Commonly Used Organ-Specific Medications

While some medications affect the body as a whole, others may do their work at a specific site (or on a particular organ). It may be helpful to break down medications into categories by their primary site of action when studying. Also, do not forget that prefixes and suffixes of drug names will help with identifying the medication’s drug class. Below is a non-comprehensive, yet helpful list of some of the popular drugs you will see in pharmacy practice and their primary site of action.

Although memorizing the top 200 medications along with their characteristics may seem daunting, breaking them down by drug class as well as their primary site of action will make studying more manageable. It is also important to take note of the side effect profile of these drugs. If side effects become too severe or bothersome to a patient, it might warrant discontinuation of the medication and a change in therapy.