Pharmacology Fundamentals
- HMX
Group Enrollment Option A program that is a popular choice for organizations and institutions to purchase in bulk.
Get an in-depth look at how drugs and other therapeutics can be used to treat and prevent diseases.
- Online; Instructor-Paced
Lessons are released weekly and remain available until the course ends.
$1,025
Multi-course bundle pricing is also available. The student price for an individual course is $800 and cannot be combined with course bundles.
Certificate
There are two certification levels, based on participant scores: Certificate of Achievement; Certificate of Completion
10 Weeks, 4-6 Hours/Week
Most people can expect to spend around 40 hours total, but this depends on your baseline knowledge and how carefully you take notes.
On This Page
Overview
Understanding how drugs act in the body is vital for effectively treating patients and integral knowledge for a variety of career paths in health care and the pharmaceutical industry.
In this foundational course, you will discover the principles governing how drugs and other therapeutics impact the body. Through a comprehensive and engaging curriculum, you will explore how drugs are used in the treatment and prevention of diseases and disorders. Real-world applications will help you understand concepts, providing relevance and integration of key principles.
Learning Objectives
- Learn about fundamental concepts in pharmacology, including routes of administration, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
- Understand the factors behind drug toxicity and adverse drug reactions
- See how pharmacology principles are applied in real-life scenarios, clinical settings, and drug discovery and development
Participant Types
Pre-med students; Current medical students; Health care professionals working in R&D, product management and strategy, sales, and marketing
About the Course
HMX online courses bring complex material to life through engaging biomedical visualizations, clinical applications, and true-to-life scenarios paired with lectures from Harvard Medical School faculty and leading experts.
Who Should Apply
This fundamental course is appropriate for pre-med and current medical students interested in building their foundational knowledge of medical science, as well as professionals in health care and related fields who need a fundamental understanding of pharmacology – including those working in R&D, product management, strategy, sales, marketing, and other roles.
Course Format
Most people can expect to spend around 40-60 hours total, but this depends on your baseline knowledge, how carefully you take notes, and how seriously you take the assessments. Lessons from the courses are released weekly and remain available until the courses end, so you can work at your own pace. The course wraps up with a final exam administered the final two days of the session.
Have a busy schedule? Consider Pharmacology Essentials instead, an advanced HMX course that will review key pharmacology topics in a shorter format designed for professionals.
Group Enrollments
HMX courses are ideal for organizations looking to train teams or larger groups. Group pricing is available, making it a cost-effective investment in team development.
Faculty
HMX courses are led by Harvard Medical School faculty, working in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team of experts in biomedical visualization, assessment, and the science of learning to create a unique learning experience that will stay with you.
- Lecturer in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
- Harvard Medical School / Curriculum Fellow in Online Learning
- Leroy D. Vandam Professor of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School
- Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
David E. Golan
MD, PhD
- Dean for Research Operations and Global Programs, Harvard Medical School
- Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School
- George R. Minot Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Nikhil C. Munshi, MD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School / Medical Oncologist, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Pritesh Topiwala, MD, Instructor in Anesthesia, Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School
HMX Faculty Perspectives
Why do you think it’s important for health care professionals to learn pharmacology?
"In order to really understand the treatment of disease, you have to understand the basics of how a drug acts in the body. When a clinician is choosing a treatment for a patient, they are considering many pharmacological parameters such as the properties of the drug, the dose of the drug to give, how often the drug should be given, the age, weight, gender, and race of the patient, the disease itself, and the stage of disease." -Kate McDonnell-Dowling, PhD
From Our Learners
Hear from HMX students as they share their experiences learning online with Harvard Medical School.
"It was not just the theory and foundation; [HMX Fundamentals Pharmacology] also showed how it was applied in a clinical setting. That was a really big advantage of this course."
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