Question about curriculum

[Nami]

Hi, I'm a P-2 and was wondering how the curriculum at other schools are. For instance, at my school we get lists of drugs and it's up to us to learn the dose, CI, MOA, etc. then we take a top 200 drug test in the third year that we need to pass for rotations. It just seems odd to me that we really don't get any formal teaching in this because I think it's the most important part of Pharmacy.
We've just started pharmacology, but it's not taught by people in the pharmacy department and it doesn't really correlate to the drug lists we have so far. It seems most people here learn the most from interning (we're required to earn a certain amout of hours interning). I've started interning this semester and it just seems like we should have learned more practical things first year. Just getting a list and copying info from a book isn't much help when you really don't know what the key points are. Not to mention OTCs, we really don't get any info on those, and yet it's really important in communtiy pharmacy to know how they interact with meds.
So anyway, I'm just curious if at your school you are left on your own to learn the top 200 or if your school gives you some guidance?

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[pinkyrx]

I'm not sure on the details, but I think our school offers a Top 200 elective class. I'm guessing it would be better to take it towards the end of school though since the top 200 will change from year to year.

 

[Tuck]

Wow, I am suprised that they wait that long. We start learning these the first term, and we beging clinical rotations in the second term. The internships then start during the summer. Generally, you learn all these drugs during your internship anyway. If you worked as a tech, then you know most of these drugs and what they are for, although you may need to increase your knowledge about each one.

 

[dgroulx]

We are taught by class of drug, not by best sellers. Eventually all top selling drugs will be covered, once we are done with pharmacology. We also learn drugs in phase 3 trials and those used in Europe that may be approved for use in the US in the next several years.