Pharmacological study of drugs — the first-year Pharmacy chapter built on a list

Some chapters in first-year Pharmacy have six topics. This one has a single line. But that line hides a lot of work, because it points to a list.

The NCH syllabus gives “Pharmacological study of drugs” chapter twenty-five of first-year Homoeopathic Pharmacy (HomUG-HP). Its only topic reads “Drugs listed in Appendix-A (Any 15)”. This piece explains what that line asks, and gives you a way to organise the work.

One line first. This is a study page. It names no medicine and gives no advice on any. Medicines are chosen by a qualified, registered practitioner.

What the line says

Break it into three parts.

• Drugs listed in Appendix-A. The syllabus has an appendix, a list at the back, called Appendix-A. The drugs for this chapter come from that list.
• Any 15. You study fifteen drugs from it. Your college or teachers will tell you which fifteen, or how they are chosen.
• Pharmacological study. This is the kind of study you do on each drug.

Our copy of the sheet gives the chapter line but not the Appendix-A list itself. So this piece does not name the drugs. Ask your department for the list and for your college’s fifteen.

What “pharmacological study” means

Pharmacology is the study of drugs: where they come from, what they are, and what they do. A pharmacological study of one drug looks at it from several sides.

The sheet does not set the headings for each drug. Your textbook will. But you can already guess many of them from chapters you have studied this year. Here is a frame to start with, built only from first-year Pharmacy chapters.

1. Source. Which kingdom or source it comes from. See chapter eight, “Source of drugs in Homoeopathy”.
2. Names. Its scientific name, common name and synonyms. See chapter six, “Nomenclature”.
3. Collection. How the drug substance is gathered. See chapter nine, “Collection of drug substances”.
4. Preparation. How the mother preparation is made. See chapter eleven, “Mother tincture and its preparation”.
5. Action. What is known of its action. See chapter thirty, “Modern theories related with Homoeopathic Drug action”.

Check this frame against your textbook’s headings, and adjust it. Then use the same frame for all fifteen drugs. That gives you fifteen notes of the same shape, which are easy to revise.

Why fifteen drugs, in the middle of the year

By chapter twenty-five, you have studied sources, names, collection, vehicles, preparation, potency and dose. This chapter asks you to bring all of that together on real drugs. It is a practice ground. Each drug is a chance to use what the earlier chapters taught.

It also links to Materia Medica. Chapter thirty-two, “Homoeopathic Pharmacy – Relationships”, covers the relation of Pharmacy with Materia Medica, “with reference to Source of Drugs, Identification, Common Name of Drugs”. So the way you study a drug here will help you in another subject too.

How it sits in the year

This chapter comes after “Pharmaco-vigilance” and before “Standardisation in Homoeopathy”. It is the bridge between the safety block of the year and the quality block. You have learned to watch medicines. Next you learn to measure their quality.

What to take from it

1. Get your college’s fifteen drugs from Appendix-A.
2. Build one note frame and use it for every drug.
3. Use each earlier chapter as a heading source.
4. Link your notes to Materia Medica through chapter thirty-two.

This is one of the thinnest chapters on the sheet. It has one line and one number. This piece does not fill the gap with guesses. It gives you a way to do the work the line asks for.

Where to go next on the platform

This piece is in the first-year Homoeopathic Pharmacy room. “Nomenclature — the first-year Pharmacy chapter on naming drugs, for students” covers the naming heading in the frame above. “Homoeopathic medicines — the fifty names of first year, and how to begin” shows how Materia Medica studies medicines in the same year.