3170 - Fate of Drugs in the Body: Fundamentals of Pharmacokinetics

Course Description

Pharmacokinetics is a core competency in pharmacology and an essential component of clinical research. This course is designed to give you the fundamentals, with ample opportunity to practise your skills. It clearly explains the guiding principles of pharmacokinetics - the absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of drugs in the body. Whether this is your first time learning pharmacokinetics, or you want to refresh your knowledge, the clarity of the lectures and the interactions with the internationally renowned U of T faculty will help you advance your skills. New employees in contract research organizations, pharmaceutical companies and consulting agencies will especially benefit. You can take this course as a stand-alone option, or as the first part of our three-part series "Pharmacology: Principles and Clinical Applications." This course is offered in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine.

Learning Outcomes

• Gain the fundamentals of pharmacokinetics ("PK") at a comfortable pace in twenty lectures.
• Understand how the physiochemical structure of a compound can alter how it is absorbed, distributed and cleared by the body.
• Appreciate how the route of administration is designed to take into account both the drug’s physiochemical properties and the body’s physiology to ensure that therapeutic concentrations reach targeted sites of action.
• Understand and explain how drugs are bio-transformed and eliminated by the body, focusing on both renal and hepatic clearance.
• Practise your skills through sample calculations and problem sets.
• Apply PK knowledge to issues associated with clearance, drug metabolism and dosing.
• Appreciate how genetics, disease and multiple drug therapy play a role in an individual’s drug response.

Notes

Please refer to this important sheet of frequently asked questions.

The information to allow access to the course materials will be sent to students approximately three days prior to the start date. If you are a late registrant, access information will take three business days to generate. Kindly register in time to start the course on the first day.

For this course and other SCS online courses, 100% of the tuition fee will be refunded if the withdrawal takes place within 10 business days following course start. No refund will be given after this deadline.

Required Textbooks:

1. Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (12th Edition) by Katzung, Masters, Trevor. ISBN 978-0-07-176401-8 For students without a background in Physiology:
2. Principles of Human Physiology (5th Edition) by Cindy Stanfield. ISBN 13: 978-0-321-81934-5

Course material will be evaluated through interactive participation on discussion boards, on-line quizzes, problem-based case studies including introductory pharmacokinetic calculations, and a final exam.

For information about this course, click here to visit the course web page (http://elearning.pharmtox.ca/) or contact the instructors: Dr M. Arnot or Dr M. Chenoweth at online.pharmacology@utoronto.ca.

DISCLAIMER: Currently, this course cannot be applied towards any undergraduate degree offered by the University of Toronto.

Recommendations

Although there are no formal prerequisites for this challenging course, good standing in a human biology course at the senior secondary or introductory university level is highly recommended. You must have consistent access to a reliable high-speed Internet connection.

This course may be applied towards the SCS Certificate(s) in

• Fundamentals of Biomedical Sciences I : Required Courses