Clinical Pharmacokinetics: Dosing and Monitoring

Taipei Medical University via Coursera

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Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Effort

7 weeks, 3 hours a week
Sessions

Self-Paced
Level

Intermediate
Subtitles

English

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Overview

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This course covers the core principles of clinical pharmacokinetics, including drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and binding. In modern clinical practice, determining the correct dose is never a guessing game—it is a precise science where patient safety is continually on the line. Moving beyond abstract equations, this course explores how these core principles dictate real-time patient care on the hospital floor. We demystify complex mathematical concepts through innovative, visual frameworks like the foundational "Fish Tank" model, making first-order elimination and distribution intuitive to grasp. As the course unfolds, learners will investigate the critical challenges of assessing renal and hepatic clearance and uncover how shifting biological variables impact serum drug concentrations. Grounded in rigorous clinical case studies and enriched by the instructor's active academic research, the curriculum focuses heavily on managing critical antibiotics such as vancomycin and aminoglycosides. Designed for pharmacy students and healthcare professionals, this course bridges the gap between scientific theory and front-line application. You will walk away with the definitive problem-solving skills needed to confidently evaluate, monitor, and tailor life-saving medication regimens for individual patients.

Syllabus

The Fish Tank – A Simplified Model of First-Order Elimination

This module introduces the fundamental concepts of pharmacokinetics through the intuitive "Fish Tank" model. Dr. Daniel Brown will explain the core principles of first-order elimination, guiding learners to define the volume of distribution, clearance, and the elimination rate constant. The curriculum explores the physiological context of these metrics, illustrating why changes in protein binding actively affect both drug clearance and volume. By the end of this module, learners will understand the specific factors that determine the area under the curve (AUC) and be able to describe how half-life and the percentage of remaining drug are calculated during the elimination phase.

Dosing Basics – How to Determine the Right Amount of Drug for a Patient

Building upon foundational pharmacokinetic principles, this module examines the dynamic clinical application of drug dosing. Dr. Daniel Brown comprehensively compares the effects of administering a loading dose, a continuous infusion, and an intermittent dosing regimen to achieve specific target steady-state concentrations (such as C0, Css, Cav,ss, Cmax,ss, and Cmin,ss). Furthermore, the module elucidates how the superposition principle and first-order linearity can be practically applied to design patient-specific regimens. Learners will also evaluate the percentage of drug lost and correlate this factor with drug accumulation dynamics during various infusion and intermittent therapies.

The Ups and Downs of Predicting Changes in Drug Concentration

This module focuses on the analytical evaluation and prediction of fluctuations in serum drug concentrations. Dr. Daniel Brown will detail the critical physiological and pharmacological factors that dictate the determination of an optimal dosing interval (tau) and overall dose. Learners will systematically predict the clinical impact that modifications in dose, volume of distribution, tau, or the elimination rate constant have on both serum concentrations and AUC. Additionally, the module provides practical strategies to accurately determine how a patient's serum drug concentration would be pharmacokinetically altered by missed or supplemental doses.

The Challenges of Assessing Renal and Hepatic Clearance

Drug elimination pathways are complex and essential for designing safe therapeutic regimens. In this module, Dr. Daniel Brown explores the physiological differences between drug elimination via renal filtration and hepatic biotransformation. Learners will evaluate how to estimate renal function using creatinine clearance (CLCr) or GFR, adjust these metrics to a standard body size, and critically assess the inherent sources of error in the Cockcroft-Gault equation related to body composition. The module also provides an in-depth analysis of hepatic clearance mechanics, distinguishing between High E and Low E drugs, and explaining how factors such as QH, CLint, and fu impact the hepatic first-pass effect, Css, CU, and overall bioavailability.

What Pharmacists Need to Know about Dosing Aminoglycosides and Vancomycin

Transitioning from theoretical models to specific pharmacotherapy, this module addresses the clinical dosing of narrow-therapeutic-index antibiotics. Dr. Daniel Brown elucidates the fundamental differences between time-dependent and concentration-dependent antibiotic killing, specifically distinguishing between AUC24 and AUIC metrics. Learners will master the estimation of vancomycin clearance to design individualized dosing regimens—including loading doses, intermittent regimens, or continuous infusions—based on CLCr, patient weight, and infection severity. Finally, the module explores extended-interval dosing for aminoglycosides, demonstrating how to utilize the Hartford nomogram to estimate pharmacokinetic parameters such as k and half-life effectively.

Clinical Application - Vancomycin and Gentamycin Case Practice

In this final application-based module, learners will synthesize their pharmacokinetic knowledge through realistic clinical case studies involving vancomycin and gentamicin. Dr. Daniel Brown facilitates the practical calculation of estimated serum levels and instructs learners on determining the optimal timing for drawing therapeutic drug monitoring samples. The curriculum covers how to appropriately evaluate inappropriately drawn levels, recommend evidence-based dose adjustments, and identify comprehensive monitoring parameters for both clinical efficacy and safety. The module concludes with a critical evaluation of the limitations associated with relying solely on trough levels, grounded in current clinical literature and guideline recommendations.

Final Review

This assessment evaluates cumulative understanding of clinical pharmacokinetics across all six modules of the course and is designed to assess the ability to integrate and apply key pharmacokinetic concepts in clinically relevant situations. It requires learners to demonstrate overall mastery of core principles and their application to patient care, including the interpretation of drug concentration data and the use of pharmacokinetic reasoning to support safe and effective dosing decisions.