs, compliance with strict indications for the use of antibiotics, certain schemes and principles of their use, and the creation of protocols for antibacterial therapy in pediatric practice. The purpose — to present the key issues of clinical pharmacology of antibacterial drugs in Pediatrics. Results. A large number of different microorganisms act as etiological factors of frequent, repeated respiratory diseases. Antibacterial drugs should be prescribed for inflammatory diseases of bacterial etiology and for perioperative prevention. Antibiotics should not be used in the treatment of uncomplicated acute viral respiratory diseases, since they do not have an antiviral effect, do not reduce the temperature, and do not prevent the development of bacterial complications. Conclusion. Thus, today a doctor has a large arsenal of antibacterial drugs and faces a very important task — to use this arsenal rationally. When choosing antibiotics, there are problems associated with the presence of a large number of drugs, the proposed combinations and treatment regimens, polypragmasia, ignorance of modern treatment standards, and a low level of knowledge of clinical pharmacology. In the treatment of life-threatening infections, the cost of the antibiotic should not prevail over the factors of effectiveness and safety.

Case-Based Questions for Teaching Emergency Medicine Pharmacotherapy.

This pharmacotherapy curriculum is designed for emergency medicine residents of all postgraduate years and could also be given to rotating medical students during clerkships. Curriculum is to run monthly for an 18-month general curriculum cycle. Pharmacotherapy is a critical part of day-to-day practice of Emergency Medicine (EM). The purpose of this innovation is to give this subject specific dedicated instruction time. We introduced a dedicated pharmacotherapy curriculum as part of our conference time through a series of case-based question sets that mirrored our educational blocks. Our goals were to teach residents clinical applications of EM pharmacotherapy including drug selection and consideration of alternatives, interactions, and adverse effects, as well as to prepare them for pharmacotherapy questions on board examinations. The educational strategies used in this curriculum include: case-based vignettes, multiple choice assessments, and guided review explanation and discussion. Questions and explanations are written by resident physicians using a variety of textbooks and online resources and are then reviewed, edited, and expanded upon by attending physicians and an EM pharmacist. This curriculum was implemented in the University of Pittsburgh Emergency Medicine residency program. Curriculum is ongoing and initial data covers a 4-month pilot period. Survey questionnaires were given before and after, using the 7-point Likert scale (1 strongly agree to 7 strongly disagree) for self-assessed knowledge and satisfaction with the curriculum. Primary measure was resident agreement with the statement, "I am confident in overall knowledge of EM pharmacotherapy." We also surveyed readiness for independent practice, knowledge appropriate for training level, board exam preparedness, and satisfaction with curriculum. On the whole residents did feel their pharmacology knowledge improved. Our primary marker was response to a survey question, "I am confident in my overall knowledge of EM pharmacotherapy." In our sample of 30 residents, this question received a pretest score of 3.7 on a 7-point Likert scale (1 strongly agree, 7 strongly disagree). On post intervention surveys this score had improved to 2.6 (p = .00008). In general, residents appreciated this change in curriculum structure. Resident assessment of their improvement during the curriculum was 2.1, aligning with "agree." Satisfaction also improved from a 3.8 on initial survey to a 3.1, with statistical significance (p =.023). We had success in our primary outcome of self-assessed resident learning as above. Satisfaction also improved. Residents assessed self-improvement in knowledge relative to year of training, clinical practice ability, and independent practice ability by statistically significant amounts. In addition, the assessments provided the residency clinical competency committee with objective knowledge of pharmacotherapy-based topics. We feel this easy to implement and effective curriculum would be generalizable across programs looking to add options for teaching EM pharmacotherapy, or to other programs looking to add a formal instruction and evaluation component to traditionally informal curriculum. Emergency Medicine, education, pharmacotherapy, case based, questions, milestones.

Pharmacology education in nursing degree course in order to cultivate nurses skilled in drug therapy

In nursing degree course education, it is needed to enhance contents of pharmacology education for acquiring nursing practice ability in the nursing education model core curriculum and revision of designation regulations. Therefore, it is intended to consider pharmacology education in nursing degree course in universities in the current study in order to cultivate nurses skilled in drug therapy. We have conducted a survey on knowledge required for students of universities of nursing as well as an analysis on contents of inquiries made by nurses on drugs. As a result, it has been revealed that students have recognized effect and side effects of drugs as basic knowledge required for a nurse. With less recognition required on pharmacokinetics and practical contents, however, the knowledge held by students was dissociated with practical knowledge often required for nurses when administering drugs. A possibility has been also revealed by the current survey that nurses may not be able to make use of pharmacokinetics as pharmacological knowledge for patients' treatment management. From results of the survey and previous study, it is believed to be necessary in university education to extend pharmacological knowledge from its basic to clinical stage and build up adequate basic knowledge and thinking power of pharmacology in nursing degree course as well as to sufficiently learn and understand necessity of pharmacokinetics for conducting evaluation of drug efficacy.