Strategy for Preparation of GPAT How to Start? What to Refer? Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT Understanding the Bonding between Subjects What points to cover? Points of Remembrance…

1. Preparation of Pharmacology
for
Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test
(GPAT)
Mr. Vishal B. Jadhav
Assistant Professor (Pharmacology)
GES’s Sir Dr. M. S. Gosavi COPER, Nashik-5
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2. Points of Discussion
 Strategy for Preparation
 How to Start?
 What to Refer?
 Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
 Understanding the Bonding between Subjects
 What points to cover?
 Points of Remembrance…
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3. Strategy for Preparation
 How to Start?
1. About Syllabus and information bulletin of GPAT
2020- Refer the syllabus of GPAT 2020 (New)
Download it from the website of National Test Agency (NTA)
(https://gpat.nta.nic.in/)
2. About examination pattern
Total Number of Questions- 125
Total Marks- 125 x 4=500
Time- 3 hours
Marks given for each correct response- 04
Marks deducted for each incorrect response from the total score- 1
No marks to un-answered/ un-attempted question.
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4. Strategy for Preparation
3. Refer the books which clears your fundamental
and basic concepts-
Conventional (reference) books used to study subject.
Problem-oriented books used for GPAT.
4. Refer previous question papers from Reference book
like- GPAT: A Companion for Pharmacy (Authors- Nazma N.
Inamdar, Milind P. Wagh). It helps to understand the type of
questions ask and the logic behind the correct option (answer).
5. Keep contact and communicating with GPAT qualified
experts and aspirants. Ask about there knowledge and
experience in preparing GPAT.
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5. Strategy for Preparation
6. Starts with basic and easiest topic of your interest
such as chemical and pharmacological classification of drugs,
mechanism of action, types of receptors, nomenclature, basic
rings etc.
7. Refer one book as standard and add the points
drawn from other books to it.
8. Make your own notes and mark the unique things
such as adverse effects, contraindications, drug interactions,
receptors, definitions, units, dimensions, formulae etc.
9. Self assessment and confidence is most important.
Practice with more and more MCQs. Find out the solution of the
problem. Interpret the reason behind correctness and
incorrectness. 5

6. Strategy for Preparation
 What to Refer?
1. Understanding the weightage of syllabus
Major subjects Minor subjects
Pharmaceutics Physical Chemistry
Pharmaceutical Chemistry Physical Pharmacy
Pharmaceutical Analysis Organic Chemistry
Pharmacology Biochemistry
Pharmacognosy Biotechnology
Microbiology
Pathophysiology
Biopharm. & PK
Clinical Pharmacy & Therapeutics
HAP, PE, PM, PJ
Dispensing & Hospital Pharmacy 6

7. Strategy for Preparation
2. Understanding the weightage of questions
(subject-wise)
Subjects No. of Questions
Pharmaceutics 35-40
Pharmaceutical Chemistry 35-40
Pharmacology 25-30
Pharmacognosy 10-15
Others 10-15
Study of major subjects is essential, study it first and do
the others afterwards, Why???----It will decide the TOP
SCORER …
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8. Strategy for Preparation
2. Subject-wise List of Conventional (Reference) Books
Pharmaceutics- Liebermann and Lachman, Remington
Pharmaceutical Chemistry- Wilson and Griswold, Foye, K. G. Bothara
Pharmacology- Rang and Dale, K. D. Tripathi, Lippincott
Pharmacognosy- C. K. Kokate, K. R. Khandelwal (PR), Trease and Evans
Pharmaceutical Analysis- Chatwal and Anand, Willard, William Kemp,
Skoog, Y. R. Sharma, Remington
Physical Pharmacy- Martin, CVS Subrahmanyam
Organic chemistry- Morrison and Boyd
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9. Strategy for Preparation
2. Subject-wise List of Conventional (Reference) Books
Biopharmaceutics- D. M. Brahmankar
Biochemistry- U. Satyanarayana, Lehninger, A. C. Deb
Microbiology- Ananthanarayan, Pelczar, Tortora
PJ- B. S. Kuchekar, N. K. Jain
PE- CVS Subrahmanyam
HAP- Tortora, Ross and Wilson
3. Problem-oriented books used for GPAT
 Nazma N. Inamdar, Milind P. Wagh- GPAT: A Companion for Pharmacy.
 Piyush GPAT Cracker.
 Pearson’s Complete Companion for GPAT.
 Muhammad Ali- A GPAT Book.
 Gobind Rai Garg, Sparsh Gupta- Review of Pharmacology.
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10. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
 Understanding the Bonding between Subjects
Class- Subject-
 F. Y. B. Pharm. HAP and Pathophysiology
 S. Y. B. Pharm. Pharmacology-I
 T. Y. B. Pharm. Pharmacology-II/ III
 Final Year B. Pharm. Pharmacy Practice
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11. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
 What points to cover?
 Focus mainly on the clinically significant and unique points.
 Make your own notes, charts, tables, tricks to memorize.
 Cover the following main points-
 Pharmacological classification of drugs
 Receptors and transducer mechanisms
 Mode (mechanism) of action
 Adverse (side) effects
 Indications
 Contraindications
 Drug interactions
 Major topics of Pharmacology 11

12. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
 Pharmacological classification of drugs
Make your own notes of classification (Pocket Digest).
Refer K. D. Tripathi’s Pharmacological Classification of Drugs.
Pharmacology Mnemonics helping students performs better in exams.
Lots of Pharmacology Mnemonics are available on web such as-
 https://www.drugsbanks.com/
 http://www.rxpgonline.com/
 Pharmacology Mnemonics Google Play Store Android App etc.
You can also prepared Mnemonics so that you remember or memorize
yourself easily.
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13. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
 Receptors and transducer mechanisms
Recognize the principle types of receptors and the transducer mechanism
underlying.
Interpret the site and subtype of receptor present.
Once you knew the site at which that specific receptor present, the
transducer mechanisms and secondary messenger involving, you can
easily understood the pharmacological action of drug.
For example- Action of ACh on Smooth Muscle is CONTRACTION
 Receptor present on smooth muscle- M3 Muscarinic
 Transducer mechanism involved- Activation of membrane bound PLC-β
 Secondary messengers generated- IP3 and DAG
 Resulting effect/ response- Release of Ca2+ and thereby depolarization
and contraction of smooth muscle.
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14. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
 Mode (mechanism) of action
Mainly based on the interaction with receptor present at site of action and
the transducer mechanism activated thereby.
Focused mainly on the secondary messenger generated and effects
mediated by them, as these are nothing but the effects/ actions of the
drug itself.
Identify the pharmacological class of the drug based on the receptor
interaction whether it is-
Agonist (Pure, Partial , or Inverse Agonist)
Antagonist (Competitive or Non-competitive)
Remembering basic terminologies in pharmacology is very
essential….Don’t forget the past while moving to future….
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15. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
 Adverse (side) effects
Focus mainly on specific side effects which are unique.
Concentrate on mechanism based side effects.
Preparing or referring Mnemonics for Adverse Effects is helpful.
For example- A) Drug and specific side effects
ACE Inhibitors- Dry cough (due to accumulation of bradykinin).
Digoxin- Xantopsia (Yellow colored vision).
Tetracycline- Bone deformities and Black hairy tongue (due to
formation of complex with Ca2+ ions).
Valproates- Spina bifida (a type of neural tube defect anywhere along
the spine).
Phenytoin- Gingival hyperplasia (Overgrowth of gum tissue around
the teeth). 15

16. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
Quinine- Black water fever (Malarial hemoglobinuria, occurs almost
exclusively with infection from the parasite Plasmodium falciparum,
named because of black or dark red colored urinary passage).
Chloramphenicol- Gray baby syndrome (due to a lack of
glucuronidation reactions, and accumulation of toxic chloramphenicol
metabolites.
B) Mnemonics for Adverse Effects-
Morphine: side-effects MORPHINE: TCAs- TCAs
M-Miosis T-Thrombocytopenia
O-Out of it (sedation) C-Cardiac arrhythmia, MI, stroke
R-Respiratory depression A- Anticholinergic (tachycardia, etc)
P-Pneumonia (aspiration) S-Seizures
H-Hypotension
I-Infrequency (constipation, urinary)
N-Nausea
E-Emesis 16

17. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
Mechanism based side effects
For example-
d-tubocurarine- Bronchospasm and Hypotension (due to release
of histamine from the mast cells).
Aspirin- Bronchospasm (Aspirin induces irreversible inhibition of
COX enzyme, and inhibits synthesis of PGs and TXs. But LOX
pathway remain intact in presence of aspirin, hence it leads to hyper-
production of LTs – C4, and D4 which produces more severe
bronchoconstriction, increased mucus secretion and increased
vascular permeability).
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18. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
 Indications (Choice of Drugs)
Note down unique indication behind the use of drug.
For example-
 Adenosine- Supraventricular tachycardia (SPVT).
 Dobutamine- Cardiogenic shock.
 Ribavirin + Peginterferon- Hepatitis C infection.
 Salvarsan- Syphilis.
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19. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
 Contraindications (Know what to avoid during therapy)
Note down unique contraindication during the treatment of disease.
Preparing or referring Mnemonics for Contraindications is helpful.
CIs mainly based on the type of diseased condition and action of drug.
For example- A) Mnemonics for Contraindication
Drugs contraindicated during pregnancy-
SAFE Mothers Take Really Good Care.
S- Sulfonamides
A- Aminoglycosides
F- Fluoroquinolones
E- Erythromycin
M- Metronidazole
T- Tetracycline
R- Ribavirin
C- Chloramphenicol 19

20. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
B) Contraindications based on the type of diseased condition
and action of drug.
For example-
1) CCBs are contraindicated in heart failure because of worsening
of heart failure in patients with preexisting left ventricular
dysfunction and also reduced force of contraction.
2) Aspirin is contraindicated in gout because analgesic doses of
aspirin inhibits tubular secretion of uric acid and antagonized
uricosuric action of probenecid.
3) ACEIs should not be administered with K+ supplements
because of the chances of dangerous hyperkalemia.
4) ACE inhibitors are contraindicated during pregnancy because
they can induce fetal malformations.
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21. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
 Drug interactions
Focused mainly on clinically significant pharmacokinetic interactions.
For example-
a) Quinidine + Digoxin- Digoxin toxicity because of the inhibition
of p-glycoprotein which transport (excrete) digoxin out of the body,
hence renal clearance of digoxin is decreased and accumulation
occurs to toxic levels.
b) Aspirin + Warfarin- Increased bleeding tendency
(hemorrhage) because of antiplatelet action of aspirin and
anticoagulant action of warfarin.
c) Organic nitrates + Sildenafil- Severe hypotension, MI and
deaths because of additive vasodilatation induced by both these
agents.
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22. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
 Major topics of Pharmacology
 General pharmacology
 Neurohumoral transmission in autonomic and central nervous system
 Pharmacology of peripheral nervous system
 Pharmacology of central nervous system
 Pharmacology of cardiovascular system
 Pharmacology of endocrine system
 Vitamins & Minerals
 Chemotherapy
 Autacoids and their antagonists
 Pharmacology of drug acting on the gastrointestinal tract
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23. Preparation of Pharmacology for GPAT
Points of Remembrance…
 Planning…
 Self-confidence and continuity…
 Concentration…
 Analysis, and Interpretation…
 Revision and Discussion…
 Search novel things…
 Starts with the topic of your interest but don’t miss the major one…
 Make your own notes in your own words definitely helps to revise and
remembering the things you studied…
 Mark the unique points in the book in first time reading which makes revision
simpler and less time consuming…
 Recalling the classification of drug is essential as it is volatile...
 Try to make your own Mnemonics or else referred available once…
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BEST WISHES TO ALL
BELIVE IN YOURESELF… YOU CAN DO IT…
BUT…. HARD WORK MATTERS….

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Thank you!