Memorizing Pharmacology: A Relaxed Approach

Been working at CVS Pharmacy for 3 months now. I am looking to take the PTCE Exam in 5 months. I downloaded the Top 200 drugs from the net and start memorizing it. After 20 words....the material was getting harder to absorb. Yes, I was relying on pure memorization. According to Dr Guerra, this ain't the correct approach.Then I came upon this book from Tony Guerra. Dr Guerra is right in that to memorize these 200 drug names, the data must be meaningful. The book has help tremendously. It approaches the study from a Physiology and Class point of view. I don't now how others are benefiting from this book. I bought both the audio and the ebook on kindle. This way, I can pronounce the drug names and know how to spell both the generic and brand name. The real question is why this book and not some other Top 200 drugs from the other authors. I have seen the other books at Barnes and Noble. The other authors throw everything at you. It assume you already know some pharmacology before starting learning pharmacology. This book is indeed a relaxed approach. This book is the front door to learning the Top 200 Drugs and it is written in a layman's language in such a way that everyone can comprehend it. I highly recommend this book. A MUST HAVE BOOK FOR THE 1st YEAR PHARMACOLOGY STUDENT!!!!!P.S. Just finished Chapter 1 and 2. Entering Chapter 3. The retention is going according to plan.Alex Ung

After passing pharm 3 I still found I was having a difficult time recognizing which categories common drugs like omeprezole fit into. I'm at the end of nursing school and start my capstone soon. I bought this so that I will be able to confidently tell the patient about the medications I am giving them. I would highly recommend this book to beginners or even those done with school that still struggle with meds. Guerra incorporates memory tricks using mnemonics's and root words. There is even a cardio drug song!! Each chapter is divided into sections of the body that the drug treats; GI, musculoskeletal, respiratory, immune, cardio, and endocrine. Read the book slow, let it sink in, highlight and put in your own notes! I wish I had this 2 years ago! My pharm professor was very knowledable but went so fast that most concepts went over my head. This book allows you to go at you own pace to ensure that you actual absorb the information, so that you can retain it long-term. It doesn't have every drug, it has about 250 of the most common. There are re-caps and quizzes at the end of each chapter. This has been so helpful!! I hope it helps you too!!

I only watched one YouTube video of Dr. Guerra's and immediately purchased the book right after. As a pharmacy student I am always coming up with mnemonics to help me understand material quickly. I do this so when I look at any word I can quickly access loads of information about it just merely looking at the word itself. However, I don't have time for that due to heavy course load of pharmacology, therapeutics, and medchem. Luckily, Dr. Guerra and his students did the work for me! It truly helped me not just memorize but understand the drugs and make the connections quickly. It really is learning a new language but it's put in much simpler terms that a high schooler can understand. Watch his videos on YouTube to see for yourself or a snippet of the book on Google. This book is so cheap compared to the $200+ undergrad books you had to buy to get to where you are right now. I mean come on, I've spent more money on fastfood than this book. If you are struggling in pharmacology, this book is your lifesaver.

Everybody is jumping on this band wagon of books that are "made simple," "for dummies," " demystified" or "made incredibly easy." This one is entitled ".... A Relaxed Approach." How nice !! When I first came across the book and read all the 5 star reviews I was like wow, this might be just the book I was looking for, but I soon learned that all these "easy, simple, relaxed" ways to learn provide nothing more than fewer words, less definition and descriptions but at the end of the day, you still have to learn things and memorize them and grasp concepts and understand things and finally, just rote memorize things. There are rarely short cuts to things.This book means well, but with each drug having 3 names: a chemical name, a generic name and a brand name. Outside of a scientific setting most pharmacists, doctors and healthcare workers will generally use generic or brand names interchangeably, and there are no short cuts to remembering these names even though the author offers little memory tricks, because each name gives you very little clue as to whether its a pain med, high blood pressure med etc etc. So in the whole scheme of things, this book doesn't help.So then what of all the great reviews and 5 stars that people have given this book: I suspect that these are students of the author who teaches pharmacology and are the kind of students who like to bring apples for the teacher so they can be on good terms with him.Conclusion: its not a bad little book, but there is no substitute to rote learning drugs and their uses, this book doesn't help all that much in the whole scheme of the pharmacological world.

I liked the first few chapters. The introduction of the book have an INCREDIBLE acronym to remember the drug classes. I liked him pointing out stems because they are very helpful, BUT some of the hints and connections could've been better. Also, the book doesn't help memorize the brand/generic name. It only helps remember what drugs go into which drug classes which could be done simply just from knowing your stems. So you're right back at square one trying to remember the brsnd/generic name like you were in the first place.

Although the medications include American medications, the book helps with memorising material for the GPhC Pre-Registration Assessment and is a good supplement to the programme.

really good,

This book takes a candid approach to memorizing facts in pharmacology, making it fun to study and adapted to real life! Worth every penny. P?S. I also got the audio version as well, this makes studying pharm on the go and even during exercise a reality. Very happy with this book. The author also posted some YouTube VDOs to help readers along.

I usually update my pharmacy knowledge reading books, this book is well written, surely gonna help beginners garner enough knowledge

This book is amazingly excellent. Worth every penny. Explains pharmacology in body systems, which makes it easier to remember large amounts of information. Very good memory tips and tricks. Thoroughly enjoyed book.