| Program Description |
MD. PHARMACOLOGY
Goal
The goal of postgraduate medical education shall be to produce a competent specialist and / or a medical teacher as stated in the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations 2000 and its amendments thereof [May2018]
(i) Who shall recognize the health needs of the community, and carry out professional obligations ethically and in keeping with the objectives of the national health policy.
(ii) Who shall have mastered most of the competencies, pertaining to the specialty, that are required to be practiced at the secondary and the tertiary levels of the health care delivery system.
(iii) Who shall be aware of the contemporary advances and developments in the discipline concerned.
(iv) Who shall have acquired a spirit of scientific inquiry and is oriented to the principles of research methodology and epidemiology, and
(v) Who shall have acquired the basic skills in teaching of the medical and paramedical professionals.
General Objectives
At the end of the postgraduate training in the discipline concerned the student shall be able to:
(i) Recognize the importance of the concerned specialty in the context of the health need of the community and the national priorities in the health sector.
(ii) Practice the specialty concerned ethically and in step with the principles of primary health care.
(iii) Demonstrate sufficient understanding of the basic sciences relevant to the concerned specialty.
(iv) Identify social, economic, environmental, biological and emotional determinants of health in a given case, and take them into account while planning therapeutic, rehabilitative, preventive and promotive measures/strategies.
(v) Diagnose and manage majority of the conditions in the specialty concerned on the basis of clinical assessment, and appropriately selected and conducted investigations.
(vi) Plan and advice measures for the prevention and rehabilitation of patients suffering from disease and disability related to the specialty.
(vii) Demonstrate skills in documentation of individual case details as well as morbidity and mortality data relevant to the assigned situation.
(viii) Demonstrate empathy and humane approach towards patients and their families and exhibit interpersonal behaviour in accordance with the societal norms and expectations.
(ix) Play the assigned role in the implementation of national health programs, effectively and responsibly.
(x) Organize and supervise the chosen/assigned health care services demonstrating adequate managerial skills in the clinic/hospital or the field situation.
(xi) Develop skills as a self-directed learner; recognize continuing educational needs, select and use appropriate learning resources.
(xii) Demonstrate competence in basic concept of research methodology and epidemiology, and be able to critically analyse relevant published research literature.
(xiii) Develop skills in using educational methods and techniques as applicable to the teaching of medical/nursing students, general physicians and paramedical health workers.
(xiv) Function as an effective leader of a team engaged in health care, research or training.
Statement of the Competencies
Keeping in view the general objectives of postgraduate training, each discipline shall aim at development of specific competencies, which shall be defined and spelt out in clear terms. Each department shall produce a statement and bring it to the notice of the trainees in the beginning of the program so that he or she can direct the efforts towards the attainment of these competencies.
Components of the PG Curriculum
The major components of the PG curriculum shall be:
• Theoretical knowledge
• Practical/clinical Skills
• Training in writing thesis/research articles
• Attitudes, including communication.
• Training in research methodology, medical ethics & medicolegal aspects
• Teaching skills to the undergraduates, juniors and support teams.
After completing the postgraduate medical (MD) in pharmacology, the student should be able to:
1. Teach & train UG, PG medical & students of allied subjects the basic principles of
pharmacology & be up to date with recent advances.
2. Impart skills related to teaching, research methodology & pharmaceutical industry
requirements.
3. Understand the importance of Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacoeconomics.
4. Detect, treat & manage toxicological aspects of drugs and poisons.
5. Understand & apply the recent advances in pharmacological and its applied aspects in
clinical practice.
6. Devise experimental models with minimal use of animals.
7. Plan and organize projects using managerial & leadership skills.
8. Design protocol for clinical trials
9. Incorporate knowledge of information technology in medical sciences
10. Function as a productive member of a team engaged in research, medical education and
Pharmaceutical industry
11. Play the assigned role in the implementation of various national health programs
effectively, including planning of drug procurement and distribution, designing Hospital
& National Formulatory.
B. General Objectives
1. Demonstrate sound knowledge of general pharmacology principles like pharmacokinetics
and pharmacodynamics of drugs, drug interactions and adverse effects.
2. Study the effects of drugs on various systems in the body and rational drug therapy.
3. Plan & conduct lecture, practical demonstration, and tutorial classes for students of
medical & allied disciplines.
4. Carry out screening of drugs for their pharmacological and toxicological profile.
5. Carry out drug related literature search, formulate research projects and undertake the
same.
6. Present research findings in conferences (Oral/Poster sessions), critically review &
comment on research papers. Communicate research/ educational papers in peer
reviewed journals.
7. Measure drug levels in blood and other biological fluids using suitable qualitative &
quantitative methods and interpret the same in therapeutic/toxicological contest.
8. Monitor adverse drug reactions. Carry out therapeutic audit & provide drug information
service to doctors/public.
9. Use computer and IT tools for teaching, research& presentation/publication of data.
10. Preparation of protocols to conduct preclinical and clinical research independently.
11. Demonstrate knowledge of National Health Policy, National list of essential medicine
(NLEM), p- drug –concept and supervise drug management in a hospital.
12. To function as an active member of Drugs and Therapeutics Committee (DTC).
13. Drug Utilization Review (DUR)
14. Assess emergency situations while carrying out drug trials and institute exigency
management till appropriate assistance from clinical side is available.
15. Plan and carry out both laboratory and clinical research with adherence to ethical
principles and ICH – GCP/ GLP guidelines.
16. Be aware of legal and ethical aspects of drug evaluation.
17. Be aware of regulatory procedures needed to be carried out prior to the marketing of a
new drug in India.
18. Understand and apply ethical principles involved in animal and human research.
19. Handle animals to conduct experiments e.g. screening of various drugs
20. Perform qualitative and quantitative identification and estimation of drugs in different
samples of body fluids.
21. Develop skills as a self-directed learner, recognize continuing educational needs, use
appropriate learning resources and be able to critically analyze relevant published
literature.
22. Function as a productive member of a team engaged in research, Medical education &
industry
C. SUBJECT SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES
The student during the training program should acquire the following competencies:
a) Cognitive domain
1. Describe and apply pharmacological principles to explain the mechanism/s of the effects
of drugs used in diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases of all systems of human
body.
2. Explain Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of drugs.
3. Describe mechanisms of drug-drug interactions and their clinical importance.
4. Apply and integrate knowledge of pathophysiology of diseases and its modulation by
drugs.
5. Acquire knowledge on pharmacogenetic and Pharmacogenomic
6. Acquire knowledge on principles of Pharmacoeconomics
7. Acquire knowledge on Pharmacoepidermiology, including drug utilization studies.
8. Acquire knowledge and understanding of principles of Good clinical practice (GCP) and
Good laboratory practice (GLP) guidelines
9. Acquire knowledge on essential medicines
10. Acquire knowledge on Pharmacovigilance
11. Acquire knowledge and apply the principle of biostatistics in the evaluation and
interpretation of drug safety and efficacy studies
12. Describe how to evaluate, analyse and monitor preclinical and clinical data in drug
discovery
13. Able to integrate principles of immunology in biochemistry.
14. Demonstrate knowledge of basics of research methodology, develop a research protocol,
conduct the study, record experimental observations, analyse data using currently
available statistical software, interpret results and disseminate these results and to have
the potential ability to pursue further specializations and eventually be competent to
guide students.
15. Describe the principles of teaching - learning technology towards application and take
interactive classroom lectures, modules for problem based learning (PBL), case
discussions, small group discussions, seminars, Journal club and research presentations
16. Demonstrate knowledge about computer assisted learning (CAL) softwares and ability to
use them efficiently to promote learning of pharmacology.
17. Demonstrate knowledge of principles of Instrumentation.
18. Demonstrate knowledge about recent advances and trends in research in the field of
pharmacology and clinical pharmacology.
19. Acquire knowledge on generic drugs and generic prescription.
20. Acquire knowledge on rational use of drugs and prescription auditing
21. Acquire knowledge about antimicrobial stewardship programs and strategies for
Prevention of antibiotic resistance
22. Acquire knowledge on animal toxicity studies
23. Acquire knowledge on common poisoning
24. Acquire knowledge on the legal & ethical issues involved in drug development and
research.
25. Acquire knowledge in Biostatistics including use of statistical softwares:
• Estimation Sample size for a clinical trial
• Scales of measurement, data display, measures of central tendency (mean,median,
mode)
• Dispersion of data (variance, standard deviation)
• Selection of tests (of significance) and their applicability
• Correlation and regression analysis
• Basics of systematic reviews and meta-analysis
b) Affective domain
1. Effectively explain to patients, the effects and side effects of drugs, including the need for
medication adherence.
2. Communicate effectively with pharmacological reasoning with students, peers, staff and
faculty, and other members of the health care team on rational use of drugs and
improving spontaneous reporting of adverse events.
3. Demonstrate respect in interactions with peers, and other healthcare professionals.
4. Demonstrate ethical behavior and integrity in one’s work.
5. Demonstrate ability to generate awareness about the use of generic drugs in patients.
6. Acquire skills for self-directed learning to keep up with developments in the field and to
continuously build to improve on skills, expertise and perpetual professional
development.
c) Psychomotor domain
1. Able to predict efficacy& adverse effects associated with use of drugs, along with
causality assessment.
2. Demonstrate skills for prescription writing.
3. Perform major in vivo and in vitro animal experiments.
4. Observe and understand basic principles of working of important advanced techniques,
like High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), ELISA.
5. Demonstrate standard operating procedures of various methods and techniques used in
clinical trials and research.
6. Determine levels of common poisons in blood
7. Demonstrate presentation skills at academic meetings, publications and writing research
projects for funding agencies.
8. Be able to analyze and evaluate a research paper
By the end of the course, the trainee should have acquired practical skills in the following:
1. In vivo and ex vivo experiments, using organ bath, analgesiometer,
physiography/polygraph, convulsiometer, plethysmograph, learning and memory, models
for affective disorders.
2. Administration of drugs by various routes (subcutaneous, intravenous, intraperitoneal) in
experimental animals
3. Collection of blood samples and oral gavage in experimental animals
4. Preparation and administration of a drug solution in appropriate strength andvolume
5. Experiments to show dose response curve of agonists (in the presence or absence of an
antagonist) on various biological tissues, like
• Isolated rabbit/rat/ guinea-pig intestine
• Isolated rat uterus / Isolated rat colon
6. Determination of EC50, ED50, pD2 and pA2 values of drugs
7. Perform in vivo experiments to study effect of mydiatrics and miotics on rabbit eye
8. Perform in vivo experiments to study effect of antiepileptic drugs using animal models of
epilepsy
9. Perform in vivo experiments to study effect of analgesics using animal models of
analgesia
10. Perform in vivo experiments to study effects of drugs on learning, & motor coordination
11. Estimate toxic drug levels using chemical and biological tests (alkaloids, glycosides,
steroids, barbiturates, salicylates) by commonly used methods)
12. Clinical pharmacology
• Prepare protocol for a clinical trial
• Prepare Informed consent form and participant information sheet for research
involving human participants
• Report Serious Adverse Effect (SAE)
• Evaluate promotional drug literature
• Prepare “Drug Information Sheet” (WHO criteria)
• Interpret bioavailability parameters with the help of given pharmacokinetics data
• Perform causality assessment & report ADR as per Pharmacovigilance
Programme of India (PvPI)
|
