Dr. David Maguire and Dr. Greg Collins will be teaming up to teach PHAR 6005, a new course offered in the Spring!

Dr. Maguire answered some questions about the course for interested students!

Q: What inspired you to take on this course and what are you most excited to cover?

UT Health San antonio has an excellent reputation for research and training in biomedical sciences related to substance use. This course is an opportunity to tap into this expertise and enhance graduate education and training in this very important field.

Q: Why do you think this course is important for students?

Students in our graduate programs receive excellent education in various disciplines (e.g., pharmacology, neuroscience, etc) relevant for substance use. This course aims to synthesize information across disciplines to provide a holistic view of issues relevant for understanding, preventing, and treating substance use.

Q: How will the coursework connect to current trends and events?

With record rates of substance use and overdose deaths accumulating over the past decade, this is a very timely and important topic.

Q: With no prerequisites, any graduate student can take this course. How could this be helpful for non-pharmacology students?

Because pharmacology is critical to understanding how drugs work, the course will necessarily cover relevant pharmacological actions of drugs of abuse. However, the course will provide a broader view of substance use, drawing on other fields (e.g., neuroscience, psychology, sociology, etc). An in-depth understanding of pharmacology will not be required for a student to be successful, and this will provide an excellent opportunity for students from other programs to learn basic pharmacological principles in the context of understanding a very important and relevant topic.