Learning objectives

The educational aims of the course are the learning of important concepts to understand the action of the drugs, their role in the clinical practice and the methods used to evaluate thei action, development and prescription. The course also aims to learn the concepts related to digital therapies and the hardware and software tools that support and/or integrate the traditional drugs. Finally, we want to provide students with fundamental elements to understand the methodological tools in pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacovigilance useful for studying the effectiveness and safety of drugs in the complexity and variability of different clinical conditions, chronicity and personalization of therapy. The student will learn:
- basic knowledge of pharmacokinetics (absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of drugs)
- knowledge of the principles of pharmacodynamics with particular reference to drug-receptor interactions; criteria for the development of new drugs with particular reference to biotechnological therapies
- knowledge of the classification of drugs by the National Health System, the prescription criteria and the use of therapeutic handbooks; drug classification systems (e.g.ATC DDD system)
- knowledge of the development phases of drugs and their introduction into the European market (role and functions of EMA and AIFA)
-knowledge of the basics of digital therapies and their interaction/integration with traditional drugs
- knowledge of mechanisms of action, pharmacological effects, therapeutic uses and main adverse reactions of the different classes of drugs active on the nervous system, cardiovascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal system and the pharmacological regulation of inflammatory, immune, infectious and neoplastic processes
Pharmacovigilance
Aims of the pharmacovigilance module include:
-Understand the etiopathogenetic mechanisms of adverse drug reactions
-Understand the international classification of adverse drug reactions
Know the main epidemiological data on adverse drug reactions
-Know the most important methods for the study of drug safety
• Know to fill out a report of adverse drug reaction

Examination Methods

Written and oral exam on the complete program. The written test to ascertain knowledge consists of 30 questions, with multiple answers of which only one is correct, and - if the sufficiency of 18/30 is reached. - from 2) an oral interview to ascertain the critical knowledge for the possible improvement of the mark. For those who pass the written test, the oral test is optional.

Evaluation criteria

The exam will verify the acquisition of knowledge relating to clinical pharmacological research, the therapeutic properties of drugs, possible adverse reactions and the factors that influence the variability and personalization of the response in clinical use The grade is out of thirty: maximum score is 30/30