Syllabus · Historical · V4 (2023) · Pharmacokinetics
Pharmacokinetics
B.v · Pharmacokinetics
Explain the kinetics of an intravenous bolus and infusion.
Written examination
SAQ history
Loading & Maintenance Doses
1 exam appearance
Describe the calculations involved in determining the loading dose and maintenance dose for an intravenous infusion (50% of marks). What factors may affect these values in the critically ill (50% of marks)?
30%
Oral examination
VIVA history
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2026A · VIVA 7
Relevant examiner prompt
A patient has been on a 3-day infusion of propofol and fentanyl. Explain what happens to the plasma concentrations after the infusions are ceased?
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2026A · VIVA 8
Relevant examiner prompts
Explain why a continuous infusion of meropenem may be more effective than regular intermittent dosing?
Why don’t we give gentamicin as a continuous infusion?
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2019B · Day 1 · VIVA 2
This viva will explore the rate of administration on pharmacodynamics of sedative drugs. Would you anticipate a different response to an IV bolus of 100 mg of propofol versus a slow infusion of the same dose over 5 minutes?
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2019A · Day 1 · VIVA 1
This is the plasma concentration-time curve. Describe the features of this curve. What information does it give about a drug’s pharmacokinetic profile? (Image removed from report.)
Sources: objective text from the relevant CICM syllabus; historical SAQ and VIVA wording from CICM examiner reports.