Book review

I mentioned earlier this week the book I ordered for my CAOP exam finally arrived, only 4 months late.  I decided I would do the right thing, and tell the PSA that the book had arrived after all, and offered to pay them back for it, or return it.  The person I e-mailed replied quite quickly to say that I could keep it, and not to worry about the money, as they had already claimed the costs from the post office for loosing it in the first place.  So now I have all three books that are allowed to be used as references in the CAOP exam I thought it would be a good time to review them all, comparing the positives and negatives for each:

British National Formulary (BNF)

The BNF is produced by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the British Medical Association.  It is a complete listing of all licensed medications available for use in the UK (as well as a few unlicensed ones).  It is divided into chapters based on therapeutic areas, with appendixes that cover interactions, cautionary warnings, dressings and intravenous additives.
Each drug monograph contains information on indications, cautions, contra-indications, renal dosing, hepatic dosing, use in pregnancy and breast feeding, doses, available preparations, brands and the retail price (Excluding VAT).
There is also a lot of information you wouldn't necessarily expect to find in there, such as lists of e-numbers, lists of drugs that are unsafe in porphoria and cardio-vascular risk factor charts.
The book is updated twice a year in March and September.
The main draw back of the BNF, is that because it includes so much information, it sometimes lacks the amount of detail you might require.  It also focuses on licensed indications, and so will not be as much use when medicines are being used off label.  Specifically in regards to the CAOP exam it is a British publication, and although there is a lot of overlap, the drugs available in Australia are not the same as those in the UK.

Australian Medicines Handbook (AMH)

The AMH is a very similar publication to the BNF.  It divides its monographs up into chapters based on therapeutic area, although their definition of therapeutic areas are different, and so if you are used to using the BNF you wont always find the medicines in the chapters you expect.  Also like the BNF it has an appendix listing known drug interactions.
The drug monographs include information on indication, precautions (including renal and hepatic), adverse effects, dosage (including paediatric doses), administration advice, counselling and practice points.  The AMH is updated annually by the pharmaceutical Society of Australia, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists.
The main disadvantage of the AMH is similar to that of the BNF, it contains a lot of information, and so the information it does contain is not as detailed as might be required.  The information it contains is different enough from the BNF to be used in conjunction, but a warning from experience in a time limited exam, there is usually not enough of a difference to warrant looking in both, so it's a good idea to familiarise yourself with the main differences and so know which book to look in for the information you require.

Australian Pharmaceutical Formulary and Handbook (APF)

The APF is a much broader book, it contains chapters on dispensing advice, clinical monographs, complementary medicines, therapeutic information, over the counter counselling, health information, physicochemical information as well as a list of standard results and guidelines.  The APF is published annually by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.
The drug monographs are very brief and contain information much the same as the BNF and AMH, just a lot briefer.....a lot lot briefer, and so this would not be the first port of call for general dosing guidance, or comprehensive lists of side effects.  The monographs are listed alphabetically rather than by therapeutic class. 
What it does contain is a lot of information which is in neither of the other texts.  Including formulas for extemporaneous preparation, information on herbal products, pharmacokinetic information on different medication, information on responding to common symptoms and over the counter sales as well as general health advice.

OK, so that concludes my book review.  It is important to have at least one of these books available to you if you plan to sit the CAOP exam, I would be worried now that if I had all three at the time, I would have wasted too much time checking in all of them, but as long as you are familiar with all of them and know what to find where in each, this should not be a problem.

Adam