Respiratory Care Pharmacology

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
1

I’m looking at my coursework for the coming semester, and I was wondering if you guys could help me wrap my head around something. I’m going to go about this in “The only stupid question is the one unasked” type mindset, so bear with me


I think that I’m misunderstanding something, and in doing so, selling Respiratory Care short. My perspective on it was that it was kind of a front-end thing, dealing with the ABCs, but not as deep or as broad as it now seems to me.


This came up in comparing two courses: Intro to Pharmacology and Medical Pharmacology I. Intro (3 credits) seems to be more of a broad-based survey of all different classes of meds; Medical (2 credits) covers only Respiratory Care Pharmacology. It gets very particular - and still seems to cover many differernt related disease states (including those I wouldn’t consider directly pulmonary) and more than half a dozen classes of drugs.


Based on advisor and professor recommendations, it was strongly suggested a pre-health professional would get more out of Med Pharm, so I’m signed up for that. I’m just curious on exactly what makes up “Respiratory Care,” why it’s so darn important, and what it ties in with…


Is it that Respiratory Care is, in itself, much more deep than I had given it credit for? Is it that respiratory - being very involved in the ABCs - is kind of the front line to treating other illnesses, the first battle to stabilize before dealing with the rest? Is it that there is such interaction between all physiological systems that it wouldn’t pay to consider this without also looking at neurological, endocrine, etc factors?


Thanks for any feedback - on resp care, pharmacology, or just general medical understanding that we sometimes take for granted and sometimes lack (comments on my excess verbosity, however, will not be tolerated ).


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For the truly curious, the med pharm syllabus can be found at http://reach.ucf.edu/~hsc4148b/index.html , and the course descriptions are as follows:


Intro to Pharmacology - Review of terminology and regulations. Study of drug types and usage.


Medical Pharmacology I - Drugs in pulmonary diseases; effects on nervous system, and neuroeffectors, depressants & stimulants; influence on metabolism and endocrines. (MDRV) Bronchodilators, mycolytics, etc.

2

Hi there,


It seems that your college offers a four-year degree in Cardiopulmonary Science which is the equivalent to a B.S in Respiratory Therapy. This is a degree that a person who holds a AAS (Associate in Applied Science) in Respiratory Care would be able to pick up a baccalaureate degree (now becoming the standard in many allied health professions) or for the person starting out in today’s Respiratory Therapy field.


The Pharmacology course in the Pharm course that those students who are enrolled in the Cardiopulmonary Science degree program would be required to take. The focus of this class is on the pharmacology of the medications that are commonly administered by a practicing respiratory therapist.


The course that you have signed up for, is probably adequate for learning a bit of Pharmacology and pharmacological terms.


Natalie

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Thanks, Natalie - I’m signed up for the Med Pharm course, which covers only Respiratory stuff. The general consensus was that it would be very pertinent to any aspiring physician, which is what got me thinking down this path.

4

Hi Pi:


I agree with Dr. Natale. I’m curious, though, what your undergrad degree will be in. Are you going to school to become a Respiratory Therapist? I’m an RRT, and I know Dr. Natale and Dr. Dave were therapists in their past lives. I have learned much over the years from a clinical perspective as a therapist and believe that experience will be helpful in pursuing a career as a physician. Good luck!

5

I think the course is great, anytime you can dive in and learn some more about these things the better.

6
  • lpressley130 Said:
Hi Pi:

I agree with Dr. Natale. I'm curious, though, what your undergrad degree will be in. Are you going to school to become a Respiratory Therapist? I'm an RRT, and I know Dr. Natale and Dr. Dave were therapists in their past lives. I have learned much over the years from a clinical perspective as a therapist and believe that experience will be helpful in pursuing a career as a physician. Good luck!



My current major is Molecular & Microbiology, and this course only counts as elective credit for that, I believe. To be honest I'm not so concerned with the major's requirements; I already have a BS, so these semesters are mainly for the pre-reqs (and I've been straightforward with my advisors about this).

I'm more interested in "oooh, I wonder how that works!" as well as the obligatory consideration of "how useful will this be for med school?"

So... with all that in mind, I think pharmacology is pretty neat. It seems that the level of detail in this course will be more useful than the "quick survey" type learning of Intro to Pharm. As well, the experiences of the RRTs on this board have gotten me thinking about the direct importance of respiratory care.

Natalie: you're right - UCF does offer a BS in Cardiopulmnoary Sciences as well as an RRT program.

And whuds - very true. To paraphrase a business cliché: if you're not learning, you're dying.