THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
FACULTY OF MEDICINE, DENTISTRY AND HEALTH SCIENCES

INTRODUCTION
This unit is a structured introduction to drug therapy of disorders of cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, central nervous, musculoskeletal, endocrine and skin conditions. Instruction is through a mixture of lectures and seminars, case-based on-line learning exercises, and operative anaesthetic sessions . Summative assessment is through a sequence of assessed on-line exercises, a short examination mid-semester and a final paper.

UNIT DESCRIPTION:
Many methods of teaching are used in the course. The principal approaches are lectures, case-based learning and practical instruction (in anaesthetic drugs). Note that all of the course is mandatory, and that completion of all assessed and non-assessed elements is required to pass the unit.

Lectures & Tutorials
Teaching proceeds sequentially through organ systems, each system being studied at the same time as in pathology and microbiology, with emphasis on the common themes and integration between the disciplines. Instruction is detailed in the timetable. Teaching is oriented towards preparing students for clinical prescribing.

Lectures are audio-recorded in Lectopia, with accompanying slides available on WebCT. In general, it is more difficult to learn from these than from the live lecture, so they should be considered an adjunct to revision rather than a substitute for lecture attendance.
Some lecture topics, however, will be available as high-quality video capture Lectopia recordings, rather than live presentations. These will be indicated on the timetable. They will be available at all times, and not just at the nominal time on the timetable.

Theatre Visits
Theatre visits form part of the practical instruction in anaesthetic pharmacology. You will appreciate that group attendance in a busy operating theatre suite imposes restrictions on timetabling and on transfer of students between groups. If you have a compelling reason for wanting to change the date of your operating theatre visit, this has to be notified to the Pharmacology Unit Administrative Officer at least 2 weeks before the event, by email to pauline.ferguson@uwa.edu.au. You have to identify a person to swap with, and that person has to independently confirm agreement to the swap. Changes won’t be made until both parties have sent their requests to pauline.ferguson@uwa.edu.au. You will get an acknowledgment of the change once it has been approved.

Unit material
Lecture, tutorial and supporting materials will be available on WebCT site (http://webct6.uwa.edu.au). There is a lot of material (over 250 pages), so the Pharmacology and Anaesthesiology Unit will organise a print run of a bound volume, for students who prefer not to print out their own. It will be available at cost-recovery price, which depends on the number of interested students, but will not exceed $15. The Class Rep is asked to gauge interest before the beginning of semester. When available, the volume can be collected from Mrs Kerry Somers, in Room G35A, every day from 9.00am – 12.00noon and 1.00pm to 4.00pm. Payment is required on collection.

Recommended textbook
Rang & Dale’s Pharmacology, 6th edition, Jan 2007 Rang H, Dale M, Ritter J and Flower R Churchill Livingstone ISBN 0443069115.

Recommended reading
The Medical Library has a good collection of pharmacology undergraduate text books under the Dewey address of 610.5

Case-Based Learning in Pharmacology
There are seven cases that are covered in a sequence of:
- Release of case triggers on WebCT
- Resource sessions relevant to the new material of the cases (delivered over 2 weeks)
- For some cases, a session with discussion leader/tutor (whole class together), generally addressing student-initiated discussion on the issues of the case, at approximately the mid-point of the two-week cycle. You have to introduce the topics that you want discussed.
- Completion of the case, in the format of a formative assessment (with feedback), two weeks after release. The assessment is done on WebCT, and comprises responses to the trigger questions.
There is a new case about every two weeks, but they correspond to introduction of the resource material, so are not regularly spaced. Some case-based learning topics are accompanied by a discussion session, which is indicated in the timetable and below

These cases include computer assisted learning exercises. Visit http://www.pharm.uwa.edu.au - PharmaCALogy for further instructions.

Course goals
In IMED3345 (Systems Pharmacology), the general understanding of pharmacology, gained from the Medical Pharmacology-Foundations IMED3344 course is used to explore the use of drugs to modify physiological and pathological processes in the body. The course proceeds through body systems, in parallel with similarly-sequenced courses in pathology and microbiology, and links to teaching in clinical medicine. At the end of this course the student will be able to apply knowledge about the general processes of drug administration, disposition and effects in the body to a range of physiological and pathological states in each body system, and will be able to understand and interpret the actions and uses of new drug molecules as they are introduced into therapeutics throughout their working life.

OUTCOMES

ASSESSMENT
All material presented via lectures, tutorials, case-based instruction, operating theatre teaching and additional materials on WebCT is assessable. Students are expected to supplement the lecture material by reading the appropriate chapter in the textbook or other specific recommended materials. A summary of the assessment sequence is as follows:

(1) number of questions in each exam and time may vary slightly depending on the amount of material presented and timing of the exam.
There is a sample paper for this unit on WebCT, under self assessments. This year’s paper has the same layout, except that Faculty Curriculum Committee has directed that there be no choice allowed in assessment, so all four of the short answer questions have to be completed, instead of choosing 4 questions from 8 options.

Mid-semester summatives and final examinations: Scope and timing

This pharmacology and therapeutics course begins your development as a safe, effective prescriber. The main intention of assessment is to measure this development, and ensure that the safety of future patients is not threatened by dangerous misunderstanding. Where examiners identify misunderstandings that seriously threaten patient safety, their advice to the Board of Examiners will be against granting a pass in the unit, regardless of the marks scored in assessments.

REMEDIATION
Remediation is a poor, and usually inadequate substitute for continuous learning in context. Students whose performance predicts a risk of failing the unit will be advised after the mid-semester summative examination and given directions on study techniques and reminded of the location of course materials for remediation purposes.

BOARD OF EXAMINERS PASS-FAIL GUIDELINES FOR IMED3345: Second Semester PHARMACOLOGY

The two pharmacology units, IMED3344 in first semester and IMED3345 in second semester, are treated as a single continuing course by the Board of Examiners. Each contributes 50% of the total mark that is put before the Board after the final second semester examination. The Board’s decisions on pass, fail or supplementary examination are made on that mark, applying the principles that apply generally in the medicine course. If a supplementary examination is granted, it will cover both semesters’ syllabus in a three hour paper that will be offered in the January examination period.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
All forms of cheating, plagiarism and copying are condemned by the University as unacceptable behaviour. The Faculty's policy is to ensure that no student profits from such behaviour. Generally a failure will be recorded for the subject in which the cheating has occurred. Serious cases shall be referred to the University's Board of Discipline. All students should note that cases of copying are automatically reported to the Sub-Dean and documentary evidence along with associated correspondence is placed on the student's permanent record.