AKP: Pharmacology
Drug action, kinetics, dosing, interactions, adverse effects, monitoring and safe paediatric prescribing. Integrate history, examination, images, radiographs, ECGs and other data to choose the best diagnosis, investigation, management or escalation.
How to prepare across FOP, TAS and AKP
Learn each paediatric specialty through three different lenses: common clinical foundations, underlying science, and applied clinical decision making.
Core concepts
Concept 1
Know common medicine indications, contraindications, adverse effects and weight-based use.
Exam cue: Synthesize the decisive findings, identify the time point and choose the action that most safely changes management.
Concept 2
Apply pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, receptor action and developmental pharmacology.
Exam cue: Individualise treatment using age, weight, organ function, interactions, monitoring and response.
Concept 3
Individualise treatment using age, weight, organ function, interactions, monitoring and response.
Exam cue: Check dose units, maximums, allergies, interactions and monitoring before prescribing.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Do not select a generally true statement when the stem requires the best next decision for the current acuity and stage of care.
Guardrail: Do not choose a plausible fact that answers a different exam lens or a different time point.
Do not transfer adult norms, doses or decision thresholds to a child without checking age, development and weight.
Guardrail: Do not calculate until weight, units, concentration, maximum dose and monitoring are explicit.
Do not infer a fixed Pharmacology item count from the published 25%-33% range band.
Guardrail: Do not calculate until weight, units, concentration, maximum dose and monitoring are explicit.
Memory anchors
AKP lens
Integrate history, examination, images, radiographs, ECGs and other data to choose the best diagnosis, investigation, management or escalation.
Pharmacology: foundation
Know common medicine indications, contraindications, adverse effects and weight-based use.
Pharmacology: science
Apply pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, receptor action and developmental pharmacology.
Pharmacology: applied practice
Individualise treatment using age, weight, organ function, interactions, monitoring and response.
Pharmacology: safety check
Check dose units, maximums, allergies, interactions and monitoring before prescribing.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
A 12-kg child is prescribed a medicine at 15 mg/kg per dose. The liquid contains 120 mg in 5 mL. What volume is required per dose?
A 24-kg child requires gentamicin 6 mg/kg as a single prescribed dose. What mass should be administered before any local maximum or level adjustment is considered?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
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