Pharmacy Course Overview Quiz

Course Information

• Course: Pharmacy Orientation & Medical Terminology (PPH101)
• Program: Bachelor of Pharmacy-PharmD (Clinical Pharmacy Program)
• Lecturer: Dr. Ramy Elsergany, PhD
• Department: Pharmaceutics & Industrial Pharmacy
• Date of Lecture: 8/10/2024

Course Outline (Part I)

• Mission of Pharmacy
• The pharmacy career
• History of Pharmacy
• Different information resources
• Dispensing of medicines
• Drug dosage forms
• Ethics of pharmacy
• Routes of drug administration
• OTC & Prescription medications

Course Outline (Part II)

• Medical terminology

Important Notes

• Lecture time: 10 minutes of delay allowed
• Attendance is required
• Handouts will be provided
• Coursework includes assignments, quizzes, and a midterm exam

Grades Distribution

• Assignment: 10 marks
• Quiz Exam: 10 marks
• Midterm Exam (after 6 weeks): 30 marks
• Final Exam (after 12 weeks): 50 marks
• Total: 100 marks

References (Books mentioned)

• Ansel's Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery Systems
• Pharmaceutical Calculations
• Essential Pharmaceutics
• An Introduction to Clinical Pharmaceutics
• Aulton's Pharmaceutics

Courses Offered (Department of Pharmaceutics & Industrial Pharmacy)

• PPH101: Pharmacy Orientation & Medical Terminology (2 Cr. Hrs)
• PPH102: Physical Pharmacy (3 Cr. Hrs)
• PPH203: Pharmaceutics I (3 Cr. Hrs)
• PPH204: Pharmaceutics II (3 Cr. Hrs)
• PPH305: Pharmaceutics III (3 Cr. Hrs)
• PPH306: Industrial Pharmacy (3 Cr. Hrs)
• PPH407: Biopharmaceutics & Basics of Pharmacokinetics (3 Cr. Hrs)
• PPH508: Introduction to pharmaceutical, biotechnology & device industries (2 Cr. Hrs)
• PPH509: Current GMP (2 Cr. Hrs)
• PPH510: Cosmoceuticals (2 Cr. Hrs)
• PPH511: Radiopharmaceuticals (2 Cr. Hrs)
• PPH512: Applications of nanotechnology in pharmacy (2 Cr. Hrs)

Inventions by Pharmacists

• Pepsi-Cola: Invented by Caleb Bradham to help with digestion problems
• Coca-Cola: Invented by John Pemberton, originally containing cocaine but later removed

Pharmacist's Role

• The pharmacist is the drug expert of the healthcare team

Pharmaceutical Industry

• The drug discovery process involves research and development, preclinical studies, clinical trials, and review & approval.

Mission of Pharmacy

• To serve society by ensuring appropriate use of medications, devices, and services to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes.
• Pharmacy's definition is the health profession that concerns itself with the knowledge system related to the discovery, development, and use of medications to care for patients.

Healthcare Society

• Includes patients, physicians, pharmacists, dentists, nurses, the healthy public, and health policy decision-makers (like the Minister of Health)

Mission of Pharmacy (Specific aspects)

• Appropriate use of medications: tailored to individual patients for maximum therapeutic effect, safety, and cost-effectiveness.
• Medications (drugs): agents used for diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and/or cure of diseases.
• Devices: equipment, processes, or diagnostic agents for effective medication management. Examples are disposable syringes, diabetic testing kits, and insulin pumps.
• Services: patient care and public education services, and screening and monitoring programs that contribute to effective medication use by patients.

Mission of Pharmacy (Additional aspects)

• American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA) vision: pharmacists are essential for optimizing medication use and improving patient health.

Pharmacy Symbols

• Snake and cup: fighting disease with drugs, symbolism from ancient Greece (Asclepius, Hygeia, Caduceus) and World Health Organization (WHO).
• Mortar and pestle: used for grinding and mixing drugs.

Drug Information (definitions)

• Drug: an agent for diagnosis, mitigation, treatment, cure, or prevention of diseases in humans or animals.
• Pharmacist: healthcare professionals responsible for drug manufacture and safe as well as effective use of medications.

Drug vs. Drug Product

• Drug: the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) responsible for therapeutic effects.
• Drug Product: the finished dosage form containing the API and inactive excipients to ensure the drug performs its intended action. Example: Paracetamol (drug) vs. Pandol tablet (drug product).

Early Drugs

• Ebers Papyrus (16th century BC): ancient Egyptian medical document containing 800 formulas and 700 drugs.
• Egyptians used mortar and pestle, sieves, and balances in the preparation of drugs, such as pills, suppositories, lotions, plasters, and ointments.
• Egyptians determined the fetal sex by pouring urine on wheat and barley. If the barley grew, it was a male; if the wheat, female

History of Pharmacy

• Pharmacy is derived from Pharmakon, a term for a drug or purifying remedy in ancient Greece.
• Ancient pharmacy was known as pharmacognosy, combining knowledge of drugs for medicinal purposes.
• Pharmacy as an independent profession emerged in the early ninth century during the golden age of Arab science.
• Al-Biruni considered pharmacy separate from medicine, emphasizing its unique skills required for proper drug handling

Contemporary Pharmacist's Role

• Pharmacy graduates, with BSc or PharmD degrees, practice in different settings, such as: community pharmacy, patient care institutions, hospitals, military pharmacy and governmental employment, pharmaceutical research and industry and academia.
• These positions showcase the broad scope of pharmacist's roles.

Healthcare Team

• All Members cooperate to ensure good medical service to the patient.
• Pharmacists are a cornerstone of healthcare teams.
• Pharmacists are vital because of their specialized knowledge on chemical, biological, and pharmaceutical sciences, product formulation, dosage form design and clinical applications. It makes them primary sources of drug information.

Examples of Drug Information

• Do not break some tablets, designed with specific technologies to release drug at once causing toxicity.
• Avoid combining certain drugs with food (e.g., ciprofloxacin and dairy products form non-soluble compounds).
• Combinations can have adverse effects(e.g., aspirin and warfarin increase bleeding risk).
• Intravenous administration problems (e.g., insulin adsorption to containers and use of alternative containers like polypropylene
• Patient counseling, addressing lactose intolerance issues: using the suitable dosage forms that do not contain lactose as an excipient.