PharmD Forums

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Should PharmD be split into 2 forums?

  • Yes, 2 forums, pharm-students and pre-pharm students

    Votes: 46 57.5%

  • No, I like it as it is with just 1 forum

    Votes: 32 40.0%

  • No opinion

    Votes: 2 2.5%
  • Total voters
    80
  • Poll closed .
Lee

Lee

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The PharmD forum is one of the most active forums in this section of SDN.

I wanted to know if there is interest in creating a subsection for pharmacy (like MD/DO/DDS currently have), which would include 2 forums: a pre-pharm student forum and a pharmD student forum.

If you prefer 2 forums (pre-pharm / current student), let me know If you prefer just 1 forum, let me know too!
 
Two forums is a great idea! We actually talked about this a while back and most people wanted the forum to remain as it is. However, since lately there are so many posts on a variety of topics I really think we could benefit from separate forums. I would bet that most of those voting for one forum are pre-pharms, b/c they're worried that the pharm students and pharmDs won't read their forum. But I'm sure they'll get the same help as they receive currently.
 
I like to think of it as "Pre-Allo integrated with Allopathic", so yeah, I think that we could benefit from two (or more) forums. I don't know why anyone wouldn't want it that way. Even if two forums are created, everyone will still be able to read everything.
 
Wow, this gonna be a close vote 🙂 I am against the idea of 2 separate forums because I think that those pharm students can help the pre-pharm students. Having 2 forums means that pharm students will only go to pharm forum, and the pre-pharm people will have to post questions in the pharm forum to get answers.
 
goheel said:
Wow, this gonna be a close vote 🙂 I am against the idea of 2 separate forums because I think that those pharm students can help the pre-pharm students. Having 2 forums means that pharm students will only go to pharm forum, and the pre-pharm people will have to post questions in the pharm forum to get answers.
Click to expand...
No, it doesn't. If the pharmacy students didn't want to answer the pre-pharm's questiosn, they wouldn't do it, regardless of the format of the forums. It's not like we have to answer the pre-pharm's questions to get to the "good stuff". It would just be organized better with two forums.
 
Lee, be a trailblazer and give it a shot. If it doesn't work out you can always change it back to 1 forum again. Although I still think it's not going to matter, pre-pharms will still post their questions in either forum.
 
MALA said:
Lee, be a trailblazer and give it a shot. If it doesn't work out you can always change it back to 1 forum again. Although I still think it's not going to matter, pre-pharms will still post their questions in either forum.
Click to expand...
..and they will be moved by a moderator if they are in the wrong fourm.
 
i support it 100 percent! it is easier to find topics. and by separating pre-pharm process/application process with the professional years are very very very very helpful.
 
If your going to split it up like that then why not add a "Pharmacy Technician forum"? Im sure that would be more beneficial than a "Pre-Pharm" forum.
 
J Lucas said:
If your going to split it up like that then why not add a "Pharmacy Technician forum"? Im sure that would be more beneficial than a "Pre-Pharm" forum.
Click to expand...
Well, perhaps because pharmacy techs are not healthcare professionals.
 
It seems like the only benefit of having two forums seperate would be to have less to sort through on the Pharm.D. side. It's not like we are so huge that we can't visit once a day and see the last day's activity on a single page. I see no reason to separate the two at this volume.

If people aren't going to search the forum before posting, having two forums to sort through is not going to help the situation. At least with one forum we are only asking that they do one search of the Pharm.D. forum before asking a question. (And once the FAQ is stickied, we can just post "see FAQ" whenever the questions answered in the FAQ are posted.)

How are we going to separate Pharm.D. and pre-pharm logistically? Where do questions that are open to both audiences go? Generally pre-pharms want current Pharm.D. students to see their questions too. Prepharm questions would go to a narrower audience, which can't posotively influence the site experience for pre-pharms. Also, some topics aren't "either, or". So, we could get duplicate posts in two forums. And, it seems like it would create extra work for mods to move topics all over.

I am officially down for leaving it as is.
 
I agree with what bananaface said. 😀 Excellent post!!
 
bananaface said:
It seems like the only benefit of having two forums seperate would be to have less to sort through on the Pharm.D. side. It's not like we are so huge that we can't visit once a day and see the last day's activity on a single page. I see no reason to separate the two at this volume.

If people aren't going to search the forum before posting, having two forums to sort through is not going to help the situation. At least with one forum we are only asking that they do one search of the Pharm.D. forum before asking a question. (And once the FAQ is stickied, we can just post "see FAQ" whenever the questions answered in the FAQ are posted.)

How are we going to separate Pharm.D. and pre-pharm logistically? Where do questions that are open to both audiences go? Generally pre-pharms want current Pharm.D. students to see their questions too. Prepharm questions would go to a narrower audience, which can't posotively influence the site experience for pre-pharms. Also, some topics aren't "either, or". So, we could get duplicate posts in two forums. And, it seems like it would create extra work for mods to move topics all over.

I am officially down for leaving it as is.
Click to expand...

honestly i feel the prepharm questions would have a wider audience..... there are a few times i have seen current student related posts that go completely unnoticed
it just feels like A LOT of the people who post on the forum are prepharm as i know personally i don't have the time to come EVERY day to check out what is going on. most posts are beyond relevant to me...
like ATTN incoming (insert California school here) STUDENTS:
as i'm not an incoming student and live in the south...
yes i know i have the ability to skip those and do.

i think the vote will break down to most prepharm don't want 2 and most current students do.
 
bananaface said:
We should make everyone watch this instructive video on forum etiquette as a condition of membership. It may be wise to wait until your mom or kids are out of the room to view it (language). 😀 It takes awhile to load, but it is hilarious.
Click to expand...


That needs to be a new post with a sticky.....
after all you don't want all the other kids laughing at you...


lol
 
jdpharmd? said:
No, it doesn't. If the pharmacy students didn't want to answer the pre-pharm's questiosn, they wouldn't do it, regardless of the format of the forums. It's not like we have to answer the pre-pharm's questions to get to the "good stuff". It would just be organized better with two forums.
Click to expand...

It would be organized better, this is true.

Would the pre pharmacy students shy away from talking with the upperclassmen as a result?
 
baggywrinkle said:
It would be organized better, this is true.

Would the pre pharmacy students shy away from talking with the upperclassmen as a result?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be... unless they told me I was a baby and to go away.
 
Considering that less than 100 people have voted, it seems like nobody really cares and that leaving things the way they are wouldn't piss anyone off...and would be easier for the moderators.
 
The first time this question came up several months ago (or was it a year ago?), I said "No", but lately I have been entertaining second thoughts about this. We have garnered a larger population of students and practitioners who have interests separate from the prepharms. We occasionally have so many new threads that the duration during which a new topic remains on the first page can be rather short. Some questions may not get an adequate enough time needed for a response, and may have to be "bumped" up to keep from falling further behind. I understand the problem of logistics Anna had previously mentioned, but the other professional/preprofessional forums have been able to handle the separation. I would most certainly visit the prepharm forum and contribute to topic discussions whenever I can, and I'm certain many other "veterans" of this forum will do so as well.

The only possible problem is the posting of the FAQ in a new forum, but Anna can "cut and paste" the pertinent topics into a new sticky. Her current FAQ is already so complete, the FAQ for a potential new forum is essentially written.
 
bananaface said:
I am sure the search function could be made to sort through both the pharmacy and pre-pharmacy areas if we decided to split them up.
Click to expand...

True, or a link to the original FAQ can be stickied at the top of the new forum. I wonder when (if) this split will happen, the suspense!
 
If we just post a link and don't double up the search option, people won't get a hit on the search function unless they are searching from the section the original FAQ is posted in. At this point I'm still actively editing the FAQ, so for now I would just post a link if we add a prepharm forum. Once the FAQ is more compelete, I am open to duplicating it and posting a full copy on two forums if it needs to be that way.

I would strongly recommend the search option be set up to search both pharmacy and pre-pharmacy topics, to avoid duplicate threads.
 
Multiple forums can be searched through the "Advanced Search" option (hold "ctrl" key and click to select forums to be searched).

But I suppose that's asking too much from a newbie to the forum, so I see your point.
 
**bump**

Is anything going to become of this?
 
Based on response, there was not an overwhelming demand to make 2 forums. For now we'll keep it as one forum and revisit the 2 forum idea later this year. 🙂
 
Lee A Burnett said:
Based on response, there was not an overwhelming demand to make 2 forums. For now we'll keep it as one forum and revisit the 2 forum idea later this year. 🙂
Click to expand...

Good choice
 
Lee A Burnett said:
Based on response, there was not an overwhelming demand to make 2 forums. For now we'll keep it as one forum and revisit the 2 forum idea later this year. 🙂
Click to expand...
Lee,

You have to understand that almost every pre-pharm wants only one forum, while almost every current pharmacy student wants two. I check the posts almost every day, and lately it's been mostly "how can I train as a tech?", "where should I apply?", "will I get in?" and "what about the PCAT?" threads. Those are all pre-pharmacy topics. I'm still in favor of two forums. 😀
 
Lee A Burnett said:
Based on response, there was not an overwhelming demand to make 2 forums. For now we'll keep it as one forum and revisit the 2 forum idea later this year. 🙂
Click to expand...


I am absolutely positive that there is a huge drop off in posting once a student is done with their first year of pharmacy school. The reasons for this: we've seen the same questions over and over again, the most common questions are irrelevant to current pharm students, it gets a little annoying seeing questions about pharm tech certification in the PharmD forum. I don't think medical assistant questions would fly in the osteopathic or allopathic forums. Although there wasn't an overwhelming demand for two forums, there was a majority vote for two forums. That, plus taking the comments into account show the need and desire for two separate forums. Until two forums are created, IMHO the PharmD section at SDN will be sub par.
 
jdpharmd? said:
Lee,

You have to understand that almost every pre-pharm wants only one forum, while almost every current pharmacy student wants two. I check the posts almost every day, and lately it's been mostly "how can I train as a tech?", "where should I apply?", "will I get in?" and "what about the PCAT?" threads. Those are all pre-pharmacy topics. I'm still in favor of two forums. 😀
Click to expand...

I have to agree with JD and Amanda. I believe we still need a place where students in the professional years can talk regarding pharmacy curriculum and our career etc. unfortunately, most of the post in the pharmd forums are dominantly "how to get into pharmacy school" rather than "effect of this drug against the other" you get my point. i still prefer 2 separate forums.

I also believe that we need to make ourselves known in this forum. tell your friends in the pharmacy school. tell them such a place exists. I think most the problem comes from not many people know about this site and forum's exisitence. once more professional year students get involved, i believe we will see more traffic. possibly more of professional year related questions rather than the pre-pharm questions.

for all of you who are for 2 forums, i would like pm lee and ask for reconsideration. any followers?
 
To be perfectly honest, It is the Pre-Pharm Students who keep this forum so active. I havent seen any constant flow of intellectual banter going back and forth between current Pharm Students especially regarding what they are doing curriculum wise. Its always the pre-pharm students begging for more information because there isnt hardly enough being said about what is actually taking place in Pharmacy school. If the current Pharm students feel its such a burden to have to sift through all those repetitive questions from Pre-Pharm students then what effort will they make to go to the Pre Pharm forum and answer them?? 😕
 
I would imagine that a forum with current pharmacy students would be less active. Most generally don't check the forums every day due to time constraints or other concerns. However, if anything this is only more of an endorcement for splitting into two forums. It would allow them to more efficiently use their time and to find posts that are more on par with their current education level. It might actually increase activity by becoming a useful resource for students. The pre-pharm questions are almost all answered in the FAQ, but having a forum for these questions separately would really help define things a bit more.
 
I don't know if I completely buy the fact that it would be more time efficient if there's a seperate forum for current pharmacy students. It's just as easy to skim through a mixed forum's subjects as it is to look through a current pharmacy student forum.
 
Pre-Pharms may dominate topic wise. But, most of those who contribute consistently are now Pharm.D. students or current practitioners. The reason there are not a ton of current student and practitioner topics is because we simply haven't been making them. Maybe we need to think about what we can do to fix this problem in a different thread.

Tuck raises a good point when he says that a separate pharmacy professional hub would be nice. Many of us are committed to answering pre-pharm questions even if there are two separate forums. I am starting to climb the fence over to the separation side, as the idea of getting a really good current students and practitioners idea is making me all excited.

To sum up what I have read above:

Pros of separation:
1) reduced repitition of pre-pharm questions
2) more focused "hubs" of students on each board
3) less manual sorting of questions
4) topics fall off the page less quickly and are likely to be discussed more in-depth
5) separate sections would attract more current practitioners and professional students to SDN, encouraging them to be more active, thereby genrating better discussion
6) better relationship between pharms and prepharms as pharms are no longer frustrated by repeat questions

Cons of separation:
1) fewer viewers for pre-pharm questions
2) no more one stop, all encompassing forum
3) more complex to search both forums for answers to questions
4) extra work for moderators
5) potential for a nondescript topic to be discussed simultaneously in both the pharmacy and pre-pharm forums
 
bananaface said:
Pre-Pharms may dominate topic wise. But, most of those who contribute consistently are now Pharm.D. students or current practitioners. The reason there are not a ton of current student and practitioner topics is because we simply haven't been making them. Maybe we need to think about what we can do to fix this problem in a different thread.

Tuck raises a good point when he says that a separate pharmacy professional hub would be nice. Many of us are committed to answering pre-pharm questions even if there are two separate forums. I am starting to climb the fence over to the separation side, as the idea of getting a really good current students and practitioners idea is making me all excited.

To sum up what I have read above:

Pros of separation:
1) reduced repitition of pre-pharm questions
2) more focused "hubs" of students on each board
3) less manual sorting of questions
4) topics fall off the page less quickly and are likely to be discussed more in-depth
5) separate sections would attract more current practitioners and professional students to SDN, encouraging them to be more active, thereby genrating better discussion
6) better relationship between pharms and prepharms as pharms are no longer frustrated by repeat questions

Cons of separation:
1) fewer viewers for pre-pharm questions
2) no more one stop, all encompassing forum
3) more complex to search both forums for answers to questions
4) extra work for moderators
5) potential for a nondescript topic to be discussed simultaneously in both the pharmacy and pre-pharm forums
Click to expand...

Banana, 🙂
For some reason I started out with a post to contradict your points but ended up agreeing with you. I am starting to think two forums might be the better idea after all. Even though if you go through all the post from the last year or so there have been no influx of informative post from current PharmD students.

If you believe that having your own segregated forum will promote that sort of intellectual spirit then the possibility should not be ruled out. I just felt that there are maybe a handful of current Pharmacist and PharmD Students who constantly contribute informative post on a weekly basis. If you feel that merits your own personal forum and will lead to more constructive post then who am I to disagree.
 
J Lucas said:
Banana, 🙂
For some reason I started out with a post to contradict your points but ended up agreeing with you.
Click to expand...
I also started out writing on the other side of the argument and changed my mind. 🙂 I wonder if it is contagious?

If we had separate topic areas, we could maybe recruit more Pharm.D. students and have more people open to reading the pre-Pharm questions. Does that idea appeal to pre-Pharms?

Does anyone think that the reason there is so much opposition to two separate forums is that pre-Pharms feel that those who are already in school are trying to cut them out? We are talking about separate topic areas, not assigning users to two groups and telling them they can't talk to each other. All students would be to welcome to vistit, read, and post on either board, so long as they are discussing the topics relevant to that section. Organizing would be an organizational tool, not a way for current students to hide out and act elitist.
 
Lee should just do it, I don't know why it's such a big deal. if it's not working out it can go back to 1 forum. Even though I'm prepharm, I think it would be interesting to read what the current pharm students have to say, what kind of questions they're asking and the insight they have about the schools they attend. I get sick of seeing the PCAT questions too.
 
As others have said, one thing that concerns me with 2 forums is that the new prepharms will post their questions in both forums to make sure they are seen.
 
jemc2000 said:
As others have said, one thing that concerns me with 2 forums is that the new prepharms will post their questions in both forums to make sure they are seen.
Click to expand...

Thats DEFINITELY going to happen.
"Im not sure which forum to post this in so I posted it in both"
or
"Im posting this in both to get opinions from both side."

I guess they are going on the assumption that the moderators will be the post police xferring post to the correct group all the time.(started to write this b4)

But if Banana thinks that two seperate groups will get more PharmD's and Pharamcist to start posting about intellectual topics facing the Pharmacy profession I think its worth a shot.
Either way we wont know until it happens, how about a test run?Try it out and if it isnt going well we revert back to the way it is currently. Wont that please the masses? 😕
 
We all know that when there're 2 forums. All the prepharms gonna go to the PharmD forum and post there anyway 😉 , and the PharmD will become like what we're having right now.
 
A solution to the issue might be to make one or 2 of the more active current students a moderator of the new forum. Post some clear posting guidlines and then enforce them. I did this with a few forums I used to moderate and it worked out quite well. It got rid of 95% of the meaningless posts and the number of quality contributions and contributers actually increased considerably.
 
Why can't we just do that to the forum right now, and remove threads that can be answered by reading the FAQ. I can be the moderator, I basically check this site multiple times a day anyway.
 
I remove any threads that are off topic or violate the TOS but I try not to delete threads just because the subject has been brought up before. People tend to get upset when moderators start deleting a lot of threads. Reminders to read the FAQ or run a search for past threads generally work better.
 
what's holding up the process? get that PharmD topic forum! :meanie:
 
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