Pharmacy forum
Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
keane
11-08-2007 02:24
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Helloooo... I know there are a lot of successful PharmD, PharmD students and RpH on here. Please teach me how you effectively studied and are studying in Pharm school? Please be serious... I really want to know the right method to learn effectively. I've done quite some research and talk to a few recent PharmD grads. Mostly, they said there were too much infos to digest within so much short time so usually the faculty told them what to read and what were important. During my undergrad, I usually took notes from the lecture, read the book, summarized main points in my own writing and memorized those notes. If I have difficulty I always went to the professor immediately. I personally don't like group study. Don't get me wrong, I love to do group projects. But those study sessions when you have 10 people sitting around a table reading the books together do not work for me. I'd rather do it on my own. Please help... I am ready to be educated here 
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
ciara
11-08-2007 02:25
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This is actually a very good method for studying in pharmacy school as well! I never actually had enough time to do ALL of the readings though, so I just read the ones that I thought were going to be important.
Like others have told you there is a huge amount of information on the exams in pharmacy school so you just have to figure out a way to get it to a manageable size for you.
I never stuck to this plan 100%, but if you can manage to go over your notes at least every other day (daily is preferred) and rewrite them in your own words, that will help you stay caught up. I tried to do this during the weeks leading up to the exam and then 3-4 days before the exam I would take my already condensed notes and condense them even further... typically down to just the raw facts that needed to be memorized. (random facts, doses etc)
Good luck with school! Remember, the best thing you can do for yourself in school is try to relax a little bit and don't make it all about work, work, work! Having fun and enjoying life outside of school will keep you from burning out! I guess you've just got to learn that balance as you go.
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
hooligan
11-08-2007 02:31
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Several students in my P1 class brought recording devices. It was funny to see the professors surrounded by audio recorders, but it helped for certain lectures. Many of the professors at my pharmacy school are from foreign countries, so it was beneficial on occasion to listen to their lectures again.
My Biotechnology class had a bare PowerPoint guide to the lectures which was to be supplemented with hand written notes. I had to listen to a few of those lectures twice, because I wanted to get a better understanding of the material.
Bored... maybe I'll go find some trouble. I'm good at that!
Nah, I don't want any trouble. I'll just start cleaning the house like a mad woman. I'm a little OCD about cleaning.
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
mike
11-08-2007 02:38
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Here is the method that go me through back in the stone ages:
1) Get a spiral notebook for each class.
2) Get a good set of colored markers.
3) Pay attention in class. Write clear and concise notes.
At then end of the day, re-copy your notes into the spiral notebook. Add information from handouts and problems from the text books. Edit and organize your notes. Use the colors to draw attention to the important information.
When you are done, you have a clean, clear concise study guide for the tests and you have reviewed your class material on a daily basis when it is fresh in your mind.
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
jedi
11-08-2007 02:44
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Here is the method that go me through back in the stone ages:
1) Get a spiral notebook for each class.
2) Get a good set of colored markers.
3) Pay attention in class. Write clear and concise notes.
At then end of the day, re-copy your notes into the spiral notebook. Add information from handouts and problems from the text books. Edit and organize your notes. Use the colors to draw attention to the important information.
When you are done, you have a clean, clear concise study guide for the tests and you have reviewed your class material on a daily basis when it is fresh in your mind.
This is exactly how I did it in my undergrad... It's very effective but just takes me too much time to summarize all the sources But I'll try to do it this time only with important points.
Thanks so much everyone for helping out. Your suggestions are truely appreciated. Please let me hear more from other people like zpack or sdn1977 or other senior users on here. Thank so much !
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
mike
11-08-2007 02:50
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This is exactly how I did it in my undergrad... It's very effective but just takes me too much time to summarize all the sources
Deduct the amount of time you will NOT spend cramming the night before an exam. It's sort pay me know or pay me later.....
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
ciara
11-08-2007 02:51
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Thanks so much... any one else?
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
lanod
11-08-2007 03:01
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OK - here's what I did.
Choose wisely from the recommended reading list. Don't read everything - you not only won't get thru it, you won't remember it.
How I studied depended on what I studied. If it was pharmaceutical chemistry, I took detailed notes during class & rewrote just like Old Timer did, but I also transferred the structure onto a 3x5 with important points on the backside. It was important for us then to know structure-activity relationships, which has benefited me immensely over the years. I can know what the basic molecule is & then I learned what changing a particular side chain would do - increase duration, decrease ACH activity, whatever. It didn't really matter what the side chain was normally, it was WHERE it was placed which was important.
I did that style of study for those types of classes.
For the more "clinical" classes - physiology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology - I again took detailed notes, but by that time, I had learned how to take notes with large headers. So, when I got home, I was able to highlight the important headers and mark my class notes with colored pens or whatever to emphasize points.
Sometimes for a complicated biological process, kidney & resp function as it relates to acid-base status for example, I would rewrite it "cleanly" & use that clean copy as my study material.
In pharmacology - I dealt with each drug class exactly the same way. I learned the prototype completely - from structure-activity relationship to pharmacology, kinetics, absorption, metabolism, excretion, etc...on & on....and learned it very, very well. Then....I took each drug within that class & made separate 3x5 cards on what made it different from the prototype. Some drug classes are best done by using a chart rather than 3x5 - then when you're tested, either written or verbally, you visualize the chart.
I wasn't a study group person either, but the school made all old tests available - it was definitely in their interest to see us suceed. But, I did have one friend who we just quizzed each other, but rarely closer than a week before an exam.
That's what worked for me & I use this method when I learn new drugs now. I agree with whomever said - be sure to maintain a balance. You need to have a day off. You need to not feel guilty about a movie or night out. You will be tired & exhausted, but you'll catch up later - that's life.
Good luck!
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
tallan
11-08-2007 03:04
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Choose wisely from the recommended reading list. Don't read everything - you not only won't get thru it, you won't remember it.
How I studied depended on what I studied. If it was pharmaceutical chemistry, I took detailed notes during class & rewrote just like Old Timer did, but I also transferred the structure onto a 3x5 with important points on the backside. It was important for us then to know structure-activity relationships, which has benefited me immensely over the years. I can know what the basic molecule is & then I learned what changing a particular side chain would do - increase duration, decrease ACH activity, whatever. It didn't really matter what the side chain was normally, it was WHERE it was placed which was important.
I did that style of study for those types of classes.
For the more "clinical" classes - physiology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology - I again took detailed notes, but by that time, I had learned how to take notes with large headers. So, when I got home, I was able to highlight the important headers and mark my class notes with colored pens or whatever to emphasize points.
Sometimes for a complicated biological process, kidney & resp function as it relates to acid-base status for example, I would rewrite it "cleanly" & use that clean copy as my study material.
In pharmacology - I dealt with each drug class exactly the same way. I learned the prototype completely - from structure-activity relationship to pharmacology, kinetics, absorption, metabolism, excretion, etc...on & on....and learned it very, very well. Then....I took each drug within that class & made separate 3x5 cards on what made it different from the prototype. Some drug classes are best done by using a chart rather than 3x5 - then when you're tested, either written or verbally, you visualize the chart.
I wasn't a study group person either, but the school made all old tests available - it was definitely in their interest to see us suceed. But, I did have one friend who we just quizzed each other, but rarely closer than a week before an exam.
That's what worked for me & I use this method when I learn new drugs now. I agree with whomever said - be sure to maintain a balance. You need to have a day off. You need to not feel guilty about a movie or night out. You will be tired & exhausted, but you'll catch up later - that's life.
Good luck!
Thanks so much sdn1977...you should be an academic professor Your
students will be cutting-edge PharmD
I am still waiting to hear from zpack... I am sure he'll say something sarcastic again Any one else? Please help....
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
danica
11-08-2007 03:13
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students will be cutting-edge PharmD
I am still waiting to hear from zpack... I am sure he'll say something sarcastic again Any one else? Please help....
I can read golf digest once and will have the article memorized about golfswing mechanics or how Tiger won the tournament. I don't have to try too hard to learn it.
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
ava
11-08-2007 03:19
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Could you please teach me how? Having seen, through reading your frisky/inspirational posts, that you are in fact a very competent pharmacist, I'd love to learn from your experiences in school... Thank you
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
jedi
11-08-2007 03:28
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Thank you for your post. Me too, usually I go solo. When I come to a group I usually have my studying done already and am just there to doublecheck by quizzing the other people or being quizzed by them.
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
mike
11-08-2007 03:35
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Could you please teach me how? Having seen, through reading your frisky/inspirational posts, that you are in fact a very competent pharmacist, I'd love to learn from your experiences in school... Thank you
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
ciara
11-08-2007 03:40
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I never studied in a group. They distracted me. I can learn without help from others.
I learn best when I'm interested in a subject. With keen interest, reading it one time is good enough to have the subject learned. That's why I can memorize 0-60mph speed for 2006 Porsche 911 etc. Cuz that's what's interesting.
Fortunately, many pharmacotherapy subjects were interesting for me.
So I guess the key is where will you find the inspiration and interest in a subject which will make you salivate to learn? How bad do you want to learn the stuff??
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
emerson
11-08-2007 03:46
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It also depends on what subject too. While a good way to learn something, like zpack said, is to be interested in it, there are other ways too.
For example, in anatomy, you will be using a lot of mnemoics. In pharmaceutics, you will be doing a lot of practice problems. In your therapeutic classes, you will be doing what most of the ppl said so far in this post. One method that helped me is relating certain conditions to family members, patients, or celebrities. For example, relating schizophrenia to "A Beautiful Mind" helps me study that subject as that movie is a good example of a patient who is a schizophreniac and exibit some "negative" side effects of the medication that he is taking. You can relate it to a patient you saw in your pharmacy (to treat Mr. X, I have to do this and that). In terms of side effects, always think about the extreme of the medication so for example, a side effect of claritin (although it is well tolerated) is dry mouth because it exerts its effect through anti cholinergic effects, stopping mast cells from releasing histamine etc.
Oh yeah time mangement is another important point. For me, I was never that big on studying as I am C student in my professional years. I manage to have a social life by balancing one class with another. Lets admit it, studying 15 minutes each day is more time efficient than studying one hour before the test. After a certain point (15 minutes), the stuff that you are studying will just go in one way and come out the other.
You are going to have to prioritize and pick which classes are the most important to you (and worth the most). For example, studying 5 hours for a one credit lab class is a bad example of time management when you can be studying the same 5 hours for a 4 credit therapeutic class.
The best tip is experience, experience, experience. Having a job in pre-pharmacy and onward will help you a lot during your school years.
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
ava
11-08-2007 03:56
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It also depends on what subject too. While a good way to learn something, like zpack said, is to be interested in it, there are other ways too.
For example, in anatomy, you will be using a lot of mnemoics. In pharmaceutics, you will be doing a lot of practice problems. In your therapeutic classes, you will be doing what most of the ppl said so far in this post. One method that helped me is relating certain conditions to family members, patients, or celebrities. For example, relating schizophrenia to "A Beautiful Mind" helps me study that subject as that movie is a good example of a patient who is a schizophreniac and exibit some "negative" side effects of the medication that he is taking. You can relate it to a patient you saw in your pharmacy (to treat Mr. X, I have to do this and that). In terms of side effects, always think about the extreme of the medication so for example, a side effect of claritin (although it is well tolerated) is dry mouth because it exerts its effect through anti cholinergic effects, stopping mast cells from releasing histamine etc.
...The best tip is experience, experience, experience. Having a job in pre-pharmacy and onward will help you a lot during your school years.
I heartily agree! For those of you who are working, I suggest that when you come across a new drug while on the job, you take that opportunity right then to try and learn a bit about the drug. Then, even though it might be awhile until you see it in class, as aznfarmerboi points out, you'll have a patient and some past information to "hook" onto in your mind when you do study the drug.
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Re: Method to effectively study in pharmacy school? |
hooligan
11-08-2007 04:26
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Remembering how Tiger wins a tournament is usually the same:
Long and straight off the tee, high and soft to about 10 feet, smooth stroke...and crowd cheering. Multiple that by about 6, throw in some holes where he has to tap in for par, and a few ridiculous up-and-downs and there you go.
I'm going to go ahead and say that Tiger is going to get nasty this weekend and tell Southern Hills who's boss.
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