P3 year

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So we are not quite six weeks into the semester and I can't believe that they have found a way to increase the pressure and stress so much from the hell of P2 year. I wouldn't have thought it possible...but yes indeed it is. Here is how it is done.

Remove the (now considered easy) multiple choice tests with all of the above, none of the above, A and B, B and C questions, and add in a small number of short answer questions, pertaining to subsets of disease states (i.e. not just hypertension but pregnancy hypertension, childhood hypertension, resistant hypertension. Focus on the subtle details of treatment of these disease states (a few sentences worth of information in total out of 350 slides) and that is how you ratchet up the pressure exponentially. The only way to get a good grade is to have a photographic memory.

So, basically, I am just hating life right about now. I don't think I have ever felt this apathetic before. Additionally, my typical can't get me down sunny demeanor has vanished, replaced with a childish attitude of being tired of everyone and everything associated with the school.....most notably the faculty. I can't even bring myself to flash a polite smile and offer a greeting anymore. I don't think I have every walked around with my eyes trained on the ground so much.

Easily a quarter of my class is sick from some joyous bug traveling like greased lightning through all of us overtired, stressed out PharmD candidates. We are like our own clinical study. Zombie faces abound....even the faculty (3 of them so far) have commented on how we all look like hell.

As a nontrad student (single mom with a young child) I am trying not to let the crushing stress affect my parenting....hahahahahaha. Okay, let me rephrase, not let the crushing stress affect my parenting to the point that I permanently psychologically scar my child. We all are making sacrifices these days. Not since the initial shock of the pace in P1 year have I had the desire to just get in my car and drive away and never come back...which of course I cannot do, I am a prisoner of war until May of 2014.

So, any advice on how to not lose it? Creative ideas that I can use for momentary escapism are greatly appreciated. Alcohol and other substances are not/never an option. Also, whatever you recommend can't actually take much if any time...seeing as that is at a premium. How did you survive your worst stretch of time during pharmacy school?

-signed the person who thought P2 year was supposed to be the worst, ha the joke is on me

Celebrate your successes and never forget your dreams. Well, and then there's great coffee

A countdown til it's over?

Yup have already started one....a countdown till the semester is over, till all of the DAST tests are over (Drug Action Structure and Therapeutics), till I graduate....I have a bevy of countdowns going already. Great idea though! I have a computerized version of the countdown a sheet on the wall for each month left till I graduate...me and DD get to pull it off the wall and rip it up when the month is over.

Just keep your eye on the goal, and know it won't last forever. Pharmacy school is tough, NABPLEX is tough. But you've got this far, you can get through the rest of it.

Originally Posted by owlegrad

A countdown til it's over?

I actually just started using countdowns the other day. It's definitely a motivator.

I felt the same way P3 year was my hardest year and the workload was much harder than P2 year.

Pharmacy school gets harder as you move up.

P1 year was a very good break at least.

I remember feeling the same way at the beginning of P3 year...like wth, I thought once I got through P2 I was going to be on easy street!

You will get through it. Last two years of pharmacy school flew by. Personally, I didn't work during P3 (my only intern job was over an hour away) and I spent any free time I had with my family instead. I don't really recommend not working, but I certainly don't regret the time that I spent with my family during pharmacy school so...

Originally Posted by BidingMyTime

Just keep your eye on the goal, and know it won't last forever. Pharmacy school is tough, NABPLEX is tough. But you've got this far, you can get through the rest of it.

NABPLEX was a joke.

Originally Posted by Sparda29

NABPLEX was a joke.

Well yeah, if you study/work hard during pharmacy school, then NABPLEX will be a breeze. I wouldn't call it a joke, there are plenty of people who don't pass it each year.

Do you have a hobby you can focus on? I run, so when I'm stressed I can at least take 30 minutes and blast some music. The physical exercise is a welcome relief from the mental stress. Plus it gives me time to think. What about some other mindless activity? Can you knit, paint, bake, etc? I'm only a P1 so I can't relate to the P3 workload, but I do have two kids so I know how tiring it can be to study and be mom. Last week we had exams, so there may or may not have been too much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Good Luck, you'll survive and your daughter will thank you for it.

I know exactly how you feel OP, I'm currently a P3 student as well and last week I had a strong of two exams in one day (one of which being a 70% final) and it was just atrocious. I am still recovering from it, but I just take time out every day to relax a bit, be it watching tv, taking a walk, or even a long shower.

I hate P3 year.

P3 was the hardest for me as well. I gaainned hella weight because my gym rat life style almost came to a cease from having class from 8-4 (with two 1 hour breaks in between)then running home to nap and then study for the endless exams and assignments that needed to get done. My eating habits were bad as well because I was picking up fast food before heading over to my classmates place to cram lol. I also had a personal crisis with my parents so that didn't help either.

But luckily on rotations I got my gym rat lifestyle back and lost the weight gained and then some .

For the Naplex I'm just going to say this. One of my classmates who barely knew much of ANYTHING, a C student, horrible memorizer AND concept grasper, AND barely knew basic brand and generic passed the Naplex. If they can pass I'm sure you'll be fine for the Naplex.
Honestly after passing the test I don't see how people can fail and I'm am NOT the know it all type that thinks only 90% PCAT percentile/3.8+ people should get into pharmacy school, have wet dreams about infectious disease, and drink all the professor/preceptor kool aid type.

I'm in rotations, and I swear I have PTSD when I see the current 3rd years posting about therapeutics exams on Facebook. It's a tough year. It's definitely like trying to drink from a fire hose.

But, rotations are better, and they're flying by. I've been eating better, I occasionally feel like I have a life, and I take care of errands more.

Don't be afraid to take breaks and/or even seek professional help. You DO have time for it, in that by occasionally taking time for yourself, you'll have more energy to take care of school stuff and your child as well. I often rewarded myself by knitting a bit after getting through say, a chapter. It helped a lot.

Good luck!! Remember, you're over halfway done. I really think 4th year and rotations are finally better. Even on the hectic ones, it's not the same as exams.

I'm at a 3 year school so my P2 year is hell.

I work and have a wife and 3 little boys at home. There are days when I wish I could quit and I wonder what I was thinking back when I signed up for this. There are positive days when I pass a test, (90% is required to pass) but they are few and far between.

I am at school from 8am to 5pm most days, but up until 11pm the few days before a test. (tests are every other week) Then I work a 12 hour shift on Saturday. Sunday is usually a day I spend with family, so I get little to no time for myself...ever.

Get through your third year, fourth year is so much better! I gained 20 lbs through pharm school from just studying and eating all the time and not doing much else. Today, 5 months since starting rotations and I'm back to my pre-pharm weight, feel great, fit into my old clothes again, and am just enjoying rotations. Third year SUCKS, but you can make it through, I promise. I'm not the best student, and didn't have the best pre-pharm grades and still did it. Keep motivated, take every small victory you can and push on.