PHARMACOGENETICS FOR EVERYONE

Pharmacogenetics is a relatively new science that has not been studied widely in Pharmacy degree programmes. It studies how the genetic profile of patients could influence the results of their drug therapy. Mainly, pharmacogenetics is considered as a tool that contributes to precision medicine since it provides relevant information about the patients and could predict the effectiveness of the drugs or the occurrence of adverse drug reactions. Pharmacists should know the clinical applications of this area of knowledge or at least they should understand its main concepts and basic vocabulary. Besides, the undergraduate students of the fifth year of Pharmacy degree at San Jorge University follow the subject “pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics” under a practical learning strategy and should have the ability to explain its content to pharmacists who are working in pharmacies or patients in general.

For these reasons, a service-learning activity was designed in the context of the subject that involves the students who must select the most relevant information of this science to write an accessible booklet for the general population. This booklet includes general ideas about pharmacogenetics, a glossary of terms, information about the main genes involved in pharmacogenetic studies or frequently asked questions. It will be printed after the revision period by the teachers and will be distribute among pharmacies of the area closed to the University.