Pharmacology major
How do medicines produce their beneficial effects on human diseases? How can drugs target particular organs, cells, proteins and genes? This major provides the comprehensive grounding in scientific concepts that you require in order to understand the effects of drugs on the human body, combined with an appreciation of how these effects are used to treat human diseases. The units offered include drug–receptor interactions, dose–response relationships, intracellular signalling, drug metabolism and elimination, toxicology, respiratory pharmacology, immunopharmacology, drug discovery and development, as well as the role of genetics in dictating individual responses to drugs. Theoretical content is reinforced by practical laboratory sessions and computer-based workshops.
Outcomes
Students are able to describe the actions of drugs at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels, discriminating between the actions of agonists, partial agonists, inverse agonists, antagonists, allosteric modulators, etc.
Broadening guidelines
All students studying towards a Bachelor's Degree at UWA are required to Broaden their studies by completing a minimum of four units (24 points) of study outside their degree specific major. Broadening is your opportunity to explore other areas of interest, investigate new disciplines and knowledge paradigms and to shape your degree to suit your own aspirations and interests. Many of you will be able to undertake more than this minimum amount of broadening study and we encourage you to do so if this suits your aspirations. Over the next few months you will find here some broadening suggestions related to your degree-specific major. While we know that many students value guidance of this sort, these are only suggestions and students should not lose sight of the opportunity to explore that is afforded by your Broadening Choices. Advice can also be sought from your Allocated Student Advising Office.
Prerequisites
Student without WACE Chemistry or equivalent, are required to take CHEM1003 in their first year.
Students without ATAR Mathematics Applications, ATAR Mathematics Methods, WACE Mathematics: Specialist 3A/3B or equivalent or higher, will need to take MATH1720 in their first year.
Students without ATAR Human Biology or ATAR Biology or equivalent will need to take ANHB1101 or BIOL1130, or IMED1001 in their first year.
Pharmacology can be taken as a degree-specific major in the following degree courses:
BP006 Bachelor of Biomedical Science
BH005 Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours)
Overview of unit sequence
Pharmacology is a degree-specific single major comprising:
- two Level 1 units
- two Level 2 units
- four Level 3 units
| Key to availability of units: |
|---|
| S1 = Semester 1; S2 = Semester 2 |
Level 1
Take the following unit:
| Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| S2 | SCIE1106 | Molecular Biology of the Cell |
|
Take unit(s) to the value of 6 points:
| Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1, S2 | CHEM1002 | Chemistry—Structure and Reactivity |
|
| S2 | CHEM1004 | Biological Chemistry |
|
Level 2
Take all units (12 points):
| Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | PHAR2210 | Foundations of Pharmacology | |
| S2 | PHAR2220 | Human Pharmacology |
Level 3
Take all units (24 points):
| Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | PHAR3310 | Molecular Pharmacology |
|
| S1 | PHAR3311 | Molecular Pharmacology Methods |
|
| S2 | PHAR3320 | Systems Pharmacology |
|
| S2 | PHAR3321 | Systems Pharmacology Methods |
|
Choosing your degree-specific major
General degrees
You must satisfy the requirements of a degree-specific major before you complete your course. The flexible structure of an undergraduate course allows you to try out a number of different subjects to see what interests you before nominating your degree-specific major. You have the choice to either nominate your degree-specific major when you first enrol in the course or delay nominating it until your second year.
To plan the first year of your study without nominating a degree-specific major, you are advised to choose units that will pave the way to two or more degree-specific majors that are of interest to you. For examples of the choice of units available in first year, search the first-year study plans .
To fully understand the structure of an undergraduate course, read the course structure information and the Undergraduate Degree Course Rules.
The following example illustrates how the Pharmacology degree-specific major can be included in the Bachelor of Biomedical Science course.
There are more choices open to you. For more examples, search the study plans .
Specialised degrees – Bachelor of Advanced Computer Science (Honours), Bachelor of Automation and Robotics, Bachelor of Environmental Design, Bachelor of Music
You must satisfy the requirements of the degree-specific major in your degree before you complete your course.
Bachelor of Philosophy, Politics and Economics
This comprehensive degree does not require you to choose a degree-specific major.
Choosing a second major
You also have the option to choose a second major from those available in the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Design Only available to re-enrolling students. and Bachelor of Science courses, giving you the opportunity to pursue your interests no matter how different they are.
The following example illustrates how the Pharmacology degree-specific major can be combined with a second major in the Bachelor of Biomedical Science course.
For more examples of combinations of majors, search the study plans .