The Singing Stethoscope

Doxycycline is the first line treatment for Chlamydia Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease So imagine you’re sitting on a dock by the sea (sounds like Doxycycline) And you’re eating clams (think Chlamydia) and Rocky Mountain oysters (Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever) With a squeeze of lime (for Lyme Disease) Doxycycline is the first line treatment for Chlamydia Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever an...

Hepatitis C is Hepatitis C hronic It’s the most common cause of chronic liver disease It’s diagnosed with an HCV antibody test Followed by an HCV RNA test please It’s mostly transmitted through infected blood so IV drug users may be affected But now that newer antiviral meds are here A full cure is usually possible and expected Hepatitis D is Hepatitis D ependent Cause it requires a co-infection w...

Hepatitis A for Hepatitis A cute Cause chronic infections are almost never found Hepatitis A for Hepatitis A nus The fecal-oral route is how it spreads around Now let’s talk about serology IgG anti-HAV tests for a past or chronic infection IgM anti-HAV tests for an infection that’s acute And there is a Hep A vaccine that’s used for prevention Hepatitis B for Hepatitis B aby Because vertical transm...

It’s time to have fun, fun, fun Fun with antifungals With polyene antifungals, let’s begin These are amphotericin B and nystatin Swish and swallow nystatin liquid form For esophageal candidiasis it's the norm Fungal cells’ plasma membrane is made up of ergosterol And basically, these drugs tear holes in that wall They destroy the cell membrane’s structural integrity So just remember that “tear” is...

There are five generations of cephalosporins And I’ve got some clever ways You can remember them For the first generation we have Cefazolin and Cephalexin Now Cef-hAZ-olin sounds kind of like “has” And Cephalexin contains the word “ale” So the first question you want to ask is, Do you has any ale? That’s the first thing you might ask When you go to a friend’s house Do you has any ale? For Cef-hAZ-...

Cytochrome P450 isoenzymes play a big role In the metabolism of certain medications They’re found in the liver and throughout the body And they’re the star of this song today, so congratulations Drug interactions are what you have to watch out for ‘Cause these enzymes’ activity can be affected By certain drugs and compounds, inducers or inhibitors And the effect of this on other meds is connected...

When you write a prescription There’s a lot you need to know So sing along to avoid the most common mistakes And get it right from the get-go These are the ten rights of prescription writing 1. Right patient 2. Right date 3. Right drug 4. Right dose 5. Right frequency 6. Right route 7. Right number of refills 8. Right duration of treatment 9. The Right to informed consent 10. The Right to refuse t...

Pharmacology is ever evolving So keep in mind that what you learn today Might be slightly out of date By the time you graduate When safety signals start to show Sometimes medications have to go Darvocet, an opioid was widely prescribed for years But fatal heart issues led to lots of tears Post-marketing surveillance is key We keep watching drugs even after they're released Phase IV never really en...

The process of drug development Is something that’s quite relevant It has a lot of different steps And it’s kind of long and complex Preclinical studies are what happen first So starting here let’s get immersed Cell cultures or animals are used to check If a drug seems safe and has the wanted effect Then clinical studies, they come next Four phases take place with human subjects For Phase I the vo...

Some drugs have the potential for dependence and abuse These controlled substances are consequential And Schedules I through V are used to help prevent misuse Schedule I is the most restrictive Cause these drugs like LSD and heroin Are highly, highly addictive So there’s no situation you’d prescribe them in Now something that might surprise you Is that at the level of the federal government Mariju...

Pharmacology as we know it today Was shaped by a lot of people along the way Around the fifteen hundreds this guy named Paracelsus Was a Swiss physician and alchemist He spoke with knowledge not yet widespread, “The dose makes the poison," he famously said This laid the groundwork for modern toxicology And he shifted things from plants toward chemistry In 1906 the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed...

When studying feels like too steep a slope Sing along with us at The Singing Stethoscope Keep learning even when you're on the go And ace those exams with all the songs you know This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thesingingstethoscope.substack.com