General pharmacology and toxicology

This course is a part of the bachelor program in biomedicine. The course is also available as a singular course, and for exchange students.

The course is an introduction to basic pharmacology and toxicology. The pharmacology part includes the following topics: drug nomenclature; general principles of passage of drugs/toxic substances across biological barriers; drug absorption and excretion; drug metabolism; dose-response and time-response relationships. The toxicology part describes the classification of toxic reactions; how acute poisoning can be measured and how toxicity can be treated.

Applicants from Nordic countries: Generell studiekompetanse + Matematikk R1 eller (S1+S2) og ett av følgende fag:

• Matematikk (R1+R2)
• Fysikk (1+2)
• Kjemi (1+2)
• Biologi (1+2)
• Informasjonsteknologi (1+2)
• Geologi (1+2)
• Teknologi og forskningslære (1+2).

International applicants: Higher Education Entrance Qualification and certified language requirements in English. It is a requirement that students have some prior knowledge of biology and ecology, chemistry and mathematics (Participants must have taken introductory level university courses, and achieved pass grades, in these subjects).

A list of the requirements for the Higher Education Entrance Qualification in Norway can be found on the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education website - nokut.no

Application code: 9197 (Nordic applicants).

The main aim of the course is to give the students a general introduction into general pharmacology and toxicology.

Knowledge:

After the course, the students

• Can explain the importance of pharmacology and toxicology in history and place in society
• Can describe 4 different main types of drug targets and their biological functions
• Can explain how drugs and toxic substances interact with their targets and mediate their action (pharmacodynamics/toxicodynamics)
• Can explain the importance of toxicology in history and place in society
• Can explain selective and non-selective toxicity
• Can explain the basic principles of toxicity treatment
• Can explain how toxic effects are evaluated when new chemicals are introduced in medicine, industry or everyday life
• Can describe how drugs and toxic substances cross biological barriers
• Can describe how drugs and toxic substances are absorbed, distributed and reach their site of action (pharmacokinetics/toxicokinetics)
• Can explain how drugs and toxic substances are metabolized and excreted (pharmacokinetics/toxicokinetics)
• Can describe quantitative aspects of pharmacological/toxicological action, dose-response relationships and time-response relationships
• Can describe factors modifying the effects of drugs and toxic substances in individuals
• Can describe different types of pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic drug interactions
• Can describe adverse side effects of drugs
• Can explain pharmacological/toxicological aspects of drug abuse
• Can describe the different steps in preclinical and clinical drug development

Skills:

The candidates should be able to use general terms in pharmacology and toxicology, both orally and in written text.

The candidates should be able to apply relevant methods to solve pharmaco- and toxicokinetic exercises.

General competence:

At the end of the course the student has acquired knowledge to be able to critically judge public information regarding drugs and toxic substances.

Anbefalte forkunnskaper

KJE-1001 Introduction to chemistry and the chemistry of biology, MBI-1002 Cell- and molecular biology, MBI-2001 Biochemistry

If you pass the examination in this course, you will get an reduction in credits (as stated below), if you previously have passed the following courses:

• BIO-262 General and human toxicology 10 ects

Language of instruction and examination

Schedule

This course is open to incoming exchange students.

Study Level: Bachelor's

Admission prerequisites:
To join this course, you should have prior knowledge in biology and ecology, chemistry, and mathematics. This means you must have completed introductory-level university courses in these subjects and received passing grades.
For full details, please see the Admission requirements section above.

For details on how to apply for exchange, course selection guidelines, or to contact the Incoming Admissions Team, please visit: Admission for Student Exchange.

Re-sit examination