PCOL260
Pharmacology 260: An Undergraduate Course for Distance Learners
Contact for Course Information
Summer Term
Leah Hammer, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, PO Box 9229
Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center
Morgantown,WV 26506-9229
Phone: (304) 293-1521
E-mail: lhammer@hsc.wvu.edu
FAX: (304) 293-3850
Critical Course Dates
Non-WVU students
"Guest" application – required for non-WVU students prior to registering – must be received by Online WVU by May 3, 2019. Instructions and link to application below. Please do not leave this until the last minute. Registration for the course cannot be initiated until the guest application has been processed.
All students
Summer semester start date (all students): May 13
Summer end date: July 17
Course Description
3 credit hours, offered Summer Term 2019
PCOL 260 is an upper-level undergraduate course designed for anyone with an interest in drugs and medicine. It is most often taken by students majoring in nursing, dental hygiene, and pre-medical/-dental fields, and is also of interest to students in forensics, athletic training, and exercise physiology as well as conscious health care consumers.
Pharmacology 260 examines the science behind the uses of drugs, covering a variety of common prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs, supplements and herbal medicines, and drugs of abuse. The clinical use, mechanism of action, and important side effects of each class of drugs are explored within the context of the body's organ systems.
This course is given through West Virginia University, a fully accredited institution. While transfer of credit is always dependent upon acceptance by the degree granting institution, this course is generally acceptable for degree programs in nursing, dental hygiene and other undergraduate fields.
Qualifications and Prerequisites
2 semesters of undergraduate biology (e.g. freshman biology) or the Anatomy and Physiology course often taken by students in nursing and other health professions.
Tuition and Costs
- Non-WVU undergraduates: $999 ($333/credit hour)
- Book: About $65 - $90, depending on book and condition.
Textbook
One of the textbooks listed below is required and is selected based on the chosen "track." For more information about selecting a text, see Course Details (textbooks).
- Nursing and General Health Professionals: Connections to Nursing Practice, 4th Edition, by Michael Adams, Carol Urban, and Rebecca Sutter. (Pearson, 2019; IBSN-13: 79780134867366, IBSN-10: 0134866736X).
- Dental Hygiene: Applied Pharmacology for the Dental Hygienist, 8th Edition, by Elena Bablenia Haveles. (Elsevier, 2020; ISBN-13: 978-03235955391, ISBN-10: 0323595391).
- Pre-Med and Pre-Pharmacy: Lippincott Illustrated Reviews: Pharmacology, 7th Edition, by Karen Whalen. (Wolters Kluwer Health, 2019; ISBN-13: 978-1496384133, ISBN-10: 149638413x).
Components of the Course
Online Lecture Notes
Detailed notes like what you would take in class, only better! Includes:
- Lecture notes provide background on the physiology relevant to an organ system or disease state as well as detailed information on the drugs that treat these conditions.
- Interactive questions and answers designed to help you understand key points
- Audio buttons to let you hear the pronunciation of each drug's name
- Important terms are highlighted for you
- Color illustrations and diagrams
- All notes available both on-line and in Acrobat format (.pdf) suitable for printing, off-line viewing or archiving.
Audio mini lectures
- Mini-audio lectures available in MP3 format for listening either at a computer or via MP3 player (e.g. iPhone)
- Allows you to multitask while studying!
Communication with the Instructor
- Question sets customized to make pharmacology more relevant for three career tracks: nursing and patient care, dental hygiene and pre-dentistry, and pharmacy and pre-medical.
- Exam/quiz review sessions are conducted via the course chat room
- Threaded discussion forum: a place for public posting of your questions
- And, of course, email and phone
Graded Assignments
- 4 Exams - given online
- 1 Final exam - given online
- Question sets - one per week
Registration Information
WVU students register at WVU Online (800) 253-2762 or online.wvu.edu/contact.
Non-WVU students use the "guest application" to register for the course without applying for admission to WVU.
- Complete and submit the guest application.
- Information for the "Registration Form" section of the guest application form:
- CRN# = 50423
- Subject = PCOL
- Course # = 260
- Section # = 7D1
- CR Hrs = 3.