Useful links
Unit of study_
PHAR2912: Therapeutic Principles
2025 unit information
This unit of study provides students with foundational knowledge to support the safe, effective and appropriate use of medicines. It includes the principles of pharmacodynamics (effect of drugs on the body) and pharmacokinetics (impact of body on the drugs). Students will learn and apply concepts and mathematical relationships in workshops to explain activity of medicines in the human body and to guide appropriate dosage regimen selection. They will explore the reasons behind individual variability in response to medicines including the effects of disease, other medicines, demographics and genetics. Students will consider the adverse reactions of medicines (as well as the beneficial ones), and the mechanisms underlying these adverse reactions, their classification, and principles for detection and avoidance. Therapeutics includes learning and applying common methods for assessing evidence of efficacy and safety of different therapeutic options, and hence defining their place in therapy. The principles underpinning evidence-based medicine and levels of evidence will be introduced to help students develop an understanding of how to critically evaluate therapeutic options, including special patient populations such as the young, elderly and those with chronic conditions.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Pharmacy |
| Credit points | 12 |
|
Prerequisites:
?
|
(BIOL1XX8 or BIOL1XX3 or MEDS1XX1) and (BIOL1009 or BIOL1X07) and PHAR1921 and PHAR1922 |
|---|---|
|
Corequisites:
?
|
None |
| Prohibitions:
?
|
None |
| Assumed knowledge:
?
|
None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Describe pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic principles and interpret pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic information.
- LO2. Calculate relevant pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic parameters using appropriate equations.
- LO3. Explain how genetic variations can influence the response to medicines and contribute to variability in response between individuals.
- LO4. Explain basic reasons for variability in response to medicines in different individuals, including the effects of disease, demographics, genetics and other medicines.
- LO5. Apply appropriate numeracy skills to solve pharmaceutical problems.
- LO6. Apply knowledge of therapeutic principles to solve and manage pharmaceutical and clinical problems, including those relating to the metabolism and degradation of drugs.
- LO7. Apply knowledge of therapeutic principles to communicate and provide appropriate information to patients and other health professionals.
- LO8. Demonstrate responsibility for personal and professional development through independent learning and continuous reflection.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Semester 1 2025
|
Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
|
There are no availabilities for previous years.
Find your current year census dates
Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
