Re: your personal acronyms/ methods to memorize trade/generic?

[Guest guest]

> im having trouble with alprazolam and fluoxetine brand.

> do you have any to share??? I would love to know to help me learn

I distilled Drug Topics' Top-200 data for 5 years (2005-2009) down to 224 drug

names. Basically, this represents the top-224 meds prescribed over a 5-year

period. Broader coverage than just 1 year. And, I rolled up a lot duplications

in Drug Topics' data. (For example, their 2009 data had 4 generic names for

Wellbutrin. And, they reported Endocet separately when it's just another brand

name for OxyCodone/APAP, like Percocet.).

I also created another 72 cards for other popular drugs not in that 5-year

Top-224. Drugs I've seen advertised on teevee. Or, discussed in older exam prep

books. I call it " EXTRA CREDIT. "

Anyway, I added a number of mnemonics to those decks.

1. Download Anki at http://ankisrs.net/

2. After installing, use " File->Download->Shared Deck " and type " PTCB " in the

search field. You should see " Top-224 Prescribed Generic Drugs 2009-2005 "

.... 2a. Look for the " EXTRA CREDIT " deck too.

3. Double-click to download.

Anki has a lot of flexibility and *power*. But, that also means it has more

learning curve than the simpler (flatter) card systems. Overall, it's worth the

effort to orient yourself to it. It uses spaced repetition (unlike flat card

systems). It's based upon the same premise as learning systems like Pimsleur.

You learn more by recalling information at certain intervals. (Not just flat

repetition.). There is an intro video at http://ankisrs.net/

I memorized 224 cards in about 3 weeks. And, the 72 additional cards in about 10

days.

Anyway, getting to your question about Fluoxetine. I have a mnemonic. But, IMO,

you don't need a mnemonic for every drug. In some cases, the effort to imagine

one can be more than the effort of just memorizing the association through brute

force.

I think their benefit is: for drug names where a mnemonic comes naturally, it

reduces the work load to memorize the non-mnemonic drugs using brute force. In

other words, I wouldn't try to apply a mnemonic to everything. Just look at it

as a way to *reduce* the number of drugs you'll have to memorize the hard way.

The fewer of those you have, the easier they'll be.

I think I went overboard on a few mnemonics. For example, oxycodone, hydrocodone

and propoxyphene. I still had to memorize them the hard way. But, for the most

part, they made a *BIG* difference.

Memorizing drug names is harder than learning a foreign language. At least with

a foreign language you associate an unknown word to a known one. " Quanto " means

" how much? "

With drug names, it's like learning Martian and Venucian. " aoxoidp[aosid " means

" poasiocsuosdjf " . There's no way I could have memorized 300 of those in a month

without using a mnemonic for most of them.

I haven't been reading this group for about a year. I'm not sure how long I'll

keep reading. I just wanted to pop in with an update and assessment of how the

exam works. Saw this thread about flashcards and wanted to add my 5-year

re-ranking (plus extra-credit, and spaced-repetition tool which is much better

than flat-card systems, but has an initial cost orienting oneself to it.).

Hope that helps.

[Guest guest]

HI Amigo Boy 2000,

 

Yes Anki is nice. One of my members ( I apologize as I do not recall who)

mentioned it some time in the last two months. I checked it out while on campus

and downloaded it there. Had fun.

 

Thanks for sharing again.  You have much useful information.

 

I only recommend mnemonics for difficult to memorize names.

 

I use the digoxin/Lanoxin example to show its simplicity as I don't think this

T/g combination really requires a mnemonic.

 

I do agree with your reasoning with regards to memorizing Trade/generics and

language differs. A good point.  But I have to say that my students in my live

classroom do have something tangible to memorize. because they actually handle

drug packages, see them and also learn about pharmacology at the same time and

practice filling cassettes, dispensing prescriptions etc. So it is a bit

different for those people on this site who are either working or in school

handling and seeing the drugs and putting the pharmacology together with the

Trade and generic names. 

 

Allow me to explain something about various names of drugs:

 

1. There are Brand or Trade names of drugs. Tylenol, named by the original

manufacture (Mc Neil) that holds the original patent 

2.  chemical names of drugs that are usually long (N-acetyl P-amino phenol)

3.  generic names of drugs that are usually shortened chemical names

(acetaminophen), but not always.

4. Abbreviations for the chemical or generic name are convenient to use: APAP

(first a, first p, second a, second p in  N-acetyl P-amino phenol)

5. After the patent expires, any one can make a generic version of the trade and

call it what ever they like. Most 'generic manufactures' just call it by their

Mfg name and the generic name.  BUT occasionally some mfg's give the drug their

own BRAND name for the generic name. This is because the company says they want

to compete with the original manufacture of theTrade name  at a higher price,

NOT the generic companies that sell the drug under the generic name at a lower

cost.

 

An example of this is:

Procardia is the ORIGINAL Trade name made by Pfizer (a big well known company

makes Viagra)

for the chemical named: 3,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,

6-dimethyl-4-(2-nitrophenyl)-, dimethyl ester

and the generic name of  nifedipine

After 17 years (the length of a drug patent at the time) everyone and their

grandmother decided to make a generic nifedipine

BUT another WELL KNOWN company called Bayer Corp decided NOT to make generic

nifedipine and compete with generic nifedipine, but rather  make nifedipine and

give it THEIR own BRAND or TRADE name to compete with Procardia. Bayer Corp

called their nifedipine Adalat and had it compete with it Pfizer's  Procardia.

This is what is called a 'generic Brand name' or simply a " generic Brand " . 

It gets quite confusing for most newbies.

 

But it is really a lot like  this:

- is a company that made Kleenex the Trade name for

the FIRST ORIGINAL facial tissue invented to remove cold cream in 1924.

No time had to expire for this non-drug , no patent issues, so when it hit the

market big

every company wanted a piece of the pie. In the drug world there is a patent

that

gives the drug company time to recoop losses for research time.

So not only did we have non -major companies unheard of companies making 'facial

tissue. of which NONE could call Kleenex legally, we had a MAJOR paper company

also

want to make facial tissue, but instead of competing with other lower cost

generic facial tissue it decided to compete with Kleenex directly by making

a packaging and advertising campaign to compete directly. This company was

called

, thus we have facial tissue. But again not a special name for it

just

the MFG name = and the generic name 'facial tissue'.

 

In the drug world if a second  drug company wishes to compete with the original

manufactures Trade name, they can make their OWN trade name. BUT this must occur

AFTER the patent expires. Thus this TRADE name is called a " generic Brand "  

meaning that it is a generic drug with a Brand or Trade name to compete against

the original Brand or Trade name drug, instead of competing against the

generics.

 

So we saw Tissue competing against Kleenex and Ralphs brand of facial

tissue and many other off company's knock off facial tissues.

These generic facial tissues are easy to spot because they only have the Mfg

name plus the generic name.   

Along comes another famous  BIG company Proctor and Gamble, famous for many

things other than paper, recall is famous for paper goods only. P and G 

entered into the facial tissue market in the 1970's. It hit the market big with

its OWN brand name of facial tissues called " Puffs " .  The word Kleenex is now

commonly used to describe any soft facial tissue. However, Kleenex is the

trademarked name of the soft facial tissue manufactured and sold by the

- Corporation.

 

NOW we can take a look at the generic DRUG market. NO ONE can call a nifedipine

made by Pfizer an Adalat!  vice versa! While both have the same chemical

ingredient, nifedipine with the same classification and MOA as a CCB calcium

channel blocker, they are considered interchangable, but not identical.

In addition, some parts of the names have to do with strength or sustained

release which would mean that Phizer's Procardia could not be substituted for

sustained release nifedipine or for Adalat CC or Procardial XL for that matter.

 

So while learning about Class II, addictive Percocet, Endocet, OxyContin,

oxycodone with acetaminopen, in order to handle these drugs/dispense them,

shelve them etc, one must know the suttle differences. Newbies have a difficult

time seeing these differences. Their similarities are much more pronounced.

There is much controversy surrounding these specific drug formulations at this

time; their legal status and interchangability. I won't bore anyone with that at

this time, but suffice it to say Endocet is a generic Brand, while OxyContin is

a TIMED Release drug and NOT interchangeable at all. OxyContin is a TRADE name

for timed release oxycodone and acetaminophen made by Purdue Pharmaceuticals.The

manufacturing rights for a time-released generic oxycodone are under dispute.

These are NOT considered the same drug per se.

 

In 2010, the brand name or Trade name OxyContin by Purdue was reformulated in

order to prevent the misuse, abuse, addiction and diversion of the tablets with

its ingredients. Special additional ingredients that are non-therapeutic, such

as binders were added to prevent the grinding of tablets for inhalation or

injection yet to preserve OxyContin's extended release properties/formulation.

Physicians have been prescribing the new OP tablets more often to do their part

in prevention of drug diversion and addiction compared to the previous generic

OC's.  

The active ingredient is supposed to do the same thing for pain, but  some

complaints are:

1.  the new formulation's efficiency for relieving pain (severely reduced

effectiveness)

2.  pills arenot absorbed, but ratherare excreted in a waxy mass

3.  increased side effects 

 

Some people are trying to take legal action against Purdue Pharma's 'OP " , 

even recreational users! Time will tell - pardon the pun.

 

Well hope this helped someone out there.

 

Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS

Founder/Owner

 

From: az2008za <amigo_boy2000@...>

Subject: Re: your personal acronyms/ methods to

memorize trade/generic?

Date: Saturday, April 30, 2011, 10:54 PM

> im having trouble with alprazolam and fluoxetine brand.

> do you have any to share??? I would love to know to help me learn

I distilled Drug Topics' Top-200 data for 5 years (2005-2009) down to 224 drug

names. Basically, this represents the top-224 meds prescribed over a 5-year

period. Broader coverage than just 1 year. And, I rolled up a lot duplications

in Drug Topics' data. (For example, their 2009 data had 4 generic names for

Wellbutrin. And, they reported Endocet separately when it's just another brand

name for OxyCodone/APAP, like Percocet.).

I also created another 72 cards for other popular drugs not in that 5-year

Top-224. Drugs I've seen advertised on teevee. Or, discussed in older exam prep

books. I call it " EXTRA CREDIT. "

Anyway, I added a number of mnemonics to those decks.

1. Download Anki at http://ankisrs.net/

2. After installing, use " File->Download->Shared Deck " and type " PTCB " in the

search field. You should see " Top-224 Prescribed Generic Drugs 2009-2005 "

.... 2a. Look for the " EXTRA CREDIT " deck too.

3. Double-click to download.

Anki has a lot of flexibility and *power*. But, that also means it has more

learning curve than the simpler (flatter) card systems. Overall, it's worth the

effort to orient yourself to it. It uses spaced repetition (unlike flat card

systems). It's based upon the same premise as learning systems like Pimsleur.

You learn more by recalling information at certain intervals. (Not just flat

repetition.). There is an intro video at http://ankisrs.net/

I memorized 224 cards in about 3 weeks. And, the 72 additional cards in about 10

days.

Anyway, getting to your question about Fluoxetine. I have a mnemonic. But, IMO,

you don't need a mnemonic for every drug. In some cases, the effort to imagine

one can be more than the effort of just memorizing the association through brute

force.

I think their benefit is: for drug names where a mnemonic comes naturally, it

reduces the work load to memorize the non-mnemonic drugs using brute force. In

other words, I wouldn't try to apply a mnemonic to everything. Just look at it

as a way to *reduce* the number of drugs you'll have to memorize the hard way.

The fewer of those you have, the easier they'll be.

I think I went overboard on a few mnemonics. For example, oxycodone, hydrocodone

and propoxyphene. I still had to memorize them the hard way. But, for the most

part, they made a *BIG* difference.

Memorizing drug names is harder than learning a foreign language. At least with

a foreign language you associate an unknown word to a known one. " Quanto " means

" how much? "

With drug names, it's like learning Martian and Venucian. " aoxoidp[aosid " means

" poasiocsuosdjf " . There's no way I could have memorized 300 of those in a month

without using a mnemonic for most of them.

I haven't been reading this group for about a year. I'm not sure how long I'll

keep reading. I just wanted to pop in with an update and assessment of how the

exam works. Saw this thread about flashcards and wanted to add my 5-year

re-ranking (plus extra-credit, and spaced-repetition tool which is much better

than flat-card systems, but has an initial cost orienting oneself to it.).

Hope that helps.

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

WOW...I'd love to read more your email regarding about this topic...You

explained very very details.... i haven't get a chance to say thanks so much for

took time to write a very detail message. Please explain more and more if you

have time.

THANKS Jeanetta

From: az2008za <amigo_boy2000@...>

Subject: Re: your personal acronyms/ methods to

memorize trade/generic?

Date: Saturday, April 30, 2011, 10:54 PM

> im having trouble with alprazolam and fluoxetine brand.

> do you have any to share??? I would love to know to help me learn

I distilled Drug Topics' Top-200 data for 5 years (2005-2009) down to 224 drug

names. Basically, this represents the top-224 meds prescribed over a 5-year

period. Broader coverage than just 1 year. And, I rolled up a lot duplications

in Drug Topics' data. (For example, their 2009 data had 4 generic names for

Wellbutrin. And, they reported Endocet separately when it's just another brand

name for OxyCodone/APAP, like Percocet.).

I also created another 72 cards for other popular drugs not in that 5-year

Top-224. Drugs I've seen advertised on teevee. Or, discussed in older exam prep

books. I call it " EXTRA CREDIT. "

Anyway, I added a number of mnemonics to those decks.

1. Download Anki at http://ankisrs.net/

2. After installing, use " File->Download->Shared Deck " and type " PTCB " in the

search field. You should see " Top-224 Prescribed Generic Drugs 2009-2005 "

.... 2a. Look for the " EXTRA CREDIT " deck too.

3. Double-click to download.

Anki has a lot of flexibility and *power*. But, that also means it has more

learning curve than the simpler (flatter) card systems. Overall, it's worth the

effort to orient yourself to it. It uses spaced repetition (unlike flat card

systems). It's based upon the same premise as learning systems like Pimsleur.

You learn more by recalling information at certain intervals. (Not just flat

repetition.). There is an intro video at http://ankisrs.net/

I memorized 224 cards in about 3 weeks. And, the 72 additional cards in about 10

days.

Anyway, getting to your question about Fluoxetine. I have a mnemonic. But, IMO,

you don't need a mnemonic for every drug. In some cases, the effort to imagine

one can be more than the effort of just memorizing the association through brute

force.

I think their benefit is: for drug names where a mnemonic comes naturally, it

reduces the work load to memorize the non-mnemonic drugs using brute force. In

other words, I wouldn't try to apply a mnemonic to everything. Just look at it

as a way to *reduce* the number of drugs you'll have to memorize the hard way.

The fewer of those you have, the easier they'll be.

I think I went overboard on a few mnemonics. For example, oxycodone, hydrocodone

and propoxyphene. I still had to memorize them the hard way. But, for the most

part, they made a *BIG* difference.

Memorizing drug names is harder than learning a foreign language. At least with

a foreign language you associate an unknown word to a known one. " Quanto " means

" how much? "

With drug names, it's like learning Martian and Venucian. " aoxoidp[aosid " means

" poasiocsuosdjf " . There's no way I could have memorized 300 of those in a month

without using a mnemonic for most of them.

I haven't been reading this group for about a year. I'm not sure how long I'll

keep reading. I just wanted to pop in with an update and assessment of how the

exam works. Saw this thread about flashcards and wanted to add my 5-year

re-ranking (plus extra-credit, and spaced-repetition tool which is much better

than flat-card systems, but has an initial cost orienting oneself to it.).

Hope that helps.

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

You are most welcome.

I have nothing else to say on this subject.

However you are welcome to use the archive search feature to find other topics

that I or others have written about.

With appreciation of your kind words,

Jeanetta Mastron

Founder/Owner

>

> From: az2008za <amigo_boy2000@...>

> Subject: Re: your personal acronyms/ methods to

memorize trade/generic?

>

> Date: Saturday, April 30, 2011, 10:54 PM

>

> > im having trouble with alprazolam and fluoxetine brand.

> > do you have any to share??? I would love to know to help me learn

>

> I distilled Drug Topics' Top-200 data for 5 years (2005-2009) down to 224 drug

names. Basically, this represents the top-224 meds prescribed over a 5-year

period. Broader coverage than just 1 year. And, I rolled up a lot duplications

in Drug Topics' data. (For example, their 2009 data had 4 generic names for

Wellbutrin. And, they reported Endocet separately when it's just another brand

name for OxyCodone/APAP, like Percocet.).

>

> I also created another 72 cards for other popular drugs not in that 5-year

Top-224. Drugs I've seen advertised on teevee. Or, discussed in older exam prep

books. I call it " EXTRA CREDIT. "

>

> Anyway, I added a number of mnemonics to those decks.

>

> 1. Download Anki at http://ankisrs.net/

>

> 2. After installing, use " File->Download->Shared Deck " and type " PTCB " in the

search field. You should see " Top-224 Prescribed Generic Drugs 2009-2005 "

> ... 2a. Look for the " EXTRA CREDIT " deck too.

>

> 3. Double-click to download.

>

> Anki has a lot of flexibility and *power*. But, that also means it has more

learning curve than the simpler (flatter) card systems. Overall, it's worth the

effort to orient yourself to it. It uses spaced repetition (unlike flat card

systems). It's based upon the same premise as learning systems like Pimsleur.

You learn more by recalling information at certain intervals. (Not just flat

repetition.). There is an intro video at http://ankisrs.net/

>

> I memorized 224 cards in about 3 weeks. And, the 72 additional cards in about

10 days.

>

> Anyway, getting to your question about Fluoxetine. I have a mnemonic. But,

IMO, you don't need a mnemonic for every drug. In some cases, the effort to

imagine one can be more than the effort of just memorizing the association

through brute force.

>

> I think their benefit is: for drug names where a mnemonic comes naturally, it

reduces the work load to memorize the non-mnemonic drugs using brute force. In

other words, I wouldn't try to apply a mnemonic to everything. Just look at it

as a way to *reduce* the number of drugs you'll have to memorize the hard way.

The fewer of those you have, the easier they'll be.

>

> I think I went overboard on a few mnemonics. For example, oxycodone,

hydrocodone and propoxyphene. I still had to memorize them the hard way. But,

for the most part, they made a *BIG* difference.

>

> Memorizing drug names is harder than learning a foreign language. At least

with a foreign language you associate an unknown word to a known one. " Quanto "

means " how much? "

>

> With drug names, it's like learning Martian and Venucian. " aoxoidp[aosid "

means " poasiocsuosdjf " . There's no way I could have memorized 300 of those in a

month without using a mnemonic for most of them.

>

> I haven't been reading this group for about a year. I'm not sure how long I'll

keep reading. I just wanted to pop in with an update and assessment of how the

exam works. Saw this thread about flashcards and wanted to add my 5-year

re-ranking (plus extra-credit, and spaced-repetition tool which is much better

than flat-card systems, but has an initial cost orienting oneself to it.).

>

> Hope that helps.

>

> ------------------------------------

> >

[Guest guest]

The other reason there are multiple " brand " name products is the fact that in

different areas of the world, they came out in a different order. Your example

of Adalat and Procardia - in the US Procardia was patented first, in Canada we

never had Procardia, only Adalat had the patent. In Canada, we even had 2

brands of lisinopril both get patents at the same time so there were no generics

for many years but MD's could specify Zestril or Prinivil and if they used the

brand name, you had to dispense that product but if they wrote for lisinopril,

the pharmacy could choose. Patent law is different for each country, and also

be careful if you travel, brand names can be different (eg. Novolog insulin is

NovoRapid in many parts of the world) or even represent a different chemical.

We had one situation where a person from Italy was visiting Niagara Falls. They

left their meds at home and told us the names, the drug they told me was

marketed as a blood pressure pill in Canada, when we checked dale's (a

European drug reference text), that exact same trade name was used for an

anti-inflammatory pill in Italy.

Joy

[Guest guest]

Yes Joy Pharm D Excellent points!

I recall the lisinopril Zestril/Prinivil situation.

Anothe that comes tomind is the name switcharoos! Example

Canada came out with Losec the first PPI (low secretion)

When marketed to the US under that name it had to be changed

as too many people were getting Lasix instead. So for the US

it was called Prilosec (first low secretory drug).

 

Thanks for sharing about the international world.

 

Jeanetta Mastron

Founder/Owner

From: nerissafaye <nerissafaye@...>

Subject: Re: your personal acronyms/ methods to

memorize trade/generic?

Date: Thursday, September 15, 2011, 6:18 AM

 

The other reason there are multiple " brand " name products is the fact that in

different areas of the world, they came out in a different order. Your example

of Adalat and Procardia - in the US Procardia was patented first, in Canada we

never had Procardia, only Adalat had the patent. In Canada, we even had 2 brands

of lisinopril both get patents at the same time so there were no generics for

many years but MD's could specify Zestril or Prinivil and if they used the brand

name, you had to dispense that product but if they wrote for lisinopril, the

pharmacy could choose. Patent law is different for each country, and also be

careful if you travel, brand names can be different (eg. Novolog insulin is

NovoRapid in many parts of the world) or even represent a different chemical. We

had one situation where a person from Italy was visiting Niagara Falls. They

left their meds at home and told us the names, the drug they told me was

marketed as a blood pressure

pill in Canada, when we checked dale's (a European drug reference text),

that exact same trade name was used for an anti-inflammatory pill in Italy.

Joy