General introduction

Department of Pharmacology - Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Lac Hong University was established in 2017. Currently, the department's office is located at the Pharmacy campus (Room H204), Lac Hong University. 

The Department of Pharmacology - Clinical Pharmacy is responsible for teaching and providing pharmacy students with basic knowledge and skills on drug information, pharmacotherapy and counseling on rational use of drugs. The Department is in charge of relevant courses: Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacology 1, Pharmacology 2, Clinical Pharmacy, Advanced Clinical Pharmacy, Drug information and Pharmacovigilance, Practice in Pharmacology, Clinical Pharmacy Practice , Advanced Clinical Pharmacy Practice. The Department is also responsible for courses of Pharmacology - Clinical Pharmacy specilazation such as: Clinical Biochemistry, Clinical Laboratory Test, Pharmacotherapy, Applied Pharmacokinetics, Drug Interactions Analysis, Adverse drug reactions and mechanism of action, Clinical toxicology, Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, Common diseases in pharmacy, Communication skills in pharmacy practice, Proper use of antibiotics, Non-pharmacological treatment.

In addition, the Department also participates in scientific research, counsels the graduation thesis, guides the research of high school students participating in the Provincial Science and Technology exam.

The Department’s staff include: 

Teaching objectives: Provide students with knowledge of drug information, pharmacotherapy, efficacy of treatment (side effects of drugs, ADR, therapeutic drug monitoring), counseling and guidance for safe and effective drug use.

The Pharmacology 1 and 2 courses provide students with knowledge of the cell biochemistry, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and knowledge of some drug classes on mechanism of action, dosage, side effects, indications, contraindications.

The Pharmacology Practice course helps students practice animal experimentation techniques  to examine the pharmacological effects of drugs on an experimental model, as well as consolidate the knowledge instructed in the Pharmacology 1 and 2 courses. Students are instructed and applied searching skills related to pharmacological properties of drugs, teamwork skills and presentation skills through preparation in team, presentation and class discussion.

The Pharmacokinetics course provides students with knowledge of the process of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination in the body; how to calculate pharmacokinetic parameters and apply in clinical cases. Pharmacokinetic variability in special population provides knowledge of pharmacokinetic interactions. The course builds the knowledge foundation for the next course in the orientation of Pharmacology - Clinical Pharmacy.

The Clinical Pharmacy course provides students with the basics of clinical pharmacy that can be applied in the relevant career fields in hospitals, drug information centers or community pharmacies in the future. The course content includes basic knowledge of pharmacokinetics, drug interactions, drug allergies, drug toxicity, adverse drug reactions, drug information, clinical laboratory tests and pharmacotherapy on special population.

The Clinical Pharmacy Practice course provides students with searching drug information skills, assessing drug interactions, adverse drug reactions and instructions of some medical devices in the treatment of chronic diseases. (injection pen and syringe of insulin, asthma inhaler). The course helps students apply the above basic skills to analyze and evaluate prescriptions as well as to counsel drug use.

The Advanced Clinical Pharmacy course provides students with advanced and in-depth knowledge and guidance on treatment of some common diseases of body system such as respiratory system, cardiovascular system, endocrine system, digestive system ...

The Advanced Clinical Pharmacy Practice course helps students apply the knowledge learned in the Advanced Clinical Pharmacy course in the analysis of clinical cases of some specialized diseases. The course aims to help students to participate in counseling for doctors, training for nurses and counsel for patients in drug usage.

The Drug Information and Pharmacovigilance course is part of the specialized knowledge block, aims to provide students with basic information and skills on pharmacovigilance that can be applied in relevant career fields in the hospital or drug information centers. 

The Clinical Biochemistry course belongs to the specialized knowledge block of Pharmacology - Clinical Pharmacy, provides students with information about the metabolic processes of substances, the biochemistry of organs and common tests. The course content includes protein metabolism, lipid metabolism, blood / urine glucose, enzyme biochemistry in the blood and urine, biochemistry of liver, kidney, bile... These knowledge can be applied in a relevant career field in hospitals or community centers in the future.

The Clinical Laboratory test course belongs to the specialized knowledge block of Pharmacology - Clinical Pharmacy, provides students with the knowledge of routine tests to be applied in relevant career fields in hospitals or community centers. The course content includes blood cell tests, ion tests, protein, lipid, blood / urine tests, enzyme tests in the blood and urine, functional tests of liver, kidney, bile…

The Applied Pharmacokinetics course belongs to the specialized knowledge block of Pharmacology - Clinical Pharmacy, provides students with knowledge in monitoring the concentration of some drugs such as: vancomycin, aminoglycoside and application in the analysis of some specific clinical cases.

The Pharmacotherapy belongs to the specialized knowledge block of Pharmacology - Clinical Pharmacy, provides students with the basic knowledge of pathology, diagnosis and treatment of common diseases in order to apply in related occupational fields in hospitals, pharmacies. The course content covers the drug use in the treatment of constipation, pain, acute appendicitis, contraception ...

The Adverse Drug Reactions and Mechanism of action course of the Pharmacology - Clinical Pharmay oriented knowledge block provides students with knowledge of the mechanism of action, assessment and identification of typical adverse reactions of drugs commonly found in the treatment of the pathology and management of these conditions.

The course on Drug Interaction Analysis belongs to the specialized knowledge block of Pharmacology - Clinical Pharmacy, provides students with knowledge and skills related to the detection, evaluation and finding mechanism, consequences and management of drug interactions such as analgesic – anti-inflammatory interactions, antibiotic interactions, cardiovascular drug interactions and risk factors associated with drug interactions.

The Clinical Toxicology course belongs to the block of specialized knowledge of Pharmacology - Clinical pharmacy, provides students with knowledge of guidance on diagnosis, management and treatment of some poisoning cases: paracetamol, tranquilizers, sedatives, poisoning with snake venom, toads,…

Research orientation

Researches of the Department are aimed at the main goal of improving the safe and effective use of drugs in patients. Over the past years, the research topics of the Department have focused on main research tendency:

1. Research tendency on Pharmacology: 

• Building new experimental models on white mice with higher reliability to contribute to demonstrate the pharmacological effects of some natural compounds to bring more choices for patients. 
• Drug and food interactions - a common problem in treatment, in order to demonstrate the ability to interact of some commonly used drugs with food such as grapefruit juice is also a new direction to contribute more recommendations for patients 
• Explore some more pharmacological effects of total extract, high fraction extract, active ingredient isolated from medicinal herbs based on the built models of some diseases and drug class such as dyslipidemia,diabetes, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and hypertension.

2. Research tendency on Clinical pharmacy: 

• Survey the current status of drug use and adverse drug reactions

• Evaluate the effectiveness of the clinical pharmacist's intervention on improving treatment outcomes and patient's quality of life.

• Assess patient’s compliance in treatment

Textbooks and materials

• Bộ Y tế, Dược thư quốc gia Việt Nam, xuất bản lần thứ hai, NXB khoa học và kỹ thuật Hà Nội, 2015
• Bộ Y tế , Tương tác thuốc và chú ý khi chỉ định, NXB Y học, 2012
• Mai Phương Mai, Trần Mạnh Hùng, Dược lý học Tập 1, NXB Y học, 2011
• Mai Phương Mai, Trần Mạnh Hùng, Dược lý học Tập 2, NXB Y học, 2011
• Hoàng Thị Kim Huyền, J.R.B.J. Brouwers, Những nguyên lý cơ bản và sử dụng thuốc trong điều trị - Tập 1: Các nguyên lý cơ bản trong Dược lâm sàng, NXB Y học, 2014
• Hoàng Thị Kim Huyền, J.R.B.J. Brouwers, Những nguyên lý cơ bản và sử dụng thuốc trong điều trị - Tập 2: Các nguyên lý cơ bản trong Dược lâm sàng, NXB Y học, 2014
• Nguyễn Tuấn Dũng, Nguyễn Ngọc Khôi, Thông tin thuốc, NXB Y học, 2015
• Dược lâm sàng đại cương, Nhà xuất bản Y học, 2019.
• Trường Đại học Dược, trung tâm quốc gia về thông tin thuốc và theo dõi phản ứng có hại của thuốc, Cảnh giác dược, Nhà xuất bản Y học, 2015
• Trần Thị Thu Hằng, Dược động học lâm sàng, NXB Phương Đông, 2009
• Goodman & Gillman’s The pharmacological basic of therapeutics, Laurence Brunton, Bjorn Knollmann, Rada Hilal-Dandan, 2017. 
• AHFS Drug information, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, 2013
• , S. rosenbaum, 2e,  2016
• Basic pharmacokinetics, Jambhekar, 2e,  2012
• Pharmacotherapy, a pathophysiology approach, ;;;, 9e 
• Koda Kimble, Applied therapeutics – The clinical use of drug, 9e
• Textbook of Medical Biochemistry, Chatterjea and Rana Shinde, Jaypee Brothers.
• Lehninger Principles of Biochemistre, David L. Nelson and Michael M. Cox, 5e, WH Freeman and Company. 
• Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine: A Textbook for Students and Doctors (Hardcover), LSP Davidson, J MacLeod and CRW Edwards, 15e. Publisher: Churchill Livingstone. 
• Medical Biochemistry (Paperback), John W. Baynes and Marek Dominiczak. Publisher: Mosby. 
• Clinical Biochemistry: An Illustrated Colour Text, 3e, Allan Gaw, Michael Murphy, Robert Cowan, Denis O'Reilly

• , Applied Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics: Principles of - Therapeutic Drug Monitoring”, 4e

• , “Communication Skills for Pharmacists: Building Relationships, Improving Patient Care”, 3e

• Stockley drug interaction, 9e, 2010

• Manual of overdoses and poisonings, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005.
• A Guide to Practical Toxicology, 2e, Informa Healthcare, 2008.
• Clinical toxicology, 1e, , 2001
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