Pharmacy Interview question problems

[minderide]

Hi, I am about to attend an intervew and I have some questions that may be asked. However, I don't really understand what some of them want from me. PLease help:
1. Name three ways we isolate/discover drugs ( does it ask how drugs are discovered or kept ? )
2. Why does insulin have to be administered intravenous only?
3. What can one do to prevent resistance? [speaking about immunity] (didnt understand this one - to prevent protection? must be formulated wrong)
4. Know you're functional groups and what properties they can give a molecule? ( Again a bizarre question. Does it mean what functional groups are there like amine, carboxyl, aldehyde etc?

I appreciate if you help with at least a few questions.

Cheers

[Nik]

1) Means how drugs are discovered/synthesised, i.e from plant/animal sources e.g digoxin from foxglove plant and even penicillin from the penicllium fungi. Other ways include mechanism based design, e.g ACE inhibitors for hypertension or SSRI's for depression, and serendipitous discovery, i.e by chance (penicillin fits in to this as well).
2) Insulin is given most commonly as a subcut injection. IV administration is usually in emergencies, not really routine. Insulin is a protein so if taken orally will be broken down by protease enzymes in GI tract before it can be absorbed.
3) Probably means antibiotic resistance - loads of news articles about this such as inappropriate antibiotic prescribing by GP's, MRSA, C.Difficile in hospitals etc do a search.
4) Yep you've got it bang on - hydrocarbon side chains make things more lipophilic so less water soluble, polar groups eg OH, COOH, NH etc make molecules water soluble. Basic chemistry.

[minderide]

Thanks a lot