Pharmacology Overview:
Medicines are part of our way of life from birth, when we enter the world with the aid of drugs, to death where drugs assist (most of) us to depart with minimal distress and perhaps even with a remnant of dignity. If physiology is concerned with the function, anatomy with the structure, and biochemistry with the chemistry of the living body, then pharmacology is concerned with the changes in function, structure, and chemical properties of the body brought about by chemical substances. Pharmacology, (an amalgam of the Greek ‘pharmako’s, medicine or drug, and ‘logos’, study) a science of substances used to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease is an essential part of medicine.
Pharmacology is the study of the effects of drugs and how they exert their effects. It is one of the pillars of the drug discovery process. While the medicinal/organic chemist may create the candidate compound, it is the pharmacologist who is responsible for testing it for pharmacological activity. The impetus for pharmacology came from the need to improve the outcome of therapeutic intervention by doctors. As a science, it was born in the mid-19th century and has become one of the most important disciplines in medicine.
Drug therapy involves a great deal more than matching the name of the drug to the name of a disease; it requires knowledge, judgment, skill and wisdom, but above all a sense of responsibility. The major objective of teaching pharmacology to the medical students is to provide a rational basis for choosing and using drugs skillfully to relieve patients’ ailments.
The department is fully equipped with latest instruments, two undergraduate laboratories, one for experimental pharmacology and one for clinical pharmacy along with three post graduate cum research laboratories. There are two demonstration rooms and a separate seminar hall. The departmental library has more than 150 books with audiovisual aids. The department also has a museum which is unique in its’ kind. An air conditioned central animal house with various experimental animals like mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs etc is also attached to the department along with an animal operating room. Above all the department has highly qualified and dedicated teaching staff. This department has been recognized for postgraduate training (MD Pharmacology). Research activities including preclinical studies and clinical trials are regularly undertaken by the staff and students.