Online Pharmacy Programs???

[The Kernal]

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Does anyone have thoughts or opinions, good or bad, on Doctor of Pharmacy Distance Programs such as the one offered at Creighton. I have done a fair amount of research regarding distance learning and have formulated a few opinions. My research focused on secondary education, not programs as intense as Pharmacy school

 

[fsupharmguy]

This is just what I've heard from the main pharmacist I worked with. He worked at the Mayo Clinic and had a resident who matriculated through the web-based pathway. He HIGHLY recommends the pathway. She was very well trained, and he also told me they (web-based students) scored better on average on the NAPLEX. I don't know about that last statistic, but that's what he said.
I'm applying, but I think I'd take a campus-based experience over the web-based since I know how badly I can procrastinate.

 

[slimcutt]

I'm a P3 web-based Creighton student and I have nothing but good things to say about the program. I absolutely love taking classes online but it does require a higher degree of self motivation. I think the reason why the web students may have scored higher on the NAPLEX is because they tend to be older students (me excluded) in their 30s and 40s and perhaps more mature. I don't know...it's just a thought. But when I started pharmacy school when I was 23, I know I wasn't as ready for it as my older classmates.

 

[mph2pharm]

I'm a P1 and so far I am extremely pleased with my decision to get my degree through the web-based program. I don't think that the program will suit everyone however.

As Slimcutt mentioned, you have to be VERY disciplined/motivated in order to keep up with the lectures and assignments. Since you are not physically going to a classroom it is your own responsibility to keep up with the lectures and assignments. My class has assigned someone to send out a weekly reminder of everything that is due that week as well as all of the reading assignments, etc. This has been VERY helpful.

Most of the lectures are video as well as audio-taped so I don't feel like I am teaching myself for the most part (that was something that I was worried about prior to starting the program).

Perhaps the hardest thing for me right now in addition to juggling seven classes is when you are listening to a lecture and you get confused on something. You don't have the luxary of raising your hand and asking the professor the question right then, you have to be proactive and email the professor (or the assigned course mentor) if you don't understand something. They have been really good about getting back to you quickly however.

I agree with Slimcutt in that maybe the web-based students do slightly better (NAPLEX, etc.) because they are typically older. The average age of my class is over thirty!

BTW Slimcutt...I am jealous...I wish I was a P3 right now instead of a P1!

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I wish they would just give us the notes and give us one test per week. No lecture. LEcture to me is a waste of time. I don't pay attention and even if I did, a large, large portion of pharmacy school is easy to understand concepts, but a metric ton of crap to memorize. What good does lecture do? I'm yet to find a person that can give me a credible answer. I'd be all about a fully online degree.

 

[ZpackSux]

I wish they would just give us the notes and give us one test per week. No lecture. LEcture to me is a waste of time. I don't pay attention and even if I did, a large, large portion of pharmacy school is easy to understand concepts, but a metric ton of crap to memorize. What good does lecture do? I'm yet to find a person that can give me a credible answer. I'd be all about a fully online degree.

How else will lecturers justify their income?

 

[mph2pharm]

I wish they would just give us the notes and give us one test per week. No lecture. LEcture to me is a waste of time. I don't pay attention and even if I did, a large, large portion of pharmacy school is easy to understand concepts, but a metric ton of crap to memorize. What good does lecture do? I'm yet to find a person that can give me a credible answer. I'd be all about a fully online degree.

It is a matter of personal preference and learning style (in my opinion) as to how much someone will get out of a lecture. Some people in my program probably choose not to listen to the lectures and they just read the book, notes, etc. and do just fine. Depending on the class, I actually find it beneficial to listen to the lectures because often the professor explains a concept in a different way than that which I am understanding, or provides examples that make certain concepts a lot clearer to me. Also, sometimes during a lecture, the professor will give you hints as to which concepts are important to know for their exam. Again it is up to the individual as to how much they choose to get out of a lecture.

btw...Creighton's program is not fully online....I am pretty sure that there are currently no fully online PharmD programs

 

[WVUPharm2007]

How else will lecturers justify their income?

They will become "pharmaceutical webmasters." I need to start proofreading stuff I post, the previous one in this thread doesn't make any sense.

 

[pharmboy30]

Does anyone have thoughts or opinions, good or bad, on Doctor of Pharmacy Distance Programs such as the one offered at Creighton. I have done a fair amount of research regarding distance learning and have formulated a few opinions. My research focused on secondary education, not programs as intense as Pharmacy school

I graduated from the first on-line class from Creighton.
I worked full time while I was in school, didn't have much of a choice.
I thought it was ok, passed the NAPLEX and law first shot.

I can read lectures/power points myself, I didn't need someone to read them to me. I am also a night person and studied late, I can't function in the AM.
It is not FULLY on-line, you go 2 weeks to campus during the summers for labs, etc.

 

[pharmboy30]

I'm a P3 web-based Creighton student and I have nothing but good things to say about the program. I absolutely love taking classes online but it does require a higher degree of self motivation. I think the reason why the web students may have scored higher on the NAPLEX is because they tend to be older students (me excluded) in their 30s and 40s and perhaps more mature. I don't know...it's just a thought. But when I started pharmacy school when I was 23, I know I wasn't as ready for it as my older classmates.

My class was older, median late 20's/early 30's, most had family/kids.
Most of my classmates also worked full time or as many hours as they could handle personally.

 

[pharmboy30]

It is a matter of personal preference and learning style (in my opinion) as to how much someone will get out of a lecture. Some people in my program probably choose not to listen to the lectures and they just read the book, notes, etc. and do just fine. Depending on the class, I actually find it beneficial to listen to the lectures because often the professor explains a concept in a different way than that which I am understanding, or provides examples that make certain concepts a lot clearer to me. Also, sometimes during a lecture, the professor will give you hints as to which concepts are important to know for their exam. Again it is up to the individual as to how much they choose to get out of a lecture.

btw...Creighton's program is not fully online....I am pretty sure that there are currently no fully online PharmD programs

the 3rd year of school they started putting up streaming audio of some of the lectures so you could get some of that info for exams, etc.