P1 Burnout

[Rx 4 MiSeRy]

I know there is a similar thread on here right now but I really didn't want to hijack it. My first semester has gone really well.. So far my lowest grade is an 85 on a test, in my hardest class. BUT, I am studying for the second test which we have on Thursday and I swear I feel like I am not learning the material. I keep going over it and quizzing myself and I just feel dumb.

I have the worst possible test anxiety - and I am not sure why. I always used to pressure myself to get A's and B's but never like this. I get so worked up I can feel my heart rate speed up and beat funky. I just do not know if I can physically or mentally handle this for 3 years. Does it get better as the years go by? What should I do in the meantime to help with this test anxiety? Just don't know where else to go with this.

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[WVUPharm2007]

The gold standard cure for anxiety is apathy...

 

[Rx 4 MiSeRy]

Well as tempting as that sounds, apathy would more than likely keep me from graduating on time. Do you know of any other way?

 

[njac]

lots of people use propranolol.

I've got apathy to spare and I still have >3.0 (it's 3.3ish). Totally doable to get As and Bs while riddled with apathy.

 

[Rx 4 MiSeRy]

I guess I should have known better than talk about something serious on SDN. Thanks a bunch for all of your insight.

 

[twester]

It you're melting down five weeks or so into your first semester, you will either let go of the perfectionism or you will melt down and flunk out.

I started out much like you. Now, I feel I'm doing good in the first semester of my third year to simply get a 'C'. That grade allows me somewhat of a life and a great deal of sanity. Testing in pharmacy school is artificial and has no relevance to the real world. Just play the game and pass - nobody (except you) really cares whether you got an A or a C on that kinetics exam.

 

[KARM12]

They key to survival is realzing it is ok to get a B...heck even a C. It is suppose to be hard and not everyone is suppose to get straight A's. I think most ppl wil agree with me that pretty much no one gets a 4.0. Just relax, learn the material, and don't stress about it...

 

[tussionex]

It you're melting down five weeks or so into your first semester, you will either let go of the perfectionism or you will melt down and flunk out.

I started out much like you. Now, I feel I'm doing good in the first semester of my third year to simply get a 'C'. That grade allows me somewhat of a life and a great deal of sanity. Testing in pharmacy school is artificial and has no relevance to the real world. Just play the game and pass - nobody (except you) really cares whether you got an A or a C on that kinetics exam.

i second that! a million times over.

no test in pharmacy school has anything to do with real world practice. and the only test that actually matters is the board exam. no one cares about your grades except you, and maybe your parents (and tell them to F off, they're not living in hell, you are)


get a life, have fun, and happily get C's.

i never gave a crap about grades through the entirety of school.
graduated, passed, and learned more in the five years i've been out than the 6 years i was in school.

just play the game.

 

[gabapentin]

Sadly, in my school, C's do NOT make PharmDs. More like Bs make PharmDs.

 

[confettiflyer]

Sadly, in my school, C's do NOT make PharmDs. More like Bs make PharmDs.

lol, same here... 3.0 minimum or you're kicked out

 

[Allure]

The key is to find what works for you. I've always thought that I study better by myself and I do, but I tend to remember things longer and faster when a friend quizzes me. I didn't know how to study my whole first year. It took me a while to find what works for me. You must remember that this is not this only time you will learn these materials. They will be repeated again and again. So don't stressed out too much for feeling like not knowing.

 

[rxlynn]

You might spend some time thinking about what, of all the material presented, is something that is a)important and b) more difficult to learn. I think that's where you need to spend your time - in other words, study smart. You will drive yourself crazy if you try to learn everything about everything.

I have a good friend who came to me one day and asked if I knew how to do a specific calculations problem. We talked about it, and then later she said something to the effect of "well, I spent about an hour last night trying to figure this out". She's a good student too, but I just thought to myself - why would you spend that much time over something so trivial??

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I guess I should have known better than talk about something serious on SDN. Thanks a bunch for all of your insight.

Yeah...but we're right. It's not worth it to get all bent out of shape over grades. And if worst comes to worst, who cares if you take an extra year. From my experience....I can honestly say nobody. Hell, we should all be so lucky. Once you start into the real world, the free time you are allotted rapidly approaches nil. I'm just saying...read the stuff to understand it. F' grades. They don't help you in the real world...understanding the stuff does.

 

[Rx 4 MiSeRy]

Yeah...but we're right. It's not worth it to get all bent out of shape over grades. And if worst comes to worst, who cares if you take an extra year. From my experience....I can honestly say nobody. Hell, we should all be so lucky. Once you start into the real world, the free time you are allotted rapidly approaches nil. I'm just saying...read the stuff to understand it. F' grades. They don't help you in the real world...understanding the stuff does.

Yeah I definitely agree with that statement. I just kind of feel like the above poster said about having to know "everything about everything". I found myself studying glycolysis + Krebs for about 8 hours.. Memorizing every single detail about every single intermediate and major step. I just feel like I have to know everything or I cannot sleep at night. This is true especially before an exam, I feel like I have not done my "job" until I have stayed up til about 3 am. And in retrospect, I really don't learn anything I didn't know at 3 pm the day before. I'm just wired weird or something. I wish my give-a-damn was busted!

 

[tussionex]

I just feel like I have to know everything or I cannot sleep at night. This is true especially before an exam, I feel like I have not done my "job" until I have stayed up til about 3 am.

sorry, but you need to re-prioritize. get a hobby, go to the gym...something


no one needs to put themselves through that much anxiety. i watched many of my peers do the same as you're doing, and they aren't in some glamorous, magical job. they are just normal pharmacists, like everyone else.

your "job" kicks in when you actually have patient care at stake. it's all pretend in pharmacy school. save the 3 am anxiety for the real world.

ya know what, at ACP i think it IS "B = PharmD".....just goes to show you how much i cared about grades. and, no one really cares what you score on the board exam - you need to look at that as pass/fail.

 

[RNtoPharmD]

I just feel like I have to know everything or I cannot sleep at night. This is true especially before an exam, I feel like I have not done my "job" until I have stayed up til about 3 am. And in retrospect, I really don't learn anything I didn't know at 3 pm the day before. I'm just wired weird or something. I wish my give-a-damn was busted!

Relax.. Try to think that there are someone in the classes that are less prepared than you. Thos folk (including me) are cramming for the test all night, while you're just reviewing it. At least, you are more prepared than them. I cram almost every Sunday night before Monday tests coz I work 7A-7P every weekends.. I try to change this study habit next Monday so I can hopefully do good on on some tests. Sometimes, I envy my classmates who choose not to work and have time to relax. But I realize that I am not the only one that is working... so I guess..I just suck it up for now until I can't take it anymore... Good luck.. I have test anxiety, too.. And it's worse when I know that I feel unprepared and think that I could have prepared more if I have more time.. tussionex's advice is good. I can't see wasting the rest of my 20s in this mess.. I'll probably stop working at some point..

 

[blueclassring]

wait until you get to your third year, and then it really kicks in. luckily for us, only 20 days to go!!!

 

[KUMoose]

wait until you get to your third year, and then it really kicks in. luckily for us, only 20 days to go!!!

Or if you're like Maryland the third year will spend more time on drug information questions because of their sheer ******ed factor then on therapeutics. But I digress and I'm still procrastinating.