Introduction to Pharmacology and Therapeutics in Phase 1

3 journeys of drug prescribing

1. Production

2. Prescribing

3. Monitoring

What is production?

Drug discovery & development

What is prescribing?

Pharmacokinetics

Pharmacodynamics

What is monitoring?

Therapuetics

Pharmacokinetics VS

Pharmacodynamica

Pharmacokinetics focuses on what the body does to the drug or how the drug is process by the body, while Pharmacodynamics focuses on what the drug does to the body or how the drug produces its therapeutic effect.

What is pharmacology vs therapeutics?

Pharmacology

• Study of drugs

– Pharmacodynamics

– Pharmacokinetics

Therapeutics

• Treatment (mostly involving medicines) of disease

– Knowledge of core drugs

– Practical application of knowledge to prescribing

Rational prescribing

• max benefit

• minimum risk

• cost effective

• convenient

‘6 rights of prescribing’

• Right patient

• Right drug

• Right route

• Right dose

• Right time

• Right outcome

Requirements of a prescription – Prescriber and Patient

Written legibly in ink or typed electronically

• Dated

• Patient identification – Name, date of birth, address, ID number

• Weight (children)

• Address of the prescriber

• Indicate the type of prescriber

• Signed by the prescriber

Requirements of a prescription - the drug

• Names of drugs in English without abbreviation – some Latin

abbreviations are used

• Route, dose, dose frequency and duration

• Avoid unnecessary use of decimal points eg. 3mg not 3.0mg;

0.5ml not .5ml

• Do not abbreviate micrograms, nanograms or units

• Use millilitre (ml) is used and not cubic centimetre (cm3/cc)