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Pharmacology: How Drugs Work (PHRM20001)
Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5Dual-Delivery (Parkville)
Please refer to the return to campus page for more information on these delivery modes and students who can enrol in each mode based on their location.
About this subject
Contact information
Semester 2
Subject Coordinators
Dr Michelle Hansen
Amna Mazeh
Administrative Coordinator
BiomedSci-AcademicServices@unimelb.edu.au
Overview
| Availability | Semester 2 - Dual-Delivery |
|---|---|
| Fees | Look up fees |
Pharmacology is an exciting discipline that provides insight into the mechanisms of action and beneficial and unwanted effects of drugs in the body. This is achieved by integrating knowledge from a range of biosciences including how the body works in health and disease. This subject uses specific examples of instantly recognizable and newly developed drugs to demonstrate how pharmacologists identify drug targets, design new drugs and test their therapeutic effectiveness.
Intended learning outcomes
- To provide an understanding of the basic principles of drug action, this subject focuses on receptor sites that mediate drug action and the physiological and biochemical mechanisms associated with the response to a drug. In addition, the subject investigates the ways in which drugs are handled by the body in terms of their absorption, distribution and metabolism.The activity of hormones and drugs, including commonly used therapeutic agents for cancer, hypertension, asthma and depression are utilised to illustrate these principles. The subject also examines the development of new drugs from natural sources or new chemical syntheses and how these drugs are evaluated and regulated. Aspects of drugs of abuse and addiction and the potential strategies for dealing with this problem are explored. The principles of selective toxicity, the toxicology of environmental contaminants and aspects of venoms and toxins are also examined.
- The practical course is provided to reinforce the lecture material, and to give hands-on experience in experiments that illustrate the basic concepts of the pharmacological concentration-response relationship, competitive antagonism and pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic principles.
Generic skills
By the end of this subject students should have:
- an understanding of the scientific basis of the action of the drugs
and developed skills in
- experimental design and techniques
- use of information technology resources for data analysis and interpretation.
- critical thinking and problem solving
- effective participation in small group work
Last updated: 14 March 2025
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
a minimum of 37.5 credit points of Level 1 Chemistry and/or Biology subjects
Students wishing to undertake this subject as breadth will need the approval of the subject coordinator
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
534-201 Fundamentals of Pharmacology
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 14 March 2025
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Continuing assessment of practical and computer-aided learning work Hurdle requirement: Completion of 80% of the practicals, and practical-related exercises. | Throughout the teaching period | 20% |
Mid-semester assessment | 20% | |
A written examination
| During the examination period | 60% |
Last updated: 14 March 2025
Dates & times
- Semester 2
Principal coordinator Michelle Hansen Coordinator Amna Mazeh Mode of delivery Dual-Delivery (Parkville) Contact hours Lectures, 3x weekly; Tutorials / workshops (1 hr) 6 / semester; Practicals (3hr) 2 / semester (total contact hours: 48) Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 26 July 2021 to 24 October 2021 Last self-enrol date 6 August 2021 Census date 31 August 2021 Last date to withdraw without fail 24 September 2021 Assessment period ends 19 November 2021 Semester 2 contact information
Subject Coordinators
Dr Michelle Hansen
Amna MazehAdministrative Coordinator
BiomedSci-AcademicServices@unimelb.edu.au
Time commitment details
170 hours
Last updated: 14 March 2025
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Course manual (provided)
Recommended texts and other resources
Although there are no prescribed textbooks for Pharmacology the following textbooks are
recommended. All are available in the Brownless library.Harvey: Pharmacology, 4th edition. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins
Rang, Dale, Ritter, Flower and Henderson, Pharmacology, 7th edition. Churchill Livingstone
Katzung, Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, 12th edition. Lange
Golan, Principles of Pharmacology, (3rd edition). Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins.
Neal, Medical Pharmacology at a Glance (7th edition). Blackwell. (revision purposes)
- Subject notes
This subject is available to students enrolled in the BSc, Biomedicine degree.
Special requirements: laboratory coat.
Experiments involving the use of animals are an essential part of this subject; exemption is not possible.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Informal specialisation Medicinal Chemistry Major Medicinal Chemistry Informal specialisation Science Discipline subjects - new generation B-SCI Informal specialisation Elective subjects for B-BMED - Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Please note Single Subject Studies via Community Access Program is not available to student visa holders or applicants
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 14 March 2025