Memorizing Pharmacology Mnemonics

By: Tony Guerra

Narrated by: Michael Lenz

Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

This fast and easy pharmacology review through mnemonics recognizes that many future nurses, doctors, physician assistants, and pharmacists (chemists) have families, jobs, and other responsibilities. Do you have time enough time to make 100 percent sure you will pass in the classroom or on the board exam? For most students taking the NCLEX, NAPLEX, USMLE Step-1, PANCE, GPHC, or KAPS exam, the answer is no. 

I wrote this mnemonic guide as an audiobook first to help you remember pharmacology drug names and principles quickly. While in the classroom your professors might say memorization doesn't matter, but you can't bring outside material to the board exam, so for this test, you do need to work on memory training. You already know the consequences of failing a class or board exam, so let's make sure that doesn't happen by getting pharmacology organized in your head once and for all. 

©2018 Tony Guerra (P)2018 Tony Guerra

This book helped me

I enjoyed the audible as well as the book, it helped me to remember the different types of drugs by the mnemonics that were listed as well as what each drug and its side effects are. I would definitely recommend this book as well as the audible for anyone who needs help with pharmacology and another way to remember these different types of drugs as well as what the side effects are. Here are some examples from the audible that helped me with my quiz/exams:

BUILD A BARRIER (affects the intestine)

B: Bismuth Subsalicylate
UIL: Loperamide
D: Diphenoxylate

A: Atropine

BARRIER

MORPHINE (side effects)

M: Mu Receptor
O: Opioid Sedation
R: Respiratory Depression
P: Pinpoint pupils
H: Hypotension, Orthostatic
I: Impaction, Constipation
N: Nausea, Emesis
E: Euphoria

ABCD RHYME (antihistamines)

A: Anticholinergic
B: Brompheniramine
C: Chlorpheniramine
D: Diphenhydramine

R: Rest, Sedation Causing
HY: Hydroxyzine
ME: Meclizine

15 of 15 people found this review helpful

Lucyjam.Pham student

When I started my class it was very confusing and I got a little frustrated trying to memorize 200 drugs in you blue book Memorizing Pharmacology. It was up until I learned using your Mnemonics that everything started sinking in my head .I like this book so much because I can listen it anywhere.I have so far learned new ones in this new book. I like how you come up with Mnemonics that really suits into place like tumor medication Mnemonics FLAWEDATLAST, or sedatives APEZZ , cardiac drugs ABCD and birth control SAVETONIGHT.I like cardiac the most because ABCD is also used a lot in emergency situations. So think of heart being an important organ.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Love mnemonics!

I love learning using mnemonics! I really appreciate that Dr. Guerra considers that all students are in different places in their learning process and learn differently! This book helped me a ton!!! I feel that even though pharmacology is an extremely complex topic, this book helps to simplify it.
When medications have different stems sometimes it is hard to remember what they are grouped with. One mnemonic that really helped me was RIPER, the meds in this category; Rifampin, Isoniazid, Pyrazinamide, Ethambutol, Rifabutin are used for anti-tuberculosis. These meds don't have much in common as far as stems go (except for Rif in 2 of them.) this mnemonic was very useful.
I would recommend this book to any student needing to learn pharmacology, especially one with very little medical background as this book does help to make things a tiny bity easier, and we all know we need that!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great Tool for Nursing Program

I think the Mnemonics are very useful for trying to remember everything needed for getting ready for the NCLEX. I believe this is a great tool, but I would not use this as my primary source for learning the drugs because there are so many. A few of the ones that have stuck while taking this course are:
Mu receptor
Opioid sedation
Respiratory depression
Pinpoint pupils
Hypotension, orthostatic
Impaction/constipation
Nausea/emesis
Euphoria
and
Buspirone
Extended time to start working
Clonazepam
Alprazolam
Lorazepam
Midazolam

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great Audible Book

I have found this audible easy to listen to and love the clever use of the mnemonics used because it helps me to remember not only my drug names but what they are used for. My favorite three mnemonics in this audible so far are BECALM (medications used to reduce anxiety), CALMEDADHD, and PAINNMEDS.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great for Nursing students!

I am a BSN student and this book helped me in my pharmacology class, along with Guerra's other book Memorizing Pharmacology A Relaxed Approach. This book goes more in depth and helped me better understand the different drugs. This book has more than 500 drugs that will help me for the remainder of my nursing program and also into my career.
I appreciate the way this book is organized as it goes through the drugs in different groups than the other book. I learn best with repetition so reading one book and then the next was very helpful to me. I also like that this book suggested many mnemonics that will be helpful when I take my final of all 200 drugs. This book can be a bit overwhelming with so much information about each drug. That is why having both books can be helpful because I can refer to Memorizing Pharmacology for the basic information.
Overall, I would highly recommend purchasing both books like I did in order to really memorize these drugs. They will both be helpful resources for a Nursing student or someone in a pharmacology class.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Helped with Exam

I am currently a nursing student taking a pharmacology course and this book was a great resource for studying for my exams. We just took an exam about the neurological medications and this book was a good help in studying for that exam. The APEZZ acronym and RESTT acronyms helped me remember a number of these medications.
I would use this audiobook while I was driving to school and back because I have a 15 minute drive, so it was nice to use this to listen, learn, and study for this upcoming exam. It was extremely helpful to listen to this while I was driving because it let my brain absorb the information easier than just reading it over and over again.
This audiobook was helpful in reviewing acronyms for certain drug names and also certain drug side effects and I sometimes would just go back and replay the acronyms over and over again and write them down at the same time to help remember them and make sure I understood them and where they came from.
I highly recommend this book, especially in audio form to help study for exams!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

You need this book if you are taking pharm!

This book has been a game changer for me in pharmacology. I had no idea what to expect the first few weeks in regards to quizzes and tests, so i am SO THANKFUL I had a tool to help me memorize drugs and classes before i knew how to navigate exams.

Mnemonics are so much easier to store in memory than remembering every single drug name, every single class, side effect, generic vs. brand, etc. Use this book to your advantage! It will cut down your studying time by decreasing the amount of time and energy you have to spend memorizing. I also have found that these mnemonics have helped me remember drugs and classes long term. Usually, I take a test and forget the information right away. But, I am still able to recall the mnemonics from the first week of the semester and it has been over 2 months!

For an example, one of the first mnemonics i learned was for H2RA's- the mnemonic is CALIFORNIA H2:
Cimetidine
Androgenic effects
Liver enzymes interact
Increase QT interval with other QT drugs
Famotidine
O
Ranitidine
Nizatidine
I
Adjust for renal disease

This stuff is so much harder to learn and remember without easy mnemonics. Get this book!!!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Pharm Student

When I started my pharmacology class I was confused and scared at the fact that I had to memorize all 200 drugs in order to be successful in the class. I was told by other students to purchase the blue book along with this one. I like the fact that I could listen to it anytime and anywhere. Having a busy schedule, I don't always remember to take my book with me places so now I can listen to a chapter on the go which is awesome. I love the fact that the author created awesome and easy mnemonics that can stick quickly. Like the sedatives medication APEZZ and Lasix=LAsts SIX hours. I really enjoy the fact that I am able to test myself with the quizzes after each chapter it really helps me with my weekly quizzes. I'm going to continue to use this book throughout my nursing school journey and career.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Jo

This book was extremely helpful especially for the Neuro chapters. the drug names that had similar endings scared me at first sight, but after reading the whole paragraph of each drug i mastered them easily. He has these little stories and made up words that really rhyme in your head and allow you to remember the brand and generic names easily. The Orange book used with the blue Memorizing pharmacology will allow you to succeed any pharmacology course.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

PharmD Student

For anyone studying pharmacology, this audiobook is great! Would recommend for anyone who is approaching it for the first time or has had trouble learning to get a snapshot of pharmacology through mnemonics that are very easy to listen to and learn. I love how it’s broken down by disease states and groups drug classes together!

great book!

current US pharm.D student, excellent mnemonic for memorization, greatly helped me out in remembering pharmacology.