Pharmacology
How to study pharmacology
Pharmacology looks like a list of hundreds of drugs, but it is really a list of a few dozen classes. Learn the class (how it works, what it is for, what goes wrong) and each drug in it becomes one name to attach, not a new subject.
3 days free · you only pay if you carry on
Why it is hard to learn
- Hundreds of drug names, many of them alike
- Mechanisms, indications, side effects and interactions for each
- Classes and exceptions that are easy to mix up
- Exams that test detail and clinical reasoning together
A study plan that works
Learn by class, not by drug
Upload the lecture or the chapter for one class at a time. Read the notes for the mechanism first: the side effects usually follow from it.
Map the classes
Open the mind map to see the classes of a system side by side. Seeing the whole system makes the differences stand out.
Drill the details
Flashcards for the prototype drug of each class, its mechanism, its main use and its typical side effect.
Practise with cases
Written practice tests ask you to reason from a case to a drug, which is how the exam asks it.
The study modes that fit best
Flashcards
For names, mechanisms and side effects.
Mind map
For the classes of a system side by side.
Practice test
For reasoning from a case to a drug.
Quiz
For a quick check across a whole system.
Questions
What is the fastest way to learn drug names?
Learn the class first, then the prototype drug, then the others as variations. Common name endings often tell you the class, which saves a lot of memorising.
Can Memo replace my pharmacology textbook?
No. Memo works from the material you give it: your lectures, handouts and textbook chapters. Use it to learn your textbook, not instead of it.
Try it on your own material.
Upload a lecture, a PDF or your slides and get notes, flashcards and a quiz in a few minutes.
Try it for €03 days free · you only pay if you carry on