RM74.40
by Syed A. Qader Quadri
We started to write this short textbook when we were preparing for our post-graduate examination (USMLE). All medical students in any part of the world find pharmacology to be the toughest of subjects in medical school and when preparing for further post-graduate exams like the USMLEs. Pharmacology gives nightmares to medical students. Therefore to simplify it for memorizing, we came up with the idea to compose the most concise pharmacology book ever for medical as well as Step-1 students. We have prepared this book with our personal experiences creating the easiest of mnemonics along with some expected clinical vignettes. The road map we followed was to make a concise list of mechanisms of action, important side effects, interactions and contraindications of common drugs, as these critical aspects of pharmacology are always hard to ace. It was an arduous effort to search for these critical bits of knowledge from the existing Medicine and Pharmacology material. We have also simplified some commonly asked clinical scenarios so that any student can pick these up easily on the exam day. Mnemonics are simple, interesting and easy to memorize so that the mechanisms of action, adverse effects and treatment can be on your fingertips. Another feature on which we have tried to concentrate is a test to write explanations for clinically relevant and unique side effects. We feel it helps in remembering and recalling when needed in actual clinical practice. The book covers all Pharmacology required to ace any exam at graduate or post-graduate level and especially USMLE Step-1. Literature from the USMLE review books along with other books for the graduate and postgraduate examinations_x005F_x000D_
and some selected textbooks of pharmacology have helped us in shaping this book. It is our gift to all hard working medical students who are going through the difficult experience of studying the monster called Pharmacology. We will be thankful to you if you email us about any mistakes, mnemonics or additional drugs for the next editions. Your suggestions and criticism will be highly appreciated.