PC5511 - Clinical Pharmaceutics

Credit points:	03
Year:	2011
Student Contribution Band:	Band 2
Administered by:	School of Pharmacy & Molecular Sciences

Clinical Pharmaceutics is a developing speciality, providing the pharmacist and other healthcare professionals with the knowledge to aid the basic understanding of pharmaceutics in determining or modifying the clinical outcomes for patients. This subject commences with an introduction to clinical pharmaceutics which focuses on the use of dosage forms for the delivery of drugs. Those dosage forms must however not be seen as inactive vectors as not all dosage forms required by all patients especially paediatric and geriatric patients are actually produced by the Pharmaceutical Industry. Throughout this subject consideration will be given to the role of pharmacists in providing safe and effective medicines, in whatever environment they may practice, whether that is in community pharmacy, specialised hospital pharmacy or in rural and remote practice.

Learning Outcomes

• Be able to describe the impact on a patient's quality of life of the alteration of medications, whether this is formulating a liquid dosage from tablets for paediatric patients or repackaging drugs into a dose administration aid for geriatric patients;
• Understand why drugs are formulated in dosage forms or drug products;
• Understand the physicochemical factors of drugs which may impact on alteration or repackaging of a dosage form or drug product;
• Understand the role of excipients in drug products, in terms of the modification of these products;
• Be able to implement in a pharmacy setting, modified drug products which are safe and effective.

Graduate Qualities

• The ability to appraise information critically;
• The ability to use independent judgment to synthesise information to make intellectual and/or creative advances.

Availabilities
External, Study Period 2
Census Date 25-Aug-2011
Coord/Lect:	Professor Beverley Glass.
Method of Delivery:	WWW - LearnJCU and Printed materials
Assessment:	end of semester exam (50%); other exams (15%); assignments (20%); assignment (15%).

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.