Prescribing at a Glance
At a Glance Series

The market-leading at a Glance series is used world-wide by medical students, residents, junior doctors and health professionals for its concise and clear approach and superb illustrations.

Each topic is presented in a double-page spread with clear, easy-to-follow diagrams, supported by succinct explanatory text.

Covering the whole medical curriculum, these introductory texts are ideal for teaching, learning and exam preparation, and are useful throughout medical school and beyond.

Everything you need to know about Prescribing...at a Glance!

The principles of drug therapies are fundamental to medical practitioners in all branches; but are often difficult to get to grips with. Prescribing at a Glance addresses the most common uses of prescription drugs, and follows progress from dose calculation and administration to monitoring the effects in the treatments of major presenting problems.

With a focus on prescribing, this user-friendly guide helps practitioners to develop crucial knowledge and skills, including establishing accurate drug histories, planning appropriate therapies, writing safe and legal prescriptions, critically appraising the prescribing of others, patient support, accessing reliable information about medicines, and detecting adverse drug reactions.

Prescribing at a Glance:

• Features detailed and high-quality colour illustrations throughout
• Includes examples of common prescribing errors, practice prescriptions and calculations
• Follows the structure of the WHO Good Prescribing Guide, and corresponds to the core curriculum of the British Pharmacological Society
• Is the perfect guide to help you prepare for the Prescribing Skills Assessment (PSA)

From the series that brought you Medical Pharmacology at a Glance, and designed to help those in the later stages of their medical training become adept at the skills required for a vital yet often confusing subject, Prescribing at a Glance will help you fill in any knowledge gaps with simple step-by-step instructions, and clear, easy- to-remember guidelines.

All content reviewed by students for students

Wiley-Blackwell Medical Education books are designed exactly for their intended audience. All our books are developed in collaboration with students, which means our books are always published with you, the student, in mind.

Preface v

How to Use Your Textbook vi

About the Companion Website ix

Part 1 Basic Principles of Prescribing 1

1 Introduction: principles of good prescribing 2

2 Revision: pharmacokinetics 4

3 Using the British National Formulary 6

4 Taking a medication history 8

5 Reviewing current medicines 10

Part 2 Drug Selection 13

6 How to choose a drug 14

7 How to choose frequency 15

8 How to choose a dose 16

9 How to choose route of administration and formulation 18

10 How to choose duration of treatment, defi ne treatment objectives and measure outcomes 20

11 Assessing suitability of treatment regimens for patients 21

12 Worked example 1: Chapters 6–11 22

13 Worked example 2: Chapters 6–11 23

Part 3 Prescribing for Special Groups 25

14 Prescribing in liver disease 26

15 Prescribing in renal disease 28

16 Prescribing in children 30

17 Prescribing in the elderly 32

18 Prescribing in pregnancy and breast feeding 34

Part 4 Logistics of Prescribing 37

19 How to write a drug prescription 38

20 Communicating with patients about medicines 40

21 Therapeutic drug monitoring 42

22 Dealing with adverse drug reactions 44

23 Avoiding drug interactions (drugs, food and alternative medicines) 46

24 Avoiding prescribing errors 48

Part 5 Specific Drug Groups 51

25 Using drugs for the gastrointestinal system 52

26 Using drugs for the cardiovascular system I 54

27 Using drugs for the cardiovascular system II 56

28 Using drugs for the cardiovascular system III 58

29 Using drugs for the respiratory system 60

30 Using drugs for the neurological system I 62

31 Using drugs for the neurological system II 64

32 Using drugs for infection 66

33 Using drugs for the endocrine system I 68

34 Using drugs for the endocrine system II 70

35 How to use drugs for the musculoskeletal system 72

36 Using drugs in haematology and oncology 74

37 Using drugs in anaesthesia 76

38 An approach to common prescribing requests I 78

39 An approach to common prescribing requests II 80

Appendix Cross references to Prescribing Scenarios at a Glance 81

Index 82