PHARM 3103 - Drug Action and Therapeutics

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2023

The course will provide students with an understanding of how drugs are used as therapeutics. Students will gain an understanding of drug-receptor interactions. Particular emphasis will be given to the key factors that influence and govern the effects of drugs within the body, ranging from molecular determinants to physiological factors that control disposition of drugs within the body. Selected systems pharmacology examples will be given to illustrate contemporary approaches to treatment of disease. The practical component of this course will demonstrate key issues from the theoretical part of the course as well as providing laboratory and experimental proficiency for students, ensuring they gain an appreciation for studying drug actions at different levels of biological organisation, ranging from simple in vitro systems (e.g. organ baths) to whole animals.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code PHARM 3103
    Course Drug Action and Therapeutics
    Coordinating Unit Medical Sciences
    Term Semester 1
    Level Undergraduate
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 3 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y
    Prerequisites HLTH SC 2104
    Incompatible PHARM 3010
    Assumed Knowledge PHARM 2400
    Assessment Students will complete online quizzes, 2 mid-semester tests (one online), participate in tutorials and engage in workshops. There will be an end of course closed-book examination.
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Dr Ian Musgrave

    Course Coordinator: Dr Ian Musgrave
    Phone: +61 8 8313 3905
    Email: ian.musgrave@adelaide.edu.au
    Location: Room S515, Medical School South

    Additional Academic Staff

    Dr Scott Smid
    Phone: +61 8 8313 5287
    Email: scott.smid@adelaide.edu.au
    Location: Room N531, Medical School North

    Dr Abdallah Salem
    Phone: +61 8 8313 4327
    Email: abdallah.salem@adelaide.edu.auLocation:
    Room N506, Medical School North

    Dr Janet Coller
    Phone: +61 8 8313 3906
    Email: janet.coller@adelaide.edu.au
    Location: Room N515, Medical School North
    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

    1. Recognise the fundamental principles of drug actions at their target sites (eg. receptors, enzymes etc)
    2. Describe the different types of pharmacodynamic interactions of drugs with receptors and apply quantitative methods to analyse such interactions
    3. Demonstrate knowledge of the actions of specific drug classes at selected organ systems and physiological pathways at a molecular and cellular level
    4. Explain the functioning of the autonomic nervous system at a pharmacological, anatomical and physiological level, with an integrated approach to its role in physiological homeostasis
    5. Compare the functional roles of selected central nervous system transmitters and be able to list clinically important drugs acting at these pharmacological systems
    6. Choose a relevant experimental system to test experimental hypotheses (e.g. in vitro or in vivo; animal species etc)
    7. Design experiments which are properly controlled and which use appropriate statistical methods of data analysis
    8. Work co-operatively in a small group setting to conduct experiments, generate, analyse and interpret experimental data 9. Consider ethical issues when designing experiments using humans or animals
    9. Consider the importance of method validation, and the recognition of experimental errors


    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)

    Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth

    Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.

    1-9

    Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving

    Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.

    3-9

    Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills

    Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.

    7-8

    Attribute 4: Professionalism and leadership readiness

    Graduates engage in professional behaviour and have the potential to be entrepreneurial and take leadership roles in their chosen occupations or careers and communities.

    7-8

    Attribute 5: Intercultural and ethical competency

    Graduates are responsible and effective global citizens whose personal values and practices are consistent with their roles as responsible members of society.

    9

    Attribute 7: Digital capabilities

    Graduates are well prepared for living, learning and working in a digital society.

    7

    Attribute 8: Self-awareness and emotional intelligence

    Graduates are self-aware and reflective; they are flexible and resilient and have the capacity to accept and give constructive feedback; they act with integrity and take responsibility for their actions.

    8-9
  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    “Rang and Dale's pharmacology” by Rang, Dale, Ritter, Flower and Henderson (Elsevier, 2015, 8th Edition). This book is an
    excellent introduction to all aspects of pharmacology and lecturers will assign relevant chapters for each lecture.

    Australian Medicines Handbook (online via BSL)







    Recommended Resources
    Students will be able to open access a variety of third party online and library
    resources. Links to journal articles and reading lists disseminated via MyUni.



    Online Learning
    The primary means of communication outside of the formal contact hours will be via MyUni (or Canvas). Announcements supported
    by email will be used as the main method of communicating with the student cohort. 

    Course material will besupported by online resources, with lecture recordings, tutorial materials and on-line quizzes and tests conducted via MyUni (Canvas).

    Lecture notes will be provided in either pdf or PowerPoint format, relevant lab and tutorial handouts
    and other supporting materials as required. Material will be sequentially released in line with the teaching and learning activities in each week.



  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes
    This course is comprised of a combination of didactic lectures, interactive tutorial sessions and prescribed laboratory group-based practical sessions. Problem based tutorials are designed to support the major learning objectives set in the lecture content and require student interaction. Group-based laboratory practicals are designed to reinforce and extend on learning provided in the themed lecture content as well as providing an understanding and proficiency in research methods and experimental design, data analysis and write-up.
    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    You should spend at minimum 16 hours a week on study activities for this course. This will include an average of 8 hours contact time (lecture/practical/tutorial) and 8 hours revision/preparation/study.
    Learning Activities Summary
    Tutorial classes are based on the themed lecture content above and are usually set to follow the completion of lecture delivery within the prescribed theme.

    Additional tutorial content is delivered in the areas of drug calculations and dilutions and biostatistics, which are topics that reinforce aspects of teaching in the practical classes.

    Practical classes:
    Session 1- Analytical (quantitative) Methodology
    Session 2- Agonist/Antagonist activity in isolated tissues
    Session 3- Receptor tolerance
    Session 4- Adrenoceptors
    Session 5- Receptors & Signal Transduction
    Session 6- Drug actions In Vivo CNS

    Week Lecture 1 Lecture 2  Tutorial
    1
    Intro- Pharmacology
    Pharmacodynamics I- Drug Targets: Receptors, Enzymes and
    Ion Channels


    Pharmacodynamics II- Dose-Response and Quantitation of Drug Actions

    None
    2
    Pharmacodynamics III- Agonists/Antagonists


    Pharmackokinetics

    Analytical Methodology
    3
    Transmitter Systems & Drug Action I -

    Cholinergic

    Transmitter Systems & Drug Action II - Adrenergic

    none
    4

    Drugs in CNS disease I

    Transmitter Systems & Drug Action III

    5HT-modifying drugs



    Drugs in CNS disease II

    Transmitter Systems & Drug Action IV

    DA and GABA modifying drugs

    Pharmacodynamics
    5

    Receptors and Signal transduction I

    G-protein coupled receptors



    Receptors and Signal transduction II

    Ion Channels

    none
    6

    Receptors and Signal transduction III

    Tyrosine Kinases & Nuclear receptors


    Receptors and Signal transduction IV

    Enzymes

    Drugs in the Nervous system
    7

    Pharmacotherapeutics I- Pharmacology of inflammation



    Pharmacotherapeutics II-

    Pharmacology of pain

    none
    8

    Pharmacotherapeutics III

    Affective disorders I



    Pharmacotherapeutics IV

    Affective disorders I

    Signal Transduction
    9

    Pharmacotherapeutics V

    Endocrine & metabolic pharmacology I



    Pharmacotherapeutics VI -

    GI Pharmacology

    none
    10

    Pharmacotherapeutics VII

    Respiratory Pharmacology



    Pharmacotherapeutics  VIII

    Reproductive pharmacology

    Therapeutics I
    11

    Pharmacotherapeutics IX

    Performance enhancing Drugs


    Pharmacotherapeutics X

    Cardiovascular pharmacology I

    none
    12

    Pharmacotherapeutics XI

    Cardiovascular pharmacology II

    Exam revision Therapeutics II
    Specific Course Requirements
    Laboratory Conduct
    PROTECTIVE CLOTHING :

    (LABORATORY COATS and SAFETY GLASSES) MUST BE WORN IN THE LABORATORY.

    Thongs should not be worn, and bare feet are absolutely prohibited (danger from glass and spillage).

    Wash your hands before meals or on leaving the laboratory for any reason.All possible precautions should be taken when handling body fluid, to prevent spread of any type of infection.

    These are:prevent aerosol production (e.g. never mix the fluids with hot water)use disposable gloves;wash hands after handling biological samples;
    Avoid contaminating your hands, face or clothes, or the benches, chairs,
    stools, notebooks, floors, door-handles, switches, gas, water, pressure,
    vacuum or other taps, with animal excreta, toxins, chemicals or drugs.

    Other people have to handle things you may have touched. Don't suck pencils or anything similar in the laboratory.No food or drink should be consumed or brought into the laboratory.No smoking should take place in the laboratory.

    All solutions should be treated with care. Any material, dry or in solution, spilt on to the bench, the floor, or the hands should be
    cleaned up at once with disposable paper towels. Spills should be cleaned up immediately and hands washed after any inadvertent contact.

    No drug or syringe must leave the department for any reason.All sharps (hypodermic needles, scalpel blades) must be placed in the yellow sharps disposal bins placed around the laboratory.Solid waste should be placed in the appropriate bins, not in the sink.

    Studentsshould pay particular attention to the care of animals.

    The ethical
    aspects of using animals and techniques for handling and injecting
    animals will be demonstrated.

    Any equipment failure or other faults should be reported to a demonstrator or to a technician.

    At the conclusion of the experiment, it is the student’s responsibility to tidy the work space and to ensure that tubes, tips etc are disposed of in the appropriate bins provided.

    No unauthorised persons are to visit students while working in the laboratory.
  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    Assessment Task Task Type Weighting Learning Outcome(s) being addressed
    Final Exam Summative 40% 1 - 5
    Assessment Test I Summative 15% 1-4
    Assessment Test II Summative 15% 6,7,9
    Practicals Summative and Formative 30% 6-9
    Assessment Detail


    Online quizzes: Students will access 2 online MCQ formatted quizzes
    which will be at weeks 6 and 10 to provide students with a reflective formative
    appraisal of their understanding of key concepts from lectures. 0%

    Test 1: Online MCQ-based test on all lecture and tutorial content weeks 1-6 inclusive, undertaken in week 7. 10%
    weighting

    Test 2: Written short answer-based
    test on all practical content, undertaken in week 12.  10% weighting

    Practicals: Students work in small groups to investigate key experiments which illustrate and re-enforce theoretical concepts. Written reports produced and assessed. 30% weighting.

    Examination: A 2 hour exam to be held at the end of semester.  50% weighting.

    Submission
    All written submissions (eg. practical reports) must be accompanied by a signed cover sheet. Proforma cover sheets will be
    available for download off MyUni.

    Late submissions of any student work are not acceptable. Coursework received after the deadline will be penalised as follows:10% of total available points will be penalised per day (24 hour period or fraction thereof). An automatic zero mark will be applied after 7 days

    If you miss an assessment test e.g. from illness, you are required to present medical or compassionate certification to be eligible to sit a supplementary test. Such certificates need to be provided to The Course Coordinator directly within one week of the test date.

    The date and time of the supp. test is then determined by the Course Coordinator and is not negotiable. Students will be informed of the supp. test date by email.

    Turn-around times for marking practial reports are 1 week from date of submission. Marked assessment tests are normally returned
    within 1-2 weeks from date of sitting.
    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
  • Fraud Awareness

    Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.