Keeping Good Grades in Pharm school

Started by laura_mideon
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jdpharmd? said:
Do the 6 years in Canada include the pre-reqs or undergrad? For instance, most of my class will be in school 7 years total, with three of those being the actual pharmD program (all summer long too).
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It doesn't include pre-reqs. Just to get a bachelor, you have to do 4 years plus your pre-reqs (1-2 years), then I think an additional 2 for pharmD, so a total of 7-8 years...........it sucks.

tupac - I agree with your reasoning, that's why I'm applying to the states. Are you in or planning to go to school in the states? I want to, it's much more expensive but wayyyyyyy worth it!
 
tupac_don said:
Sup there,

I am proably biased even though I am Canadian. But I think school in States is better for several reasons.

1) Better money
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But why not go to school in Canada, where tuition is cheaper and work in the States if you really want, upon graduation? Apparently 20% of graduates from UBC go to the states after grad.
 
mtech said:
But why not go to school in Canada, where tuition is cheaper and work in the States if you really want, upon graduation? Apparently 20% of graduates from UBC go to the states after grad.
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THAT'S what I'm thinking. But do you think job opportunities will be as good with only a bachelor instead of a pharmD?
 
Does the NABP let Bachelors take the FPGEC anymore? I thought not.

Of course, though, certain states will allow candidacy for the NAPLEX waiving the FPGEC if they come from an Canadian English-speaking pharmacy school (Laval candidates need not apply). Minnesota has some kind of reciprocal arrangement with the Ontario College of Pharmacists for the licensing of pharmacists in both jurisdictions.
 
AmandaRxs said:
Well even if you try your hardest, there will be a couple of classes that stump you.

If you slide by and get a bunch of C's and one D in a tricky class, you're in poor shape. However, if you've done your best with A's and B's that one D won't hurt you too much.

But in a sense you're right, as they say "C's get degrees".
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I agree with AmandaRxs. It is very normal for a good pharmacy student to fail or get C's or D's in a class or two. I only know one girl who gets 4.0 in every class so far, but I really doubt her way of learning. She memorizes everything the day before the exam, and of course performs well in the exam because she remembers everything. She even told me that she doesn't really understand the material! 😕 I guess that's one definition of being "smart"...that is being able to memorize everything in a short period of time. 🙄
 
clachan3 said:
I agree with AmandaRxs. It is very normal for a good pharmacy student to fail or get C's or D's in a class or two. I only know one girl who gets 4.0 in every class so far, but I really doubt her way of learning. She memorizes everything the day before the exam, and of course performs well in the exam because she remembers everything. She even told me that she doesn't really understand the material! 😕 I guess that's one definition of being "smart"...that is being able to memorize everything in a short period of time. 🙄
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Her method may get her good grades, but I wonder what she'll due when she has to take the boards????
 
clachan3 said:
I agree with AmandaRxs. It is very normal for a good pharmacy student to fail or get C's or D's in a class or two. I only know one girl who gets 4.0 in every class so far, but I really doubt her way of learning. She memorizes everything the day before the exam, and of course performs well in the exam because she remembers everything. She even told me that she doesn't really understand the material! 😕 I guess that's one definition of being "smart"...that is being able to memorize everything in a short period of time. 🙄
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My pharmacology prof told me that she designs exams to test your understanding of the material. She said that pure memorization would get you a C, but if you wanted an A or a B you'd have to understand concepts.

I'm not good at memorizing without understanding. We have a few of those students, but none of them have outstanding grades.
 
dgroulx said:
My pharmacology prof told me that she designs exams to test your understanding of the material.
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Do you think that works? I'm good at learning the theory but I much prefer to memorize because, number one, it's easier, and number two, I always get better grades. I've had teachers tell me that too before, that if you just memorize that the best you'll get is a C, but I always get at least around 90% memorizing. I think they just say that.
 
laura_mideon said:
Do you think that works? I'm good at learning the theory but I much prefer to memorize because, number one, it's easier, and number two, I always get better grades. I've had teachers tell me that too before, that if you just memorize that the best you'll get is a C, but I always get at least around 90% memorizing. I think they just say that.
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I've often found that things that are simply memorized are theoretically not learned, which is the most important aspect about education. In the past, I wasn't able to recall things for which I crammed the night before a test several weeks later. But, when I studied daily (old material plus new material), I actually learned what was being taught. I could remember it several weeks, months, etc. down the road.

Personally, I think if you are still in the habit of cramming and "memorizing," I'd try my hardest to overcome that habit while you're still an undergrad.
 
So far a lot of things are nothing but pure memorization. Just because someone studies for two weeks and memorizes the same thing as the crammer doesn't mean that they've learned the concepts. Sometimes there are no concepts.
 
laura_mideon said:
Do you think that works? I'm good at learning the theory but I much prefer to memorize because, number one, it's easier, and number two, I always get better grades. I've had teachers tell me that too before, that if you just memorize that the best you'll get is a C, but I always get at least around 90% memorizing. I think they just say that.
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Her exams last year had a lot of scenarios. Even if you memorized every neurotransmitter, every synapse, every receptor and auto receptor, every part of the brain involved and every metabolizing enzyme for every drug, you'd have to put it all together to figure out the correct answer. She just refers to drugs as A & B, not an actual drug name. So, now you have a fictional drug that you could not have memorized interacting with another fictional drug. You have to apply your knowledge based on the other scant information provided.

There is way too much material to memorize. If you spent the entire day and night before an exam memorizing, you still couldn't get through all of the material that is on an exam.

Now, pharmacotherapy is a pure memorization class. Even then, the most obscure side effect in the smallest print made its way onto exams. But, you don't have time to memorize all the facts, because you are trying to study for the pharmacology exam that is the same week. There just isn't enough time to do it all.

To put it in perspective, during my senior year of my biology major, I took 21 credit hours a semester. All of it was science with labs. The first year of pharmacy school was a little more time consuming that this. The second year of pharmacy school is about 3 times as difficult and time consuming than year one.
 
dgroulx said:
Her exams last year had a lot of scenarios. Even if you memorized every neurotransmitter, every synapse, every receptor and auto receptor, every part of the brain involved and every metabolizing enzyme for every drug, you'd have to put it all together to figure out the correct answer. She just refers to drugs as A & B, not an actual drug name. So, now you have a fictional drug that you could not have memorized interacting with another fictional drug. You have to apply your knowledge based on the other scant information provided.

There is way too much material to memorize. If you spent the entire day and night before an exam memorizing, you still couldn't get through all of the material that is on an exam.
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Well, sounds like a good enough reason to me to start getting used to learning the theory more.....thanks!
 
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