Perfect Bridge Between Medical and Pharmacy Education: Physiology-Pathophysiology-Pharmacology
By Sandor Szabo, MD, PhD. MPH, DSc (h.c.), Professor, School of Medicine & School of Pharmacy
This historic bridge between these three basic sciences represents the core principles and goals in teaching medical and pharmacy students. In medical schools, another basic element is gross and microscopic (histology) anatomy, while those students also need to dive into biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, before starting to learn about clinical disciplines. In pharmacy schools, of course, come the truly pharmacy-related applied sciences, legal topics, and practice-related assignments.
A good example of this historic bridge has been our recent, ongoing 2nd-year interdisciplinary course on endocrine and gastrointestinal (GI) diseases that covers the pathophysiologic, pharmacologic, and therapeutic aspects of these disorders. Namely, Prof. Oksana Zayachkivska is a high-level member, named “representative” of one of the oldest scientific societies in the world, i.e., the Physiological Society (U.K.), which designated November 17-21, 2025, as “Physiology Week.” Thus, Dr. Oksana Z., who is a teaching faculty member in our Endocrine-GI block, a few weeks ago invited students to prepare short presentations (max. 10 slides for 10 min) on “GLP-1 agonists: Why GLP-1 medications are a tool and not a solution.” This is, indeed, a very timely topic, since the discovery of more than 20 years ago resulted in the development of several commercial drugs (e.g., semaglutide – Ozempic, Wegovy) that control not only diabetes mellitus (DM) but also lead to bodyweight loss.
Virtually all pharmacy students of Cohort 6 took up this short assignment, along with a nursing student, and they made very impressive presentations in our course on November 17, 2025. Several faculty members also listened to these presentations. Each presenting student received a certificate and an AUHS T-shirt:
Thus, as one of the introductory slides of Dr. Oksana Z. indicated, with this local program, “we have been on the global map of science,” consistent with the long-standing goals of AUHS schools: from local to global engagements.
References
- GLP-1 drug approvals: A breakdown. Hospital Rev. Nov.10, 2025: GLP-1 drug approvals
- Drucker DJ: Discovery of GLP-1-based drugs for the treatment of obesity. NEJM. 2025, 392, 612-615.
- The Physiology Week 2025 website: https://www.physoc.org/physiologyweek/
