Principles of Pharmacology: The Pathophysiologic Basis of Drug Therapy

Reading Principles of Pharmacology has been very rewarding, and I have used it widely for my pre-clinical revision....The layout and content of each chapter in P of P is first class. I got the impression that a lot of thought went into how the textbook would function....The pathophysiology and physiology sections are well-written, and it would appear that a lot of research has gone in to the explanations. The one on heart failure was particularly fine. Have used a few chapters as a basis of the presentations I have given to my tutorial group....When I found myself confused, the diagrams were useful aids....The sections on pharmacology are pitched at the right level. One gets the right balance of how they work (the scientific background) and how they are used clinically. The drug summary charts are useful....

It does take quite a bit of time to go through a chapter. It is not a book one can flip through for easy revision. Yet, by the end of all the reading, you do feel confident that there isn't much else to know on the subject.

The layout of each chapter has helped me to learn the content. The introductory clinical scenario and opening questions are very useful in getting one's mind prepared for the subject matter. My course uses PBL scenarios widely, so am quite used to the format....The best part of the layout is that it is big picture stuff: it shows the links between the physiology, pathophysiology and pharmacology of a clinical scenario. Other pharmacology books explain how drugs works, risk factors etc very well, but not how they all fit in. So one has to remember the pharmacologyfacts not tied to anything else. One ends up doing bitsy research, reading bits from a pile of books. P of P has saved me time. The sequence of clinical scenario, questions, content, answering questions, and then conclusion is the right way of discussing a topic.

The best thing I can say about Principles of Pharmacology is that I have recommended it to friends as a decent investment. The release of a condensed format would be a good idea. My only request is that a hard back copy of P of P available. --James Monteiro de Barros, Medical Student, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom