Course:PHAR351 (2012W1)/Syllabus

University of British Columbia | Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

PHAR 351 (Therapeutics I) Course Syllabus

Course Coordinator: James McCormack, BSc, BSc(Pharm), Pharm D

Office: UBC Pharmacy Building, Room 3519

Course Location: UBC PHRM 1101

Course Schedule: Mon, Wed, Fri. Timing variable based on the P3X1 course master schedule always available on the course LMS site.

Credits: 2

Graduate Teaching Assistant: Veronika Schmitt (schmittv@interchange.ubc.ca)

Course Description

PHAR 351 focuses on the pharmacotherapeutics (i.e., the application of drug therapy in patients) of the major pulmonary, dermatological, and gastrointestinal diseases commonly encountered by pharmacists. The course is delivered in a coordinated fashion with PHAR 371 (Pathophysiology), PHAR 341 (Pharmacology), and P361 (Patient self-care) such that the pathophysiological and pharmacological basis for the therapeutics is laid down before the applicable P351 session occurs.

Instructional Goals and Student Performance Objectives

Relevant Ability-Based Outcomes for the UBC B.Sc.(Pharm.) Degree:

1. Critical thinking skills
2. Information access and evaluation skills
3. Apply and integrate knowledge
4. Meet patient’s drug-related needs

Course Goal

To equip students to successfully provide pharmacist care in an evidence-based practice paradigm to patients with dermatological, respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases addressed in the course during their experiential clerkships.

Course Learning Objectives

By the end of each disease module, augmented by CAPS case work, students will be able to:

1. Given a patient’s diagnosis and history: identify the common signs and symptoms of the disorder, list the goals of therapy, list the viable treatment alternatives based on the best available evidence, recommend a rational approach to the therapy of the disorder and justify that approach;
2. List the most common potential adverse effects, drug interactions and other drug-related complications of the therapy;
3. Identify and describe the important patient education points for the planned treatment regimen;
4. Describe the expected outcome(s) of therapy and the appropriate therapeutic monitoring parameters to ensure achievement of outcomes;
5. Identify potential or actual drug-related problems and explain how they can be prevented or managed.

Content Selection and Organization

Current pharmacotherapeutics for the following diseases are addressed in this course:

General Principles: Introduction, laboratory values, electrolyte disorders

Pulmonary: Asthma, COPD

Dermatology: Acne, psoriasis, allergic rhinitis, urticaria

Instructional Activities

Most sessions will be case-based: one or more patient cases will form the context for the session. Instructors will employ appropriate techniques to foster active learning by students. This may include pre-session preparation for in-class discussion of cases or evidence, in-class small group discussion of approaches to patient cases, technology-enabled real-time surveys in class, post-session assignments, and other strategies as appropriate.

All sessions are captured for later online review by students. [ Captured lecture repository].

Assessment Methods & Grading Practices and Policies

Connection Between Course Learning Objectives and Assessment / Grading Practices

Examinations will consist of patient case scenarios in which students will be required to exhibit the abilities described in the Course Objectives. This will involve multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions, and multi-sentence explanations.

Students will be assessed using just a final exam because the pulmonary content is examined in the new pulmonary module. The final exam will represent 100% of the total course grade and will cover all course material EXCEPT pulmonary therapeutics.

Students are expected to adhere to UBC’s Rules Governing Formal Examinations

Students are expected to adhere to UBC’s Academic Misconduct policies.

Supplemental FINAL examinations are allowed in this course, provided all of UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences’ criteria for Supplemental Exams are met. Per Faculty policy, a supplemental exam will form 100% of the course mark.

Texts & Other Resources

Required reading: On a per-session basis, either a chapter from Therapeutic Choices [Therapeutic Choices, Jean Gray (Editor), Canadian Pharmacists Association, 6th edition/2011.] will be assigned, or alternative pre-reading assigned by the session instructor will be posted in the UBC LMS. Students are responsible for determining the pre-session assignments/readings.

Recommended reading: For each session, a folder entitled “Supportive Literature” in the LMS contains the full articles of all the primary literature discussed during the session. Students may use this as a resource before during or after sessions to deepen their understanding and/or clarify issues discussed in the session.

Since the course is firmly rooted in evidence-based practice, a comprehensive resource for students to deepen their knowledge and/or use as a reference is provided at: www.vhpharmsci.com/decisionmaking

Disclaimer: this syllabus is tentative, and subject to change according to the needs and interests of the class.