Are you interested in training for a career as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician? If so, you are making a wise decision. Both of those careers are very much in demand today – and demand is sure to rise in the years ahead as America’s population ages and requires more medical care. And now, an online college course from StraighterLine - Pharmacology – offers you a terrific way to begin your training, or to find out whether pharmacy work would be a good career choice for you. After completing this course, you will have mastered important concepts about drugs and their effects on the body and the mind. You will be able to . . .
- Solve dosage calculation problems involving fractions, decimals, percents, ratios, proportions and using the metric, apothecary, and household measurement systems.
- Analyze the mechanisms of hypnotic and psychotomimetic drug action.
- Compare and contrast the effects of barbiturates and benzodiazepines, and examine the potential abuse of psychotomimetic drugs.
- Analyze the various types of mental disorders and evaluate the effects of antipsychotic, antianxiety, antidepressant, and antimanic drugs.
- Assess the types of nonopioid analgesics and their dosages, and relate the effects of these drugs to the treatment of inflammation and gout.
- Compare and contrast general and local anesthetics with reference to their routes of administration, mechanisms of action, effects, and adverse effects.
- Describe brain structure and functioning, and explain how various parts of the brain regulate organ function.
- Evaluate how drugs increase or reduce the sympathetic, parasympathetic, and autonomic nervous system activities.
- Evaluate individual variation factors to drug responses, and explain drug interaction, dependence, and abuse.
- Evaluate the contribution of nutrients towards maintaining normal body function, and explain nutrition deficiency, drug and supplement interaction, and effects of supplement overdose.
- Evaluate the contribution of opioid analgesics towards pain alleviation, and assess their effects and adverse effects.
- Examine the functioning of the autonomic nervous system and the stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system.
- Explain how muscle relaxants act on the body and assess their effects and adverse effects.
- List types of epilepsy and symptoms and causes of Parkinson's disease, and explain the actions and adverse effects of drugs used to treat these disorders.
- Relate drug terminology to appropriate definitions, and analyze aspects of drug actions, effects, and responses.
Interested in trying an online college course with StraighterLine? Sign up for a free trial with us today.
