Pharmacy

From the analysis of previous year's exam papers, it can be seen that the most asked drugs from this section are Senna, Morphine and Vinca. Individuals must study all the concepts of these drugs; understand their mechanisms and their effects & uses. It is best to devote recurrent time periods to Pharmacognosy, so that candidates do not forget the concepts and details. Important topics of this section are-
Glycosides
Alkaloids
Volatile oils
Resins
Tannins
Carbohydrates
Tissue culture
Herbal drugs
Recommended books for Pharmacognosy:
Pharmacognosy by C K Kokate
The complete guide for Pharmacognosy by Trease and Evans
Pharmacology
Many students find this section very interesting. Topics from this section carry a lot of weightage in GPAT 2018. Aspirants must study drug interaction and mechanisms as well as unique side effects of drugs (not general side effects like body pain). For the chapter of Classification of drugs, candidates can use acronyms to remember the names. For eg:
Semisynthetic derivatives: Atropine Methonitrate, Homatropine, Hyoscine butyl bromide, Ipratropium bromide, Tiotropium Bromide (AHITH)
Quaternary compounds: Propanthaline, Clidimium, Oxyphenonium, Pipenzolate methyl bromide, Isopropamide, Glycopyrolate (PCO PIG)
Important topics of this section are:
Oncology (drugs for chemotherapy, upcoming technologies, etc.)
Neuropharmacology and rare diseases
Cardiovascular and Blood products
Recommended books:
Essential of Medical Pharmacology by K D Tripathi
Pharmaceutical Analysis
This section is relatively easy and only requires understanding of concepts. Aspirants must practice solving numerical problems. Note down formulae and mug it up. Important topics are:
UV, IR and NMR
Mass Spectroscopy
Chromatography
Polarography and Polarimetry
Flame Photometer
Conductometry
Amperometry
Potentiometry
Recommended books:
Spectroscopy and Titration by Chatwal
Chromatography by Remington
Pharmaceutical Chemistry
The questions asked from this section are very basic and only require conceptual clarity. Applicants should focus on organic chemistry in this section. Study electrophilic, nucleophilic reactions (substitution and addition) and intermediate reactions. Important topics are:
SAR of steroids
Nomenclature and chemical moiety of the medicinal drugs
Recommended books:
Basic Organic Chemistry by Morrison Boyd
Medicinal chemistry by S N Pandey
Pharmaceutics
This section is very essential for all students appearing in GPAT 2018.