GI & Blood

GASTROINTESTINAL DRUGS

Gastrointestinal Drugs I

A. Drugs Affecting GI Motility

1. The student shall be able to recognize drugs and their mechanism of action for the following classes of GI drugs: laxatives, Antidiarheal agents, emetics, Antiemetics, and antinausea medications.

Gastrointestinal Drugs II

B. Drugs used in Peptic Ulcer Disease

1. The student shall describe the drugs and their mechanism of action of gastric antacids.

2. The student shall describe the drugs and their mechanism of action of histamine and its antagonists, and note the unique characteristics of cimetidine, ranitidine, famotidine, and nizatidine.

3. The student shall describe the drugs and their mechanism of action of mucosal protective agents, prostaglandins, proton-pump inhibitors, antispasmodic agents.

4. The student should be able to describe the unique role of Helicobacter pylori in ulcers. 

BLOOD

Drugs used in Hyperlipidemia

A. The student shall be able to describe lipid disposition and the resultant pathologies.

B. The student shall be able to describe the effectiveness of diet changed to lower lipid levels.

C. The student shall be able to describe the chemistry, mechanism of action, toxicity and therapeutic uses for cholesterol lowering drugs.

D. The student shall be able to describe the chemistry, mechanism of action, toxicity and therapeutic uses for triglyceride lowering drugs.

E. The student shall be able to describe the chemistry mechanism of action, toxicity and therapeutic uses for combination therapies of lipid lowering drugs.

Anticoagulant and Antithrombic Drugs

A. The student shall diagram the basic clotting mechanism.

B. The student shall outline the intrinsic and extrinsic clotting systems.

C. The student shall explain the role of platelets in initiating clotting and the rationale for pharmacological intervention.

D. The student shall list the names of the clotting factors and their numeral designations.

E. The student shall describe basic tests of clotting function, i.e., prothrombin time, bleeding time, partial thromboplastin time, whole blood clotting time, and indicate which tests are appropriate for laboratory control of anticoagulant therapy.

F. The student shall explain the mechanism of anticoagulant action of heparin.

G. The student shall explain the mechanism of anticoagulant action of coumarin derivatives.

H. The student shall describe various means of reversing the action of the two main types of anticoagulants.

I. The student shall list indications for the use of anticoagulants.

J. The student shall identify the mechanisms of drug interaction involving the coumarin anticoagulants.

Clinical Use of Anticoagulants

A. The student shall be able to describe the challenges associated with the clinical use of anticoagulants.

B. The student shall be able to discuss the potential for drug interactions with warfarin.

C. The student shall be able to delineate which drug interactions are clinically significant.

D. The student shall be able to describe “bridge therapy”.