This is the latest edition of a textbook that has been a staple in veterinary technology programs for many years. Revised in 2004, the book now also offers complementary online content (through the Evolve website hosted by Elsevier). This innovation should ensure that the third edition of Applied Pharmacology for the Veterinary Technician has a longer shelf life than previous editions, as regular updates are made to the material.
The book's presentation and format encourages the reader to develop a basic familiarity with each topic by providing an outline, learning objectives, and definitions of key terms at the beginning of each chapter. Diagrams, tables, and "Technician's Notes" throughout the chapter continuously engage the reader and emphasize important ideas. Review questions at the end of each chapter allow readers to test their understanding of concepts and review as needed.
The text begins with the fundamentals of pharmacology, providing students a foundation for understanding the history, regulation, and development of veterinary drugs, the movement and actions of drugs in the patient's body, and drug choices and regimens.
Chapter Two describes routes and techniques of drug administration. Pictures, diagrams, and step-by-step instructions provide guidance to students who are learning clinical procedures as well as theory. The next chapter covers pharmacological calculations. This very short section discusses the rationale and works sample problems for each type of calculation.
Subsequent chapters cover medications by body system (nervous system, respiratory, renal, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine, skin, ophthalmic and otic), anti-infectives, anti-inflammatories, fluids and electrolytes, anti-neoplastics and blood-modifiers, immunologicals, and miscellaneous therapeutics.
The final chapter discusses the veterinary technician's role in veterinary pharmacy inventory management, including sections on record-keeping, making accurate counts and placing orders, and using computerized inventory systems.
The online images, outlines, and Web links seem to come directly from the book. As of January 2006, there have been no updates that were observed at the time of this review. The only novel web content that was found is the section in Web Links called "General Resources." The book also offers "interactive exercises" online, to "test students' knowledge of material in the text." But those exercises are not available to students directly. Only verified instructors are allowed to access this portion of the online material (and it currently consists only of a set of 10 dosage calculations problems entered in July 2004). This reviewer does appreciate that some material from the book has been made available online, and remains hopeful that this is an area that will be developed in the future. It would be unfortunate to waste this opportunity to provide modern learning tools.
Veterinary pharmacology is an ever-expanding universe. Deciding what to include in a textbook for veterinary technicians is difficult and somewhat arbitrary. The authors of Applied Pharmacology for the Veterinary Technician have tailored content to reflect the needs of students in veterinary technology college degree programs. Veterinary technicians and assistants using this book as a reference on the job may be frustrated by the lack of some information, such as interventions for adverse drug reactions, cross-referenced lists of names and categories of drugs, and practical applications of drug regulations in the veterinary hospital.
Detailed information about medical management of disease, alternative medicines, anesthetics, emergency medical treatment, and medical mathematics can be found in other, subject-specific textbooks. This book focuses primarily on the description of specific medications and their effects on the body. Veterinary technicians and hospital personnel can use this text as a drug reference and calculations refresher; veterinarians should keep a copy on their hospital library shelf.
Elsevier (USA) (Copyright 2004).
ISBN: 978-0721603827.