Content area

Percentage of questions allocated

Biomedical sciences

20%

Medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics

10%

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics

10%

Pharmacology and toxicology

15%

Therapeutics and patient care

45%

Content assessed

Topics

Physiological processes and normal bodily function for all systems

Central nervous, digestive, cardiovascular, lymphatic, nervous, respiratory, urinary, endocrine, and reproductive systems, and their integration; blood and other body fluids.

Pathophysiology

Alteration of normal physiological processes and genesis of disease states by genetic factors, environmental, chemical/drug causes, physical injury, infectious agents or other causes.

Medical Microbiology

Pathogenesis of infections (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other parasites).

Immunology

Immune responses and defence mechanisms against infectious agents. Vaccines and vaccine-preventable disease.

Disorders affecting bodily fluids

Fluid and electrolyte disorders, metabolic acid-base disorders, and blood disorders.

Symptoms and physiological values of disease states and disorders

Signs, symptoms of disease, diagnostic tests and laboratory investigations associated with normal and abnormal body functions, disease states, and disorders.

Content assessed

Topics

Physicochemical properties of drugs

Physicochemical properties of drugs of relevance to drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME).

Formulations for the delivery of drugs

Properties of solids, solid dosage forms, solvents, solutes, solutions, aqueous and non-aqueous solutions, liquid-liquid solutions, solid-liquid solutions, gas-liquid solutions, suspensions, and emulsions.

Drug and chemical stability

Mechanisms of degradation (hydrolysis, oxidation), zero and first-order degradation, the effect of temperature and pH.

Solubility

Factors affecting solubility, dissolution, partition, and thermodynamics of pharmaceutical solutions.

Drug formulation

Materials and methods used in the formulation of drug delivery systems for common routes of administration, including oral, pulmonary, transdermal, parenteral, ophthalmic, nasal, rectal, and vaginal.

Pharmaceutical Microbiology

Preservation, antimicrobial agents, and sterilisation processes.

Content assessed

Topics

Drug metabolism

Chemical and biochemical basis for drug action and pathways for drug metabolism, drug absorption, disposition, biotransformation, elimination, receptor theory, signal transduction mechanisms, and molecular pharmacology.

Principles of pharmacokinetics

Bioavailability and bioequivalence, biological half-life, elimination and clearance concepts, distribution, protein binding, steady state considerations.

Factors affecting drug impacts

Determinants of drug onset, drug duration, and effect of factors such as disease/conditions and diet on absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.

Evaluation of pharmacokinetic data

Kinetics of drug interactions, drug concentration vs time curves and interpretation of pharmacokinetics of low-therapeutic-index drugs.

Using pharmacokinetic data in treating patients

Use of pharmacokinetics to calculate, evaluate, and individualise drug therapy, including monitoring and adjustment of doses in renal and hepatic dysfunction, loading and time to reach a steady state.

Content assessed

Topics

Impact of drugs on the body

Effects of drugs on organs and body systems, dose-response relationships, agonists, partial agonists, antagonists, enzyme inducers/substrates/inhibitors, genetic polymorphism, and clinical relevance.

Receptor theory

Drug receptor interactions, agonists/antagonists, dose-response curves, desensitisation, and super sensitivity.

Mechanisms of action of drugs

Mechanisms of action of various drug categories as they relate to organs and disease states. Including but not limited to central nervous system pharmacology, cardiovascular pharmacology, haemostasis and thrombosis, cancer chemotherapy, antihypertensives, and drugs for dyslipidaemia.

Adverse drug reactions

Adverse drug reactions, side effects of medicines and management and mechanisms of drug-drug interactions.

Drug interactions

Drug-drug interactions, drug-receptor interactions, drug-receptor binding, enzyme-substrate relationships, hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions.

Drug toxicity and treatment

Drug and chemical overdose and antidotes. Signs and symptoms of toxicity and mechanism of toxicity and its management.

Factors causing changes in the pharmacology and toxicity of drugs

Modulators of drug pharmacology and toxicity include pharmacologic factors (disposition, biotransformation, renal elimination), physiological factors (age, sex, genetics, pregnancy, etc), and pathophysiological factors (liver disease, renal dysfunction).

Content assessed

Topics

Screening

Calculation of common patient assessment parameters such as body mass index (BMI) and creatinine clearance.

Dose calculations

Amount of drug, number of doses, dosing based on body weight/ body surface area/ age/or other pharmacokinetic parameters, ratio and proportion, percentage, stock solutions, dilution and concentration, allegation, electrolyte solutions (milliequivalents/milliosmoles), reconstitution, infusion flow rates, isotonicity.

Primary health care

Selection of appropriate management options for treating illness and maintaining health and identification of circumstances where non pharmacological treatment is more appropriate.

Safe and effective use of medicines in populations requiring extended consideration

Consideration for medicine use, precautions, and contraindications in special populations: the elderly, children less than 12 years of age, during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.

Safe and effective use of medicines

Monitoring and review of management options, including medicines use and promoting adherence to medicines.

Harm minimisation

Knowledge about strategies for minimising misuse and abuse of medicines at the patient and community level.

Health promotion and disease prevention

Knowledge about general approaches for health promotion and disease prevention. Measures for promoting wellness proper use of nonpharmacological treatment options.

Confidentiality

Understanding of general principles about maintaining confidentiality and professionalism when providing medicines information and handling patient records.

Aspect

Details

Format

Computer-based, multiple-choice questions (MCQs)

Number of Papers

One single paper

Number of Questions

120

Duration

2.5 hours

Breaks

No breaks are allowed during the exam

Cost

AUD 2190

Test centres

Multiple test centres worldwide

Testing Methodology

Rasch methodology

Result Availability

Within 4 weeks post-exam