MEDSCI 204 : Pharmacology and Toxicology
Medical and Health Sciences
2025 Semester Two (1255) (15 POINTS)
Course Prescription
Course Overview
Course Contacts
Capabilities Developed in this Course
| Capability 1: | People and Place |
| Capability 3: | Knowledge and Practice |
| Capability 4: | Critical Thinking |
| Capability 5: | Solution Seeking |
| Capability 6: | Communication |
| Capability 7: | Collaboration |
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the nature and classification of types of drug targets; receptor-ligand relationships and signal transduction systems; agonism and antagonism; potency and efficacy; dose/concentration-response relationships; time-course of drug action. (Capability 3)
- Explain the role of input, distribution, and elimination processes on drug concentration and explain how physicochemical properties of drugs relate to pharmacokinetic principles. (Capability 3)
- Explain the patient and environmental factors that influence the safe and effective use of medicines, including the problems encountered with the use of medicines in selected diseases and populations. (Capability 3 and 4)
- Explain the role of exposure, concentration and time on toxicity and its consequent impact on biochemistry and the clinical effectiveness of drugs. (Capability 3 and 4)
- Describe the multidisciplinary pathway of drug discovery and its application to the development of novel therapies. (Capability 3)
- Demonstrate competency of a selected range of skills, including good laboratory practice and safety procedures, observation and measurement, precision and accuracy, calculations, data analysis and interpretation, scientific writing. (Capability 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)
- Use critical evaluation to identify the essentials of scientific information in written reports, and apply these skills to contribute knowledgeably to debates around the safe and effective use of medicines. (Capability 1, 4, 5 and 6)
Assessments
| Assessment Type | Percentage | Classification |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | 40% | Individual Coursework |
| Test | 20% | Individual Test |
| Final Exam | 40% | Individual Examination |
| 3 types | 100% |
| Assessment Type | Learning Outcome Addressed | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||||
| Coursework | ||||||||||
| Test | ||||||||||
| Final Exam | ||||||||||
To pass:
- Students must achieve at least 50% of the total marks for the course (i.e., coursework, test, exam).
- Students must attend four compulsory workshops.
Workload Expectations
This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.
For this course, you can expect 3 hours of lectures per week, a 2-hour workshop or laboratory practical per fortnight, 1 hour of reading and thinking about the content, and 4-6 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.
Delivery Mode
Campus Experience
Attendance is required at scheduled activities including workshop/labs to complete components of the course.
Attendance on campus is required for the test.
Lectures will be available as recordings 24 hours after the lecture except in the event of technical difficulties. Other learning activities including workshops/labs will not be available as recordings.
The course will not include live online events including group discussions.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.
Learning Resources
Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).
Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.
Powerpoint slides delivered at the lectures will be provided to students electronically through Canvas. Presentations may be modified prior to delivery at the discretion of each lecturer.
Workshop/lab resources will be provided through Canvas.
Supplemental reading is available via the Talis Reading List.
Student Feedback
At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.
Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.
Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.
Academic Integrity
The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework, tests and examinations as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.
Science is collaborative and students are encouraged to discuss concepts but not share written work that will be submitted for marks for individual assessments. The work you submit must be your own, in your own words, and where appropriate include references. Copying from shared notes, i.e. notes prepared with other students, may lead to academic misconduct proceedings. Providing your work to third parties or using third party resources may lead to academic misconduct proceedings. Generative AI is permitted with limits in some assessments to support but not supplant learning. Permitted use and limits are delineated on Canvas.
Class Representatives
Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.
Contact details for class representatives will be available on the course Canvas site. There are two staff-student consultative committee meetings a term, and class reps are responsible for collating student feedback and liaising with teaching staff before attending the meeting. This is a good opportunity to check in with each other, though all students are encouraged to contact staff throughout the term.
Inclusive Learning
All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.
Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz
Students are requested to contact staff prior to the workshops if they require extra support for the small group work and participation. SDS will communicate students' needs like extra time, a computer, reader-writer for test(s). Students are requested to contact SDS early in the semester. Available rooms and staff are limited and it may not be possible to accommodate requests made within a two weeks of the test.
Special Circumstances
If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.
If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.
This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.
It is not possible to aegrotat both the test and the exam.
Learning Continuity
In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.
Possible changes include the use of live Zoom workshops with small group work in break-out rooms (compulsory attendance), and alterations to the format and/or weighting of assessments, including the exam.
Student Charter and Responsibilities
The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.
Disclaimer
Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.
In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.