Syllabus

Department:                 Chemical Dependency Studies

Instructor:                    Beverly Warman, M.Ed.

                                    Office: 2221H Wenatchi Hall

                                    Phone number: 682-6676

                                    Email:  bwarman@wvc.edu

                                    Office hours: Tuesday - Thursday 10-11 am, Fridays by appointment

Class Number:             CDS 101           5 credits

Course Description:   Physiological Action of Alcohol and Other Drugs

The human body’s physical response to alcohol and other drugs; current research findings; basic information and terminology essential for working on treatment teams with physicians and nurses and for communicating with patients and families.

Learning Outcomes:  The intention is for you to be able to:

1.     Discuss basic drug kinetics, including absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and physiology.

2.     Categorize psychoactive drugs into appropriate class, including depressants, stimulants, opiates, hallucinogens and psychotropic medications.

3.     Identify the acute and chronic effects of each drug class, including clinically relevant interactions between drug classes.

4.     Discuss the specific behavioral and neurological aspects of drug action as they relate to the addictive process.

5.     Discuss pertinent human physiology relative to use of alcohol and other drugs of abuse.

Performance Tasks:   The learning outcomes can be demonstrated by these tasks that progressively build to conscious application of basic counseling skill.

1.     Understanding anatomy, physiology, and medical terminology.

2.     Obtaining knowledge of the basics of pharmacology

3.     Developing a systematic classification scheme which describes the major classes of psychoactive drugs.

4.     Knowing the acute and chronic effects of each drug class and interactions between classes.

5.     Understanding the behavioral and neurological aspects of addiction.

6.     Learning the pharmacotherapeutic intervention and detoxification/withdrawal syndrome management.

Depth of Instruction:  This is an overview class that will focus on the pharmacological aspects of drug use.

Assessment:  Grades will be determined based on points gained from quizzes, tests, papers, and other assignments.  Attendance will also be taken into account in the final grading process.

Exams:  Exams will cover assigned reading, lecture and assignments.  Please be aware that I will not lecture on every piece of the text and handouts, but you are still responsible for knowing this material unless I tell you otherwise.

Policy on late assignments:  I will not accept ANY late assignments.  All assignments are due when I ask for them, usually at the beginning of class. If you will not be in class for some reason, please get me your homework via email, a friend, etc.

Policy on extra credit:  As a rule, I don’t allow extra credit assignments.  Occasionally a situation such as a movie, program, conference, etc. comes up that I believe would be appropriate for an extra credit assignment.  If appropriate, it will be available to every student, and it will be each student’s decision whether they want to take the opportunity.

Make-up exams:  I don’t allow make-up exams unless there is a very good reason for them. I wanted to spend time with my aunt from Florida is not a good reason.  If an illness prevents you from being in class however, let me know asap.  In the event that a make-up exam is warranted, it needs to be completed within 2 days of the original exam, or your score will be “0”.

Students in need of accommodations:  If any student has a documented disability that will require accommodation in this class, please see Carla Boyd, the Special Populations Coordinator.  Carla’s extention is 6854.

Academic honesty:  Please review the policies of WVC regarding academic honesty in the WVC handbook.  Any issues involving academic dishonesty will be handled according to these policies/procedures.

This is a breakdown of grading in this course.  To find out where you stand at any point, take your total points (determined by adding up points of all of your assignments) and divide that by the total number of points available to date.

Point scale for grading:

A = 94-100%                             C+ = 77-79%                             D+ = 67-69%

A - = 90-93%                             C = 74-76%                               D = 64-66%

B+ = 86-89%                             C- = 70-73%                              D- = 60-63%

B = 83-85%                                                                                 F = 59% or Below

B- = 80-82%

**FINAL EXAM IS MARCH 19^th 1:00 to 3:00!!**

You will have a final unless otherwise specified by the instructor

Learning Resources:  The following is the required text for this class:

Uppers, Downers and All Arounders, Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, Darryl S. Inaba, Pharm.D. and William E. Cohen, seventh edition

Recommended:

DSM IV-TR Desk Reference, American Psychiatric Association

CDS 101 Winter 2012