EMT-P Drug Profiles

[nikwho]

Hello! Well, yesterday was my first day of medic class. We were told to start studying drug profiles now. I have them all listed in the back of my text book but I wanted to know if anyone had good cards to print off for ease of studying. I guess typing them out one at a time will be a good way to beging studying them!! Thanks, Nik

[MedicAsh]

For me, writing out my own drug profiles helped greatly! I also had them color coded by what system the drug worked on (eg. red-cardiac blue-respiratory) It really helped me to write them and be able to study them that way.

[MEDICMAN1]

For me, writing out my own drug profiles helped greatly! I also had them color coded by what system the drug worked on (eg. red-cardiac blue-respiratory) It really helped me to write them and be able to study them that way.

I agree with Ashley. When I was in Paramedic school, I wrote out all the drug cards that we needed and even some that we didn't but I knew that it was in my protocols at work. Yes, I had the ones already printed out in the back of the workbook just like you do. The thing is by you writting them down and spending time reading all the info on each drug it actually helps you remember that drug. The color code thing works too, mainly it keeps you a bit sane after all the hours of sitting there and studing the same cards over and over and over. A change in the color helps you focus. It will all come in time, when you start applying the drugs to actually treating pt.s it will make it easier. For example you give a person having an asthma attack Albuterol because its a bronchodialator and its going to decresass the bronchoconstiction going on. Its things like that, which will help you learn the drugs too. Study hard and good luck.

[paramedicmike]

Another vote for making your own drug cards. Making my own helped me.

-be safe

[spenac]

Research the drug on multiple sites and books. Hand write a long in depth card. Type up a condensed but complete card. Read the card into a recorder. Listen. Write from memory. Each time you ad a new card do the same but continue to rewrite from memory the previous drugs. Verify that you are correct each time you do the memory test. A lot of work? Yes but by using almost all your senses you will have greater long term use and recall of the material.

[nikwho]

Thanks everyone. I have started typing out all of the more condensed Drug profiles. I will start hand writing them all out tonight. Our instructor told us yesterday that we need to know ALL of the drugs in our books for National Registry! Ouch! 95 by my count!!! locally, we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 drugs in our drug boxes, if i'm not mistaken. It's going to be rough remembering 95...

[emtannie]

You will be surprised that by the end of your course, you will know the 95 meds.

It does get easier when you can put them into categories, and when you start to see that certain drugs have the same characteristics.

I made chart after chart, and then tested myself by filling in blank charts:

Drug Name, Generic:

Drug Name, Trade:

Supplied: (eg, 1mg/10,L)

Classificatyion(s):

Indications:

Contraindications:

Dosage, Adult:

Dosage, Pediatric:

Yeah I have killed a lot of trees in my studies, using pages and pages of notes and indexs cards.... but it is worth it.

You can do it!

[JPINFV]

Thanks everyone. I have started typing out all of the more condensed Drug profiles. I will start hand writing them all out tonight. Our instructor told us yesterday that we need to know ALL of the drugs in our books for National Registry! Ouch! 95 by my count!!! locally, we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 drugs in our drug boxes, if i'm not mistaken. It's going to be rough remembering 95...

Meh, 95 isn't too bad to be honest. That 95 is going to include your IV mixtures, oxygen, oral glucose, and a bunch of other ones that aren't really considered "drugs" in common discussion (not saying oxygen and IV solutions aren't drugs, but just not the first thing that pops into mind when looking at a number like that). One thing, though, is to try to group drugs by their mechanism of action. By doing that you've provided a framework to learn the drugs. For example, drugs ending in -dipine are calcium channel blockers specific for smooth muscle (vasodilators) and used for treatment of HTN. Now, you can learn the side effects of the group, of which memory aids are helpful. Side-effects of the -dipines? (say to the tune of "heads, shoulders, knees, and toes) "Headache, facial flushing, feet (pedal edema) and floor (syncope) (feet and floor).

The big thing with drugs is to work on them every day. You don't necessarily need to spend a drastic amount of time every day (even 15-30 minutes) or get all of your drug cards done in 1 day, but by continually spending time on it you'll learn with less effort than trying to cram them.

[Bieber]

Word to the wise, learn your lidocaine and dopamine drip concentrations. And not just enough to get through class, but to commit to memory. Even if you plan on working for a service that carries both premixed. Not only is it truly a vital thing to know, because hey, you may not always have that luxury for any number of reasons, but also because you don't want to be that paramedic student who has to spend a day of internship walking around with a sign on their shirt that says "Ask Me How to Mix Lidocaine" and have your preceptors stop every nurse, doctor and tech in the hospital and make them read the sign and ask the question and then to top it off have them post the image on Facebook for all of your future coworkers to see how royally screwed you are for irking them with your lack of knowledge.

Not that I would know anything about that...

(Oh, and it's 1 g lidocaine in 250 cc NS for a 4 mg/cc concentration and 200 mg dopamine in 250 cc NS for an 800 mcg/cc concentration or alternatively 400 mg dopamine in 250 cc NS for a 1600 mcg/cc concentration.)

[MedicAsh]

You will be surprised that by the end of your course, you will know the 95 meds.

It does get easier when you can put them into categories, and when you start to see that certain drugs have the same characteristics.

I made chart after chart, and then tested myself by filling in blank charts:

Drug Name, Generic:

Drug Name, Trade:

Supplied: (eg, 1mg/10,L)

Classificatyion(s):

Indications:

Contraindications:

Dosage, Adult:

Dosage, Pediatric:

Yeah I have killed a lot of trees in my studies, using pages and pages of notes and indexs cards.... but it is worth it.

You can do it!

I am with annie. I have gone through a lot of index cards. BUT, writing them over and over really helped me. I also created a "test" if you will that is a sheet of paper with a drug name on top and I have to fill in all the rest of the info like dose, indications, contraindications, side effects etc. When I was struggling with my Dopamine vs. Dobutamine, I really used those and it helped me out TONS

good luck