Week 3 of P1 Year Report: Pharmacy School is Really Weighing Me Down

[TheOnlinePharmacist]

Hi everyone. So, Halfway into week 3 of pharmacy school report: I'm f*cking tired.

Over the past two weeks and a half I've had so much thrown at me. All sorts of assignments, homework, quizzes, group projects, meetings, mandatory sessions, and more just thrown at me as if I'm supposed to learn to balance everything out immediately. On the bright side, I have held up. I've done really well on my first two exams, and kind of caught up in most classes. I won't lie, I'm barely hanging on though. I'm at a point where I make it home at 12:30pm and I have so much time to study but I'm so freaking tired from the late night before, I fall asleep, wake up 2-3 hours later, and then pull a study/procrastination sess until 12:30-2am, rinse, and repeat. That's pretty much how my past 2 weeks have been. I want to sleep early so that I can wake up early and energetic but so far it hasn't worked out, so I just study late instead, which really messes with my mental focus the next day. Class note taking and focus hasn't really been an issue. I take great notes in class and most of what the professor says makes sense to me, so the time that I'm at school I'm fine, but my issue is the loss of my energy when I get home.

So, all our P2, P3, and P4 students gave us advice, and one of the most recurring pieces of advice from them was to get everything sorted and organized as soon as you can. I'm 2 weeks and a half in and I feel like I'm still juggling everything mid air, and I could crash at any moment. I have my first biochemistry exam in a week, then my first pathophysiology exam exactly a week after that. Those are the two main classes I'm worried about. Currently I'm focusing everything on biochem, but I feel like once I'm done with biochem, and I make a decent score, I'm going to really regret not starting patho earlier. So, I guess I'm just here for some study advice. Yes, everyone has their own methods, but I feel like my current method of quickly switching gears and focusing one test at a time won't work well in the long run, even though I may have enough time in between tests to do that. At least for my first semester. I don't think staying caught up with everything be an issue but all these things they're throwing at us so far into the semester just kills my energy, which greatly affects my study hours.

What do you do to stay caught up in all the courses simultaneously? How do you stay energized? How do you make time for other activities? What does a good study day look like for you? Anything helps!

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[PA_dud3]

Hi everyone. So, Halfway into week 3 of pharmacy school report: I'm f*cking tired.

Over the past two weeks and a half I've had so much thrown at me. All sorts of assignments, homework, quizzes, group projects, meetings, mandatory sessions, and more just thrown at me as if I'm supposed to learn to balance everything out immediately. On the bright side, I have held up. I've done really well on my first two exams, and kind of caught up in most classes. I won't lie, I'm barely hanging on though. I'm at a point where I make it home at 12:30pm and I have so much time to study but I'm so freaking tired from the late night before, I fall asleep, wake up 2-3 hours later, and then pull a study/procrastination sess until 12:30-2am, rinse, and repeat. That's pretty much how my past 2 weeks have been. I want to sleep early so that I can wake up early and energetic but so far it hasn't worked out, so I just study late instead, which really messes with my mental focus the next day. Class note taking and focus hasn't really been an issue. I take great notes in class and most of what the professor says makes sense to me, so the time that I'm at school I'm fine, but my issue is the loss of my energy when I get home.

So, all our P2, P3, and P4 students gave us advice, and one of the most recurring pieces of advice from them was to get everything sorted and organized as soon as you can. I'm 2 weeks and a half in and I feel like I'm still juggling everything mid air, and I could crash at any moment. I have my first biochemistry exam in a week, then my first pathophysiology exam exactly a week after that. Those are the two main classes I'm worried about. Currently I'm focusing everything on biochem, but I feel like once I'm done with biochem, and I make a decent score, I'm going to really regret not starting patho earlier. So, I guess I'm just here for some study advice. Yes, everyone has their own methods, but I feel like my current method of quickly switching gears and focusing one test at a time won't work well in the long run, even though I may have enough time in between tests to do that. At least for my first semester. I don't think staying caught up with everything be an issue but all these things they're throwing at us so far into the semester just kills my energy, which greatly affects my study hours.

What do you do to stay caught up in all the courses simultaneously? How do you stay energized? How do you make time for other activities? What does a good study day look like for you? Anything helps!

This probably has no bearing on you whatsoever but for my science heavy courses in undergrad I am studying about 2-3-4 hours per day. Rarely any over that.

Hope you start to get settled in to the swing of things!

 

[FinallyOnTrack]

A few things - I’m not far ahead of you but I can tell you that from my program (mind you it’s an accelerated program that condenses your 15+1 week semesters into a 10+1 week quarter) is that time management is extremely critical..

What helped me was I would get to school between 7am and 8am and stay at school studying until 5pm then I would go home, make dinner, study for another 2-3 hours and try to be in bed by 8:30pm.. I would wake up at 5am take my shower, eat a decent breakfast, and study for about an hour at home before I left for school... this would prepare me for the day and it broke my cycle of studying for 8+ hours straight.. make sure you take small breaks in between studying..

And if you need any help with Biochem or Pathophysiology (practice questions) let me know - my study group came up with tons of practice problems to help us self study / practice for our exams..


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[TheOnlinePharmacist]

A few things - I’m not far ahead of you but I can tell you that from my program (mind you it’s an accelerated program that condenses your 15+1 week semesters into a 10+1 week quarter) is that time management is extremely critical..

What helped me was I would get to school between 7am and 8am and stay at school studying until 5pm then I would go home, make dinner, study for another 2-3 hours and try to be in bed by 8:30pm.. I would wake up at 5am take my shower, eat a decent breakfast, and study for about an hour at home before I left for school... this would prepare me for the day and it broke my cycle of studying for 8+ hours straight.. make sure you take small breaks in between studying..

And if you need any help with Biochem or Pathophysiology (practice questions) let me know - my study group came up with tons of practice problems to help us self study / practice for our exams..


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I agree time management insanely critical, and I'm really working on it, but it's slowly developing haha. Thank you for posting your schedule! I actually like the sound of that. I have a similar morning schedule except I wake up at 6am, and I don't stay at school after classes (usually because my little clique leaves and I feel like I don't know anyone else.)

Now that I think about it, that type of schedule will actually help in my case considering that when I get home, I see a bed or a couch and immediately decide to nap, resulting in a waste of 2-3 hours. If I stayed at school until 5-6pm I wouldn't have the temptation of sleep and I'd be more inclined to study.

Your night schedule is what really hit home. I think it's crucial to take a little break after your 4-6 hour study session at school after classes, and then the 1 hour of studying you added there can be used to go over some learning objectives or key points and see which ones you've mastered and which ones you haven't. I really like the sound of that.

I will test your schedule out starting the upcoming Monday, I actually think it'll work great. Thank you so much for that.

And, I would love to take a look at your practice problems! Are they on Quizlet? If you could DM me a link that'd be awesome. If you need my email let me know! Thank you!

 

[animalsasleaders]

As everyone has noted, time management is everything. However, you NEED to make time for leisure. When I talk to people in my class, they talk about Friday-Sunday being study time. Uhhhh no. Friday and Saturday are my designated relax days (beers, video games, and whatever I want). Don't make yourself study 7 days a week.

For managing assignments, just do one thing at a time, and do it well. Continue engaging and taking notes in class. Skip classes sparingly, it only makes more work for you at home later. Lastly, study groups can help in subjects that are overwhelming to work on alone. I'm a P3 with a slightly higher than 3.5GPA. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

 

[lane one]

You better focus on those gainz, too. Else you're gonna have to change your screen name.

 

[FinallyOnTrack]

I agree time management insanely critical, and I'm really working on it, but it's slowly developing haha. Thank you for posting your schedule! I actually like the sound of that. I have a similar morning schedule except I wake up at 6am, and I don't stay at school after classes (usually because my little clique leaves and I feel like I don't know anyone else.)

Now that I think about it, that type of schedule will actually help in my case considering that when I get home, I see a bed or a couch and immediately decide to nap, resulting in a waste of 2-3 hours. If I stayed at school until 5-6pm I wouldn't have the temptation of sleep and I'd be more inclined to study.

Your night schedule is what really hit home. I think it's crucial to take a little break after your 4-6 hour study session at school after classes, and then the 1 hour of studying you added there can be used to go over some learning objectives or key points and see which ones you've mastered and which ones you haven't. I really like the sound of that.

I will test your schedule out starting the upcoming Monday, I actually think it'll work great. Thank you so much for that.

And, I would love to take a look at your practice problems! Are they on Quizlet? If you could DM me a link that'd be awesome. If you need my email let me know! Thank you!

I fell into the trap of when I would go home after my last class (around 3ish) and I would feel mentally drained - I noticed that if I stayed at school I wouldn’t feel like that...

I started off with just one study group with 6 others and have gained/joined 3 other groups - so chances are - I’ll find someone to study with when I stay late and all of my other peeps are gone.. definitely expand your horizons and find others to that like to study after class..

Mind you, my schedule was the norm for me when we didn’t have exams - I would try to limit myself to not stay up past midnight the night before exams and to get at least 6 hours of sleep.. 2 days before the exam - that would be fair game for whatever (I haven’t pulled an all nighter yet (knock on wood)).. my finals week I got 6 hours each night - but it was a struggle for sure.. I kinda regret not sacrificing my sleep for the grades..


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[DOOM N GLOOM]

How To Survive Pharmacy School... I have some great advice for you if you're still enrolled. Don't give up yet.... I've DEFINITELY felt this way before
And its been a year since I graduated. You WILL get through this. Please message me.

What a stupid post. You literally copied and pasted this paragraph in 25 threads. You’re selling some kind of career coaching service, aren’t you?

 

[Amicable Angora]

If you're this tired and you're only halfway through week 3... well.. just think about how you're going to survive 30 years in your "career."

 

[PharmtoCS]

It really doesn't get better. In a previous thread, we did advise you drop out and switch professions for a reason.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Pharmacy school is difficult (and the pharmacy schools that aren't difficult are the ones with low NAPLEX pass rates.) When I was in pharmacy school, I pretty much studied 6 days/nights a week. I took off Friday night - Saturday midday. Any time I wasn't in class, I was studying (now I would take 5 minutes breaks every hour, and I did take go to the gym almost every day.) But if you want to do well, it requires a lot of studying. And yeah, I would pretty much go from studying from one test to the next, it can feel overwhelming, but you will be glad you did it when you pass the NAPLEX.

 

[ImmunoglobulinE]

Don't worry hang in there. When you graduate in four years, its all gonna be worth it, after getting the $200,000 a year job offer with $30,000 sign on bonus and a Tesla lease. you got this bro

 

[wagrxm2000]

All this work only to statistically end up hating your job. (based on how many hate their job here)

 

[cj98]

It doesn't really get any easier. It is highly recommended (well..almost mandatory these days) that you should also be working as a pharmacy intern in addition to studying

 

[DrVader]

Hi everyone. So, Halfway into week 3 of pharmacy school report: I'm f*cking tired.

Over the past two weeks and a half I've had so much thrown at me. All sorts of assignments, homework, quizzes, group projects, meetings, mandatory sessions, and more just thrown at me as if I'm supposed to learn to balance everything out immediately. On the bright side, I have held up. I've done really well on my first two exams, and kind of caught up in most classes. I won't lie, I'm barely hanging on though. I'm at a point where I make it home at 12:30pm and I have so much time to study but I'm so freaking tired from the late night before, I fall asleep, wake up 2-3 hours later, and then pull a study/procrastination sess until 12:30-2am, rinse, and repeat. That's pretty much how my past 2 weeks have been. I want to sleep early so that I can wake up early and energetic but so far it hasn't worked out, so I just study late instead, which really messes with my mental focus the next day. Class note taking and focus hasn't really been an issue. I take great notes in class and most of what the professor says makes sense to me, so the time that I'm at school I'm fine, but my issue is the loss of my energy when I get home.

So, all our P2, P3, and P4 students gave us advice, and one of the most recurring pieces of advice from them was to get everything sorted and organized as soon as you can. I'm 2 weeks and a half in and I feel like I'm still juggling everything mid air, and I could crash at any moment. I have my first biochemistry exam in a week, then my first pathophysiology exam exactly a week after that. Those are the two main classes I'm worried about. Currently I'm focusing everything on biochem, but I feel like once I'm done with biochem, and I make a decent score, I'm going to really regret not starting patho earlier. So, I guess I'm just here for some study advice. Yes, everyone has their own methods, but I feel like my current method of quickly switching gears and focusing one test at a time won't work well in the long run, even though I may have enough time in between tests to do that. At least for my first semester. I don't think staying caught up with everything be an issue but all these things they're throwing at us so far into the semester just kills my energy, which greatly affects my study hours.

What do you do to stay caught up in all the courses simultaneously? How do you stay energized? How do you make time for other activities? What does a good study day look like for you? Anything helps!

If you have a problem with focus, go to your doctor and get a scribe for adderall and take it as needed. Don't tell anyone because they will want you to sell it.

 

[TheOnlinePharmacist]

It really doesn't get better. In a previous thread, we did advise you drop out and switch professions for a reason.

Don't worry hang in there. When you graduate in four years, its all gonna be worth it, after getting the $200,000 a year job offer with $30,000 sign on bonus and a Tesla lease. you got this bro

Oh my god you two lol! Are you just following me around now? hahahaha.

 

[TheOnlinePharmacist]

Pharmacy school is difficult (and the pharmacy schools that aren't difficult are the ones with low NAPLEX pass rates.) When I was in pharmacy school, I pretty much studied 6 days/nights a week. I took off Friday night - Saturday midday. Any time I wasn't in class, I was studying (now I would take 5 minutes breaks every hour, and I did take go to the gym almost every day.) But if you want to do well, it requires a lot of studying. And yeah, I would pretty much go from studying from one test to the next, it can feel overwhelming, but you will be glad you did it when you pass the NAPLEX.

Just out of curiosity, what time did you work out during school? How long did you spend at the gym on average?

 

[DrVader]

Just out of curiosity, what time did you work out during school? How long did you spend at the gym on average?

I usually worked out 2-3 hours at the gym each day

 

[rxkrafted]

this honestly sounds like an entry to a daily journal. I think what you need is to find some people in real life to talk to about these things.

 

[TheOnlinePharmacist]

If you have a problem with focus, go to your doctor and get a scribe for adderall and take it as needed. Don't tell anyone because they will want you to sell it.

I usually worked out 2-3 hours at the gym each day

lmfao. I remember when I had that much time. Good days.

 

[TheOnlinePharmacist]

this honestly sounds like an entry to a daily journal. I think what you need is to find some people in real life to talk to about these things.

Honestly, you're so right. The realest man on SDN right here. I respect that.

 

[Pacho From Cali]

Relax fam, everyone is most likely in a similar situation. Find a study group and focus more on collaborative gains. You will find out (hopefully soon) someone takes better notes than you, retain lectures (or records) better than you. Then you have to find your value add to the group.

It will become easier to manage all of this. Also focus on personal health. Start eating right, all that **** f**cks you up, sleep a decent number of hours everyday. Rest & relaxation.

 

[mentos]

OP, serious question what is your plan after pharmacy school?

In just the past couple of days:
-In the Walgreens salary freeze thread, someone said the new pay rate in NYC is only $51.90 for 32 hours which is about 40k after taxes if you're lucky. Do you know how long it will take to pay off $200k+ in high interest loans on that low salary?

-Starter bros grocery store in Socal announced they are closing all of their pharmacies. Expect more grocery stores to do the same.

I thought I had a high risk tolerance when I was young... but you must have huge balls for taking such a huge gamble where all the odds are against you. There is a very real chance that we will enter another recession soon which means even more salary reductions, layoffs, and no hiring for new jobs. If I were in your shoes, I'd run as far away from pharmacy as possible.

Anything is possible I guess. In 2004 the Red Sox came back from 0-3 to beat the Yankees.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Just out of curiosity, what time did you work out during school? How long did you spend at the gym on average?

I used the gym at the school, and it was open all day and into the evening, so I would go at whatever time meshed up with my school schedule. Usually 30 minutes.

 

[TerryTerry]

Week 3 of P1 is piece of cake compare to what`s going to come to you in the future.
To be honest, it should not be that hard for anyone with some studying habit and time management skill.

Just saying. The pharmacy school is not blind nor heartless. They are not gonna give you hell during first month or two.