PPH77210 - Applied Pharmacotherapeutics

(3 units)

Topics covered in this course include: 1) Integration of psychotherapy and psychopharmacology; 2) Research issues in pharmacotherapy; 3) Professional/ethical/legal issues. Students will learn in this course when to initiate/discontinue pharmacotherapy, long-term benefits, drug-drug interactions and adverse reactions. This course also instructs students on the methods used to evaluate current psychopharmacology research, and psychopharmacology practice guidelines for prescribing and non-prescribing psychologists. Ethics and legal matters specific to psychopharmacology practice also are provided in this course. This course integrates coursework on Clinical Medicine/Pathophysiology, Physical Assessment, Psychopharmacology, and Special Populations. Case examples are presented that illustrate how to apply this knowledge base with patients who present with different combinations of physical and psychological symptomatology. Topics are reviewed using case studies, peer reviewed literature and disease specific algorithms.