Need a recorder for pharmacy school?

[stu0513]

Hi, I will be starting pharmacy school this September and I am very excited about it. I am trying to gather all the things that I might need for pharmacy school. I am pondering whether I will be needing a recorder or not. I heard that pharmacy school is extremely tough to get through and probably I will be needing a recorder. For those of you who go or went to pharmacy school, do you think a recorder is needed? Does any of your classmates use recorder?

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[njac]

some of my classmates used them but I did not.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

At WVU most of the classes had premade .pdfs of the pertinent notes on the school's web module. What we needed was always already on paper. I don't know if it's like that at your school, but a recorder is unneeded overkill at WVU.

 

[drugdoc]

At Creighton all the classes are audio taped for campus students, and audio and video taped for distance students.

 

[drugdoc]

At Creighton all the classes are audio taped for campus students, and audio and video taped for distance students.

Sorry, hit send too soon....

I personally love the fact that I can go and re-listen to lectures before exams. I'd say definately get one, use it for a while, and see how it goes. It's worth the $50 or what ever they cost - a small price to pay for potentially better grades.

 

[pinkyrx]

Like the previous poster said, you could just try it out and see if that method works for you. It wouldn't have worked for me because I could have never made myself sit through the lecture twice.

 

[SexyPlexi]

(not in pharm school yet btw) I think it really depends on the professor. I have never used one...but last semester at the very end of the semester I finally realized that I couldn't even read my notes in biology because my teacher was like a whirlwind and I could hardly keep up to write good notes. I SHOULD have figured that out sooner and used a recorder. It would have saved me a lot of headache.

But most of the time I can take adequate notes and would never use a recorder to go back over a lecture. It sounds like the pharmacy school professors, for the most part, have this down to an art with their posted notes and recorded lectures. I would probably wait to buy it but keep it in mind when school starts and asses if you need one.

 

[amartins02]

I use a tablet pc now and record all my lectures while taking notes. Prior to that what I did was buy a recorder and put a piece of Velcro on it. Then on each binder I placed a piece of Velcro on the upper right corner to hold my recorder in place. Now while it was recording a lecture I would write notes on the PDF printouts. As I went along I would write the time of the recording on each slide or every other slide. This is in case you need to listen to it to clarify some information. Or if there is a particular section on a slide I need clarification on I will be more specific and write the time right next to it and write a big A and circle it (A is for Audio) to remind me to listen to it.

 

[UFpharmD]

I use a tablet pc now and record all my lectures while taking notes. Prior to that what I did was buy a recorder and put a piece of Velcro on it. Then on each binder I placed a piece of Velcro on the upper right corner to hold my recorder in place. Now while it was recording a lecture I would write notes on the PDF printouts. As I went along I would write the time of the recording on each slide or every other slide. This is in case you need to listen to it to clarify some information. Or if there is a particular section on a slide I need clarification on I will be more specific and write the time right next to it and write a big A and circle it (A is for Audio) to remind me to listen to it.

what a great idea

 

[pinkyrx]

UFpharmD - Is it just me or does the monkey in your profile look like Hugh Hefner?

 

[drugdoc]

UFpharmD - Is it just me or does the monkey in your profile look like Hugh Hefner?

He does! That's funny!

 

[superflunker87]

Like the others said, it really depends on your school. It depends whether the professors go exactly by the syllabus. It depends if your class will record the lecture. Personally for me though, getting a voice recorder was one of the best decisions in P1 year. Mine has an automatic timer. I put the recorder in class sometime in the afternoon. Then it automatically turns on when class starts the next day. Meanwhile I am sleeping in bed. Then I pick it up later in the afternoon. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.

I also use it to record exam reviews. Before the recorder I averaged 8 hours of sleep and got above average grades. After the recorder I averaged 9 hours of sleep and got good grades.

 

[azPharmD2B]

I use a tablet pc now and record all my lectures while taking notes. *snip*

I didn't have a tablet, but I did the same thing using hand written notes. Worked out quite nicely.

They really do need to have an intro to notetaking class in school.

Don't buy the old school kind with the little tapes. Get a newer one that has built in memory and will allow you to transfer the files to your computer. Then you can listen to them on your computer, iPod, burn to cd, etc.

 

[Gizmo]

I use a recorder similar to this one: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1322

This is not my exact model, but the reason I like this type over the others is because it connects to my computer as a usb would (i.e., no extra wires required or installation cds, which means that I can copy the lectures very easily to my computer and I can share the lectures very easily with my classmates).

Anyway, I really like to record my lectures in case I missed something important. This is what works for me. It's good to try out different things so that you find what works for you.

Good luck!

 

[GatorRxGirl]

Some students use them but most don't. Just pay attention in class and you'll be fine.

 

[RxWildcat]

If you used one in undergrad go for it.. if not then I doubt you would like using one to help study pharm stuff.

 

[BlueCrayon]

Doesn't any of your schools record the lectures and post them online? I've only taken the large lecture hall classes at UB so far and Micro, Biochem, Phys1 and 2 all have around 350 people so they post the lectures online. Greatest thing ever. Not sure about the smaller classes though once I get into the pharmacy specific classes.

 

[rainsplash]

I use a tablet pc now and record all my lectures while taking notes. Prior to that what I did was buy a recorder and put a piece of Velcro on it. Then on each binder I placed a piece of Velcro on the upper right corner to hold my recorder in place. Now while it was recording a lecture I would write notes on the PDF printouts. As I went along I would write the time of the recording on each slide or every other slide. This is in case you need to listen to it to clarify some information. Or if there is a particular section on a slide I need clarification on I will be more specific and write the time right next to it and write a big A and circle it (A is for Audio) to remind me to listen to it.

great tips....i might use this one

 

[imperial frog]

Hi, I will be starting pharmacy school this September and I am very excited about it. I am trying to gather all the things that I might need for pharmacy school. I am pondering whether I will be needing a recorder or not.

If you need a musical instrument, I would pick a guitar over a recorder. You tend to get more chicks.

 

[heatherkmd]

No, I never used a recorder. I would recommend saving that money because you will be spending a ton of $$ on paper and toner printing out ALL of the PPT slides. Good luck this Fall, and congrats on your acceptance.

 

[Pianopooh]

Hi stu -- it depends on how you take notes, and whether you're a listener and absorb the material right away, or you are the type to write down everything. Personally, I kept a recorder in class even though some of my classes have recordings provided to us; because the recordings may not always be updated by the professors so you may be left without a recording for a few classes. Or, other times the professor may move around and walk past their recorder so they become out of range for their class recording.. I always keep mine in front of me (I sit in the first few rows). And similiar to amartins02 way of taking notes, I like to keep the recording by me so I can make a notation for the time where I missed notes or want a point to be clarified. You can get recorders for cheap these days on ebay. A friend of mine bought one for $15 and according to her, it works great. I bought a Creative Muvo one, which costed me $65 at the time I bought mine (circa 2004).