Pharmacology Curriculum Transition 1990-Present Curriculum

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Pharmacology Curriculum Transition 1990-Present
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Curriculum 1990
Introductory Biochemistry Medical Biochemistry
Course Biology of Bacteria and Medical
Microbiology Course Mammalian Cells
(Immunology section only) Human
Physiology Medical Physiology Course General
and Special Pharmacology Medical Pharmacology
Course (full year separate grad
grading) Advanced Pharmacology Graduate Topics
in Pharmacology (4 semesters total)
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Curriculum Issues 1990

• Dependence on medical curriculum at the time it
  was transitioning to an integrated course format
• Dissatisfaction with medical class content and
  focus
• Concern overall graduate curriculum too
  course-heavy and too long

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Curriculum 1992
Advanced Biochemistry Graduate Biochemistry
Course Eukaryotic Molecular Biology Graduate
Mol. Biology Course (2nd half of year-long
sequence) Human Physiology Medical Physiology
Course (in spring grad tutorial in
fall) Introductory Pharmacology Graduate
Pharmacology Course (full year subset of
med. pharm.) Receptor Pharmacology Graduate
Pharmacology Course (1 of former adv pharm
sections)
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Curriculum 1995
Advanced Biochemistry Graduate Biochemistry
Course Eukaryotic Molecular Biology Graduate
Mol. Biology Course (2nd half of year-long
sequence) Principles of Physiology Graduate
Physiology Course Introductory Pharmacology Gradu
ate Pharmacology Course (full year subset
of med. pharm.) Receptor Pharmacology Graduate
Pharmacology Course (1 of former adv pharm
sections)
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Curriculum Issues 1995

• Still dependent on Medical Pharmacology, which
  while remaining a stand-alone course was now more
  tightly integrated with other 2nd year medical
  courses
• Receptor Pharmacology course had not been fully
  revamped since spinning off from the Advanced
  Pharmacology course sequence
• Eukaryotic Molecular Biology not designed as an
  general course in molecular biology

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Curriculum 2000
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Graduate
Biochemistry and Of Eukaryotes I and II
Molecular Biology Course (full
year) Principles of Physiology Graduate
Physiology Course Molecular Pharmacology Graduat
e Pharmacology Course on cell and
molecular signaling Systems Pharmacology Graduat
e Pharmacology Course (derived from med.
pharm.)
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Course ContentBiochemistry and Molecular Biology

• Protein and nucleic acid structure-function and
  interactions
• Transcription, protein synthesis, folding and
  degradation
• Cellular organization, protein trafficking,
  nuclear transport
• Signaling

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Course IssuesBiochemistry and Molecular Biology

• Serves as core 1st year course for most graduate
  programs on Health Science campus
• Incoming students have diverse backgrounds, and
  programs have diverse training needs
• Pharmacology provides lt10 of students to course,
  so influence is limited

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Course ContentPrinciples of Physiology

• Membrane and cell physiology
• Digestive system
• Endocrine system
• Respiratory system
• Cardiovascular system

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Course IssuesPrinciples of Physiology

• Topics covered are somewhat selective and
  influenced by what programs provide students (had
  been many biomedical engineering students in
  past)
• Pharmacology involved in course development and
  major source of students, so we have reasonable
  influence

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Course ContentMolecular Pharmacology

• Basic principles, membrane lipids, GPCRs
• Phospholipid signaling
• Signaling via MAPKpathways
• Ion channels, Ca signaling and signaling
  complexes
• Serine threonine and tyrosine kinases
• Immune signaling
• Nuclear receptors

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Course IssuesMolecular Pharmacology

• Faculty Teaching load, with separate medical and
  graduate pharmacology courses
• Integration with the Systems Pharmacology course
• Need to design course to attract students from
  other programs (as elective)

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Course ContentSystems Pharmacology

• Review of drug-receptor interactions
• Phamacokinetics
• Biostatistics
• Autonomic pharmacology
• Eicosanoids and asthma
• Neuropharmacology
• Cardiac and vascular pharmacology

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Course IssuesSystems Pharmacology

• Limited number of topics that can be covered
• Difficulty preparing and giving lectures to a
  small number of students (as few as 3)
• Minimal potential for attracting students from
  other programs to course

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Ongoing Concerns

• Dependence on other programs for some core
  courses
• Need for a critical number of students enrolled
  in core Pharmacology courses
• Achieving proper balance between breadth and
  depth of curriculum, while avoiding a curriculum
  that is too course-heavy