Reviewer: Kenneth E. McCarson, PhD (University of Kansas Medical Center)
Description: This is an update of an outline-based review of the prototypical or important drugs in each class of pharmacological agents typically covered in a course describing the essentials of medical pharmacology. Three or fewer drugs from each class are presented in a structure that is very brief, by design, to condense the large number of drugs to be learned into a well-organized outline of drug classes. Within sections, key pieces of information are presented in a box, allowing students to determine if they already know the material in the next section, enabling rapid coverage of material and quick identification of weak spots in their knowledge. The previous edition was published in 2011.
Purpose: The author openly states that this is not a conventional review. Rather, the purpose, she states, is to "provide a way to organize and condense" the material covered in a pharmacology class. The book largely meets this objective in that it is clearly organized and the information is up to date and correct. This strategy, however, undermines the likely impact of the book in that by design it lacks detail. The depth of the material is absolutely minimal to reach the stated goal, and the book lacks full explanations of any area. The major concern is that students would likely be tempted to use this book as a standalone substitute for a standard review book. In order for this book to reach its stated goals, it would necessarily need to be used in conjunction with another reference of considerably greater depth for students to reach a meaningful level of understanding of the discipline.
Audience: The book is clearly intended for use by current students of a pharmacology class. It is targeted at students who struggle with the overall organization of the discipline into drug classes and who may be overwhelmed by the large numbers of drugs in each class. The author is a member of the faculty of the Baylor School of Medicine.
Features: The book covers, in a reasonably traditional manner, the scope of pharmacology in sections representing major blocks of system pharmacology (e.g., autonomics, CNS, endocrine, etc.). Individual chapters cover the specific classes of drugs in that section. The coverage is well organized and accurately skims the first layer of primary information in each class. Illustrations are used effectively to convey key ideas, although more figures might be better than the text-only coverage of several areas. Drugs are discussed by generic names in the book, while an index provides cross-listing with trade names for each drug.
Assessment: This fifth edition provides current updates to the constantly-changing field of pharmacological therapeutics. However, it is essentially a niche product, essentially providing a skeleton outline of the core concepts of pharmacology. In order to learn effectively, students will require an additional book, or may obviate the need for this book with a well-organized review book. Students distracted into using this as a standalone reference are likely to miss the important depth required in many areas of pharmacology.
9781259861079
Basic Concepts in Pharmacology: What You Need to Know for Each Drug Class, Fifth Edition / Edition 5 available in Paperback, NOOK Book
- ISBN-10:
- 1259861074
- ISBN-13:
- 9781259861079
- Pub. Date:
- 07/07/2017
- Publisher:
- McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing
Basic Concepts in Pharmacology: What You Need to Know for Each Drug Class, Fifth Edition / Edition 5
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781259861079 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing |
| Publication date: | 07/07/2017 |
| Edition description: | New Edition |
| Pages: | 256 |
| Sales rank: | 798,091 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d) |