Posted: September 16th, 2017

compare and contrast essay 1500 words

compare and contrast essay 1500 words

Order Description

This assignment is an essay.

The wordcount is limited to 1500 words. The word count does not include the reference list.

This task is intended to familiarise you with the key pharmacological concepts.

Choose ONE of the following drug pairs. For your essay COMPARE and CONTRAST the similarities and differences between the drugs with respect to pharmacokinetics and pharmacodymanics.

ibuprofen/paracetamol

Use the non-proprietary names for the drugs throughout your essay.

Use resources such as journal articles, medical and scientific text books, or scientific web based resources (e.g. NIH website, American Heart Association website). DO NOT use websites that include “.com” in their web address as they are usually commercial websites that are targeted at promoting a particular viewpoint related to economic gain.
Please also use medical pharmacology at a glance, Seventh Edition – micheal J Neal as one of the references.

For your essay:
1. Provide a brief descriptive title of no more than 10 words. Include in the title the drug group that your chosen pair belong to.
2. Introduce the drugs and specify their actions and indications;
3. Describe the pharmacokinetics of each drug comparing the following:
a. How is the drug administered?
b. How is the drug absorbed?
c. What is the bioavailability and half-life of the drug?
d. How is it distributed in the body?
e. How is the drug metabolised?
f. How is the drug excreted?
4. Detail and compare the pharmocodynamics of the drugs. Include the following information:
a. What is the mechanism of action of the drug? If this currently unknown, what is it thought to be?
b. What is the molecular target of the drug?
c. What is the effect of the drug after it binds to its molecular target. Remember you are comparing the two drugs so a step by step comparison is appropriate here.
d. Explain how the mechanism of action of the drug is related to its side effects.

Writing format. See notes under assessment presentation.

This exercise is designed to develop your ability to identify and communicate scientific and clinical details in a concise written format, using appropriate referencing. The word limit is a maximum and markers are not obliged to read beyond the set word limit. This is an essay – subheadings, dot points and tables are NOT to be used. Remember that you are required to compare and contrast the characteristics of the drugs not just list characteristics of each. The assignment should be written in a fluent and economical sentence structure and include correctly formatted in-text referencing according to APA referencing style.

An APA referencing guide is available through the subject’s interact site and in-text and reference list formats must rigidly adhere to this style. (Marks will be deducted for incorrect formatting). The reference list (correctly formatted) should follow the main section and would not be expected to contain more than 6 references including at least one recent journal article relevant to the topic.

Files must be submitted via EASTS in *.doc, *.docx format, and include a word count below the references list.

Rationale
The purpose of this assessment item is to allow students to explore in greater detail important subject content areas.

This assessment item assesses the following learning outcomes provided in this subject outline (p.3):
* define common pharmacological terms;
* describe the four pharmacokinetic processes (absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination);