Hi Drug Doc,
I am here at Creighton as we speak. The distance-based P2's have just completed their summer requirements.
The first year is doable but it will be a lot of work. The courses are more fast-paced so it is important to try and keep up. That can be hard to do when you have seven classes which most of us had last fall (unless you have placed out of courses). I would say that for the fall, biochemistry was my most challenging class and for the spring, physiology and pathology kept me quite busy and stressed out. The good thing is that I have found my professors to be very supportive and genuinely concerned about their students doing well in the program.
I think that it is important to figure out early what classes you feel are going to give you the most trouble and try to put a little more time and emphasis on those. Everyone is different! Also take advantage of the professor's office hours (many have set aside time for "virtual" office hours with their distance students).
We do have group projects, etc. but I didn't have any issues because most of our professors allowed us to pick our own groups so I made sure that I picked people that I knew I could work with. As a distance student I would STRONGLY suggest that you identify early, people in the program who are "like minded" and stick close to them. I have a couple of classmates that I communicate with regularly (sometimes daily) and they help make sure that I stay on top of my work and I do the same for them. Our distance class is pretty cool and for the most part, people try to support each other and help each other get through. It is not nearly as competitive of an environment than I thought it would be but again we are distance students so that probably makes a big difference.
To answer your question about the hardest year, it seems like the concensus is that the P2 year is the hardest. That is when you get into more of the core pharmacy courses such as medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and pharmacokinetics.
Good Luck!
