Course Description

Pharmacogenomics in Practice is an online course that was developed to teach health care providers how to optimize patient responses to prescription medications by using pharmacogenomic testing.


Pharmacogenomics in Practice was designed to educate lay professional audiences with no genetics background about implementing pharmacogenomic testing in the clinic. This course is for: 

  • Physicians, nurses and other health care providers in family/internal medicine 
  • Health care providers in specialty areas like psychiatry, cardiology, oncology, anesthesiology 
  • Health care providers in the concierge, functional and lifestyle medicine areas 
  • Genetic counselors who want more detailed information about pharmacogenomic resources 
  • Pharmacists who want to know which drugs have the most valid pharmacogenomic tests 
  • Diagnostic labs who want guidance developing pharmacogenomic product offerings 
  • Software companies developing tools to manage pharmacogenomic information 
  • Insurance companies who want to understand how to value pharmacogenomic tests

Learn how to implement and scale pharmacogenomic testing across your practice

Giving patients the best care possible means knowing about the latest tools and technologies for diagnosing and treating disease and being able to evaluate and use them in practice. A single pharmacogenomic test has the potential to improve treatment response in your patients through proper dosing and drug selection.

Molecular basis of drug response   

Get a grasp on the concepts and vocabulary of pharmacogenomics to feel more confident when discussing testing with your colleagues or patients. Learn about genetic differences in drug metabolism; how common rapid or poor metabolizers are; what factors besides genetic variation impacts drug metabolism. 

Pharmacogenomic information in the drug label  

The drug label is a go-to source for prescribing a medication, but it’s not always easy to make sense of pharmacogenomic information in the drug label. Learn what information you can and can’t get from the drug label. 

Clinical validity and utility of pharmacogenomics tests  

There are many pharmacogenomic tests available, but it’s not always clear whether they are any good. Learn about the organizations that evaluate specific genes, the strength of evidence and recommendations to changes to prescribing behavior. Familiarize yourself with tools that you can access to evaluate specific pharmacogenomic tests for their validity and utility. 

Paying for pharmacogenomics  

Lack of insurance coverage can be a deterrent for ordering a pharmacogenomic test. Knowing why certain tests are covered can help you make informed choices about the value of testing in your patients. This section discusses cost-effectiveness studies and reviews tests already covered by insurance. 

Which patients are candidates for pharmacogenomic testing  

Pharmacogenomic testing may not be right for everybody, but being able to recognize which patients might benefit is the first step toward improving medication responses. We’ll walk through various case studies, identifying major categories of patients who could benefit from pharmacogenomic testing. 

Choosing a pharmacogenomics laboratory and test  

With so many laboratories and tests available, the decision about which one to use can be overwhelming. We’ll break down the key factors on which to judge a pharmacogenomic test, review sample test reports from major labs and learn how to navigate the results.


About the course

Pharmacogenomics in Practice consists of the following: 

  • Seven on-demand course videos (total watch time ~2 hour) 
  • Hands-on exercises 
  • An active discussion forum with other Pharmacogenomics in Practice students and faculty 

Please note: We recommend that students taking the Pharmacogenomics in Practice course have a basic understanding of human genetics before enrolling. If you don’t have a background in genetics— or if you want a quick refresher— we offer a free, 30-minute online course, PM101: Human Genomics. 

Course Price

This course is currently offered for free!

The information provided through this course is for educational purposes only and is not meant to substitute for the independent medical judgment of a physician relative to diagnostic and treatment options of a specific patient's medical condition.   

All materials are copyrighted. Republication or redistribution of PMA content is prohibited without prior written consent. PMA shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. 

Instructor

Founder, Precision Medicine Advisors Jeanette McCarthy, PhD

Jeanette McCarthy is a genetic epidemiologist with over 30 years of experience in the field of genomics and precision medicine, working in both academia and industry. She has experience in basic genetic research as well as implementation sciences, developing clinical products and genome interpretation services to support the clinical lab industry. She is an internationally-recognized leading educator in precision medicine. Jeanette launched the first massively open online course (MOOC) on genomic and precision medicine through Coursera in 2014, reaching tens of thousands of learners across the globe. She continued on that mission, launching Precision Medicine Academy in 2017. Through the Academy and her consulting business, Precision Medicine Advisors, Jeanette works to build capacity for implementing precision medicine globally.

Course curriculum

    1. Tell us about yourself

    1. Pharmacogenomics in Practice_Introduction (4 min)

    2. 1. Molecular basis of drug response (14 min)

    3. 2. Pharmacogenomic information in the drug label (5 min)

    4. 3. Clinical validity and utility of PGx tests (9 min)

    5. Exercise 1 - Exploring PharmGKB

    6. Review of exercise 1

    7. 4. Paying for Pharmacogenomics (3 min)

    8. 5. Which Patients are Candidates for PGx Testing (14 min)

    9. Exercise 2 - Exploring PGx test reports

    10. 6. How to Select a PGx Laboratory and Test (13 min)

    11. 7. Summary and Getting Started (3 min)

    1. Test your knowledge of pharmacogenomics

About this course

  • Free
  • 13 lessons
  • 1 hour of video content

Reviews

5 star rating

You should spend some time here!

Stefanie Chow

A comprehensive and clear course - a good tool for beginner like us to learn what is PGx and genuine thoughts on pros and cons of PGx testing.

A comprehensive and clear course - a good tool for beginner like us to learn what is PGx and genuine thoughts on pros and cons of PGx testing.

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5 star rating

Awesome course

Jonathan Holan

As a first-year pharmacy student dipping my toes into the water of pharmacogenomics, this was a very interesting course filled with useful information. I'm r...

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As a first-year pharmacy student dipping my toes into the water of pharmacogenomics, this was a very interesting course filled with useful information. I'm really glad my teacher, who is a huge promoter of pharmacogenomics, recommended this to me, as it certainly expanded my knowledge on the subject.

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5 star rating

A super course, full of actionable knowledge!

Vanessa Gonzalez-Covarrubias

This course was exactly what I was looking for, it is of great value! I am not a clinician, but I teach pharmacogenomics and this course represents a great ...

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This course was exactly what I was looking for, it is of great value! I am not a clinician, but I teach pharmacogenomics and this course represents a great source of information, it is full with strategies to support an updated class. I have recommended it my colleagues and friends. I am looking forward to purchasing their book.

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4 star rating

Excellent short course with emphasis on test reporting

David Hurley

I am a PhD and Professor of Pharm Sci at a pharmacy school who teaches first year PharmD students about PGx in my Biochemistry course. This year for the fir...

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I am a PhD and Professor of Pharm Sci at a pharmacy school who teaches first year PharmD students about PGx in my Biochemistry course. This year for the first time, I had all these students have their own PGx profiles analyzed. I wanted my students to see how PGx is the foundation of the future of pharmacy. I took the PGx in Practice course after reading Dr. McCarthy's excellent white paper on how 23&Me testing suffers from false positives for most PGx genes. My own profile from 23&Me for Cyp2D6 was called *1/*1, a normal metaboliser, apparently by default. However, sequence-based analysis by UNC-Chapel Hill showed that I am actually *4B/*41 and a poor metaboliser. So the limitations of testing results are a personal topic that I now emphasize to my students. I enjoyed the course because I have little experience with the realities of clinical aspects. This is the third course in PGx that I have taken. It is the most condensed, and I appreciated that there is no time wasted. The overall coverage of the topics is well-paced and does not overlap with the other courses with worthwhile additions and information. The ability to download the resources is also a benefit. There is a consistent focus on the application of PGx to patients, rather than over-stating the basics of DNA and polymorphisms and alleles. Therefore, with my background, this was an excellent training. For those who aren't already inundated with molecular biology, this course might not be as useful. But with the emphasis on how to select the drugs of interest for PGx, how to find testing, how to compare reports, and how to approach patients, the PGx in Practice course is exceedingly useful. I look forward to continuing to follow the PMA website as topics continue to evolve and expand.

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4 star rating

Paula Rebolo Bardanca

Good introduction to the world of pharmacogenetics. Quick and easy to follow (I tried the free edition).

Good introduction to the world of pharmacogenetics. Quick and easy to follow (I tried the free edition).

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5 star rating

Much detailed and informative course in a clear and simpl...

mais iter

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