Treatment for a Patient with a Common Condition

Treatment for a Patient with a Common Condition

List three questions you might ask the patient if she were in your office. Provide a rationale
for why you might ask these questions.

Identify people in the patient’s life you would need to speak to or get feedback from to
further assess the patient’s situation. Include specific questions you might ask these people
and why.

Explain what, if any, physical exams, and diagnostic tests would be appropriate for the
patient and how the results would be used.

List a differential diagnosis for the patient. Identify the one that you think is most likely
and explain why.

List two pharmacologic agents and their dosing that would be appropriate for the patient’s
antidepressant therapy based on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. From a
mechanism of action perspective, provide a rationale for why you might choose one agent
over the other.

For the drug therapy you select, identify any contraindications to use or alterations in
dosing that may need to be considered based on ethical prescribing or decision-making.
Discuss why the contraindication/alteration you identify exists. That is, what would be

3
problematic with the use of this drug in individuals based on ethical prescribing guidelines
or decision-making?

Include any “check points” (i.e., follow-up data at Week 4, 8, 12, etc.), and indicate any
therapeutic changes that you might make based on possible outcomes that may happen
given your treatment options chosen.

4

References