PSA Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the PSA exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 PSA Exam Format at a Glance
📚 PSA Topics to Study (61)
✍️ Sample PSA Questions & Answers
1. NSAIDs cause acute kidney injury in patients with renal impairment primarily through which mechanism?
NSAIDs inhibit prostaglandins that maintain afferent arteriolar dilation in states of low renal perfusion, reducing GFR and precipitating acute kidney injury.
2. What is a drug's half-life?
Half-life determines dosing frequency: drugs with short half-lives need more frequent dosing, while long half-life drugs can be given less often.
3. Amiodarone inhibits CYP2C9. A patient stabilised on warfarin starts amiodarone. What monitoring and action is required?
Amiodarone's CYP2C9 inhibition increases warfarin plasma levels, raising bleeding risk; warfarin dose reduction and close INR monitoring are required.
4. What is bioavailability?
Bioavailability measures what proportion of the administered drug reaches the bloodstream in active form. IV drugs have 100% bioavailability; oral drugs vary.
5. In severe hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh C), which drugs require the greatest dosing caution?
High hepatic extraction ratio drugs (e.g., morphine, propranolol) rely heavily on liver blood flow and enzyme activity; hepatic impairment severely reduces their first-pass and systemic clearance.
6. Which of the following drugs does NOT typically require dose reduction in renal impairment?
Rifampicin is primarily hepatically metabolized and excreted in bile, so it does not require dose reduction in renal impairment.