What is Pharmacy School like?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

gatewasani

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2008
Messages
601
Reaction score
0
Could someone tell me wat pharmacy school is like. If someone could give me a year by year breakdown?

Also, I am interested in knowing what the labs in Pharm school are like. Are they like the chem labs we do in undergrad or do they resemble something else?

Thank you.

Members don't see this ad.
 
Could someone tell me wat pharmacy school is like. If someone could give me a year by year breakdown?

Also, I am interested in knowing what the labs in Pharm school are like. Are they like the chem labs we do in undergrad or do they resemble something else?

Thank you.



Dude pharmacy school isn't even worth it anymore. By the time you finish school the only opening is for a pharmacy anesthesiologist. You'd be better off going to become an HVACist.


lol, but seriously. I can give you my input from the P-1 year. If you have the "Cs get degrees" attitude, you shouldn't have too much trouble in school. If you like to party a lot, you can do it and still get Cs. But I want to be at the top, so I study everyday a little bit as well as do homework.


Labs for me weren't bad at all. I didn't have any pesky pre or post labs to turn in or anything like that. I'm sure someone else could give you a breakdown of the other years....or even a better breakdown of the P-1 year.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Could someone tell me wat pharmacy school is like. If someone could give me a year by year breakdown?

Also, I am interested in knowing what the labs in Pharm school are like. Are they like the chem labs we do in undergrad or do they resemble something else?

Thank you.

Search - and you shall find your answer...
 
You go into little rooms for an hour at a time. Inside, a bunch of people will read you powerpoints that you could have read at home on your own. If you have the ability to show the slightest amount of critical thought, you will realize that you don't really have to come. Nothing in pharmacy school is really that intellectually challenging.

However, if you just stay at home, it pisses them off. Why? Because academics are people that need to feel superior to everyone else. And, somehow, they figure that if they read you the powerpoints, you will "get it" more. Occasionally, you'll get the ******* professor that thinks its a nifty idea to put little fill in the blanks in their powerpoints. Why would they do that? Same reason. They claim its an "education strengthening device." In reality, it's another mechanism to make them feel important...because they think it makes people show up to get the fill-in-the-blanks. Which, of course, means they will attend, which, of course, means that they will get to feel important all over again.

Some professors might teach (in the truest sense of the word) using Socratic method. Those are the people you learn something from. However, they are typically shunned by your fellow students because they can't handle something that isn't written down on paper and acts as a defined set of information that will "be on the test." When those professors taught, I would be in the first row, paying attention, and ready to go. It was rare to actually learn something rather than memorize something.

Anyway, this cycle continues for three long years.

Then you go on rotations...where you need to begin overtly kissing ass. This is the most important part. I know this because I was there with students who cared about 1/10th of the amount I did, yet their evaluations were always better than mine because they had a better "attitude." Essentially, they were better liars than me vis-a-vis putting up a facade that was palatable to the various academics we came into contact with. So the biggest lesson you learn in year 4 is that academics enjoy being lied to. If you tell them anything less than that their rotations are enthralling experiences, you will be punished. I was reprimanded because I complained about a rotation where I sat in a room at a mail order pharmacy for 40 hours a week putting tablets into boxes. An administrator at WVU told me that a good student would be able to still learn something in that environment. Thankfully, I just shut my trap and let them crucify me on "lesser charges" before I made it worse.

And then you might go on to a residency...which is basically another year of rotations, but they pay you like $4 an hour or something. But it's faster paced (i.e. you are the workhorse that schleps tons of bull**** on your back...and still with that underling student forced smile, natch). It's worth it because at the end, you get to attach a 4-letter acronym after your name IN ADDITION to the 6-letter acronym you get for graduating pharmacy school. Double-fig's worth of letters after your name is just as important as a 6-fig salary. In some cases, more important.

Or, you will go work in the real world. You will notice that you perform better than all of these other pharmacists that were members of Rho Chi. The reason is that pharmacy school grading appears to be centered around jumping through hoops and acting in a certain manner rather than what you actually know. Thankfully, the real world doesn't give a **** about that. They only care if you can do your job or not. Which is why like 3 months after I graduated and got licensed I found myself hanging out in the ICU alone running codes. Even though the same administrator as above told me that some professors "didn't know how I made it through pharmacy school." It makes me stop and wonder where I'd be if academia conformed itself to students rather than making students conform to it.


But, anyway...

In essence, it's traumatizing. Good luck with all that.
 
Last edited:
You go into little rooms for an hour at a time. Inside, a bunch of people will read you powerpoints that you could have read at home on your own. If you have the ability to show the slightest amount of critical thought, you will realize that you don't really have to come. Nothing in pharmacy school is really that intellectually challenging.

However, if you just stay at home, it pisses them off. Why? Because academics are people that need to feel superior to everyone else. And, somehow, they figure that if they read you the powerpoints, you will "get it" more. Occasionally, you'll get the ******* professor that thinks its a nifty idea to put little fill in the blanks in their powerpoints. Why would they do that? Same reason. They claim its an "education strengthening device." In reality, it's another mechanism to make them feel important...because they think it makes people show up to get the fill-in-the-blanks. Which, of course, means they will attend, which, of course, means that they will get to feel important all over again.

Some professors might teach (in the truest sense of the word) using Socratic method. Those are the people you learn something from. However, they are typically shunned by your fellow students because they can't handle something that isn't written down on paper and acts as a defined set of information that will "be on the test." When those professors taught, I would be in the first row, paying attention, and ready to go. It was rare to actually learn something rather than memorize something.

Anyway, this cycle continues for three long years.

Then you go on rotations...where you need to begin overtly kissing ass. This is the most important part. I know this because I was there with students who cared about 1/10th of the amount I did, yet their evaluations were always better than mine because they had a better "attitude." Essentially, they were better liars than me vis-a-vis putting up a facade that was palatable to the various academics we came into contact with. So the biggest lesson you learn in year 4 is that academics enjoy being lied to. If you tell them anything less than that their rotations are enthralling experiences, you will be punished. I was reprimanded because I complained about a rotation where I sat in a room at a mail order pharmacy for 40 hours a week putting tablets into boxes. An administrator at WVU told me that a good student would be able to still learn something in that environment. Thankfully, I just shut my trap and let them crucify me on "lesser charges" before I made it worse.

And then you might go on to a residency...which is basically another year of rotations, but they pay you like $4 an hour or something. But it's faster paced (i.e. you are the workhorse that schleps tons of bull**** on your back...and still with that underling student forced smile, natch). It's worth it because at the end, you get to attach a 4-letter acronym after your name IN ADDITION to the 6-letter acronym you get for graduating pharmacy school. Double-fig's worth of letters after your name is just as important as a 6-fig salary. In some cases, more important.

Or, you will go work in the real world. You will notice that you perform better than all of these other pharmacists that were members of Rho Chi. The reason is that pharmacy school grading appears to be centered around jumping through hoops and acting in a certain manner rather than what you actually know. Thankfully, the real world doesn't give a **** about that. They only care about if you can do your job. Which is why like 3 months after I graduated and got licensed I found myself hanging out in the ICU alone running codes. Even though the same administrator as above told me that some professors "didn't know how I made it through pharmacy school." It makes me stop and wonder where I'd be if academia conformed itself to students rather than making students conform to it.


But, anyway...

In essence, it's traumatizing. Good luck with all that.

Don't hold back, Mike, tell us how you really feel.
 
A little pent up anger about losing the election for Rho Chi president?

I wasn't even close to being in Rho Chi...and I really liked the president of Rho Chi for my class. She works at an independent pharmacy down the street from my hospital. I talk to her all the time when I inevitably have to call her to clarify home meds. It just so happens that I started working at the same time as a dude that was Rho Chi'd up...

But I do have a "bit" (assuming "bit" is a euphemism for "uncontrollable amount of") of pent up anger towards the world of academia. I freely admit that.
 
You go into little rooms for an hour at a time. Inside, a bunch of people will read you powerpoints that you could have read at home on your own. If you have the ability to show the slightest amount of critical thought, you will realize that you don't really have to come. Nothing in pharmacy school is really that intellectually challenging.

However, if you just stay at home, it pisses them off. Why? Because academics are people that need to feel superior to everyone else. And, somehow, they figure that if they read you the powerpoints, you will "get it" more. Occasionally, you'll get the ******* professor that thinks its a nifty idea to put little fill in the blanks in their powerpoints. Why would they do that? Same reason. They claim its an "education strengthening device." In reality, it's another mechanism to make them feel important...because they think it makes people show up to get the fill-in-the-blanks. Which, of course, means they will attend, which, of course, means that they will get to feel important all over again.

Some professors might teach (in the truest sense of the word) using Socratic method. Those are the people you learn something from. However, they are typically shunned by your fellow students because they can't handle something that isn't written down on paper and acts as a defined set of information that will "be on the test." When those professors taught, I would be in the first row, paying attention, and ready to go. It was rare to actually learn something rather than memorize something.


Anyway, this cycle continues for three long years.

Then you go on rotations...where you need to begin overtly kissing ass. This is the most important part. I know this because I was there with students who cared about 1/10th of the amount I did, yet their evaluations were always better than mine because they had a better "attitude." Essentially, they were better liars than me vis-a-vis putting up a facade that was palatable to the various academics we came into contact with. So the biggest lesson you learn in year 4 is that academics enjoy being lied to. If you tell them anything less than that their rotations are enthralling experiences, you will be punished. I was reprimanded because I complained about a rotation where I sat in a room at a mail order pharmacy for 40 hours a week putting tablets into boxes. An administrator at WVU told me that a good student would be able to still learn something in that environment. Thankfully, I just shut my trap and let them crucify me on "lesser charges" before I made it worse.

And then you might go on to a residency...which is basically another year of rotations, but they pay you like $4 an hour or something. But it's faster paced (i.e. you are the workhorse that schleps tons of bull**** on your back...and still with that underling student forced smile, natch). It's worth it because at the end, you get to attach a 4-letter acronym after your name IN ADDITION to the 6-letter acronym you get for graduating pharmacy school. Double-fig's worth of letters after your name is just as important as a 6-fig salary. In some cases, more important.

Or, you will go work in the real world. You will notice that you perform better than all of these other pharmacists that were members of Rho Chi. The reason is that pharmacy school grading appears to be centered around jumping through hoops and acting in a certain manner rather than what you actually know. Thankfully, the real world doesn't give a **** about that. They only care if you can do your job or not. Which is why like 3 months after I graduated and got licensed I found myself hanging out in the ICU alone running codes. Even though the same administrator as above told me that some professors "didn't know how I made it through pharmacy school." It makes me stop and wonder where I'd be if academia conformed itself to students rather than making students conform to it.


But, anyway...

In essence, it's traumatizing. Good luck with all that.


Man, That pretty much sums it all up. Especially the bold portion. I can't stand the way some idiots in my class are....all they are ever concerned about is if "it is going to be on the test" or not. The way I see it is If you learn everything you won't have any worries.....

"Chance favors the prepared mind"
 
I wasn't even close to being in Rho Chi...and I really liked the president of Rho Chi for my class. She works at an independent pharmacy down the street from my hospital. I talk to her all the time when I inevitably have to call her to clarify home meds. It just so happens that I started working at the same time as a dude that was Rho Chi'd up...

But I do have a "bit" (assuming "bit" is a euphemism for "uncontrollable amount of") of pent up anger towards the world of academia. I freely admit that.

II was kidding about the Rho Chi Mike.

Why do you have pent up anger towards academia? It is what it is. Did you think the Ivory tower wasn't real? Academia has always been and always will be out of touch with the real world. School is nothing more than a hoop that must be jumped through. They control how big and how high the hoop is. All we have to do is figure out the best way to jump through it so we can move on with our lives..

A tour in the military would have done you good. First it would have taught you patience. Second you would have learned it is much better to play their little games and get through things than it is to try and buck the system and do things your own way. There is a time and place for doing things your own way. School or Army boot camp are not good places to be an individual.
 
A tour in the military would have done you good. First it would have taught you patience. Second you would have learned it is much better to play their little games and get through things than it is to try and buck the system and do things your own way. There is a time and place for doing things your own way. School or Army boot camp are not good places to be an individual.

Yeah. Boot camp. That thing they make people go through so they will be willing to run through a minefield to their deaths. I'm sure I'd really take to that well.

Nah...to hell with that...I have a certain amount of dignity.

And why can't I complain about academia...even you admit that its a fantasy world. ****.
 
Well WVU, you freaking nailed it. Academia is FUBAR. We need individuals to play the game long enough to enter the inner sanctum and then transform the whole ****ty system. The rote memorizers might not appreciate that because then they would use their brain for more than just short-term RAM dumps.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Mental bulimia is perfect. I'll remember that for the test. It is on the test, right? So how many questions will there be on the test? We covered 23 hours of material for this test, should we expect an equal amount of test questions from each hour of material covered?
 
School is nothing more than a hoop that must be jumped through. They control how big and how high the hoop is. All we have to do is figure out the best way to jump through it so we can move on with our lives..

Well WVU, you freaking nailed it. Academia is FUBAR. We need individuals to play the game long enough to enter the inner sanctum and then transform the whole ****ty system. The rote memorizers might not appreciate that because then they would use their brain for more than just short-term RAM dumps.

A dude I went to school with - who I may add was one of the brightest individuals I've met - called it "mental bulimia." Learn it, regurgitate it, forget about it like it never happened.

I'm getting so jaded and sad by these comments. I was looking forward to using pharmacy school to learn as much as possible about pharmacotherapeutics... kind of like Matrix brain-plug style. :(
 
I'm getting so jaded and sad by these comments. I was looking forward to using pharmacy school to learn as much as possible about pharmacotherapeutics... kind of like Matrix brain-plug style. :(

Oh, I wish pharmacy school was like the Matrix brain-plug thing. I'd rather pay $120,000 to just stick some plug into the back of my head and have all that uploaded than having to sit through lectures.
 
pretty much. it goes like disease -> epidemiology/risk factors/symptoms -> drugs of choice -> adverse effects/interactions/clinical pearls... or at least thats how my schooling was like
 
Don't let those goofballs tarnish your view of the world. Both Mountain and WVU are charismatic and convincing - but they are also tempered by experience.

You haven't had your experience yet - and you can make it into whatever you choose.

"Mental Bulimia" is a choice (one I have chosen to make on a frequent basis) - you can choose to not do it (although that would put you in the minority).

Might I say that the Socratic method is crap. If you say something once, but I have no physical record of it to review later - I will not retain what you said. It has been proven time and again that people learn by doing. This can be augmented with visual aids. If you compare teaching with visuals to teaching without, visuals help people retain more information.

The socratic method is touted by true "academics" as being a more dignified way of teaching... Interesting that you have warmed to such a method Mikey - considering the company the use of its method would no doubt bring.
 
Might I say that the Socratic method is crap.

Bull****.

Socratic method is superior because it instantly allows one to apply something that would otherwise just be memorized. Application of critical thought is what needs to be taught above all else. You can look anything they teach in school up. I can see the memorization in the basic science classes like med chem and pharmacology as a neccessity because that type of stuff is what you fall back on. But therapeutics should be primarily taught in Socratic method...because that is where the need for critical thought is the most needed in the real world.

And who the **** said you couldn't provide notes? What i'm saying is that simply reading powerpoints to kids has no point. What they SHOULD do is literally expect and force people to memorize the **** to begin with THEN have lectures where one stresses the points of critical thought. I.E. Lecture with socratic method.

Hell, at worst, it's still better than the "memorize powerpoint" method.
 
Well WVU, you freaking nailed it. Academia is FUBAR. We need individuals to play the game long enough to enter the inner sanctum and then transform the whole ****ty system. The rote memorizers might not appreciate that because then they would use their brain for more than just short-term RAM dumps.

But then when someone adapts the system for "real-world learning" (University of Phoenix, Westwood College, etc.) their school gets a lousy reputation! What do you guys want?
 
Bull****.

Socratic method is superior because it instantly allows one to apply something that would otherwise just be memorized. Application of critical thought is what needs to be taught above all else. You can look anything they teach in school up. I can see the memorization in the basic science classes like med chem and pharmacology as a neccessity because that type of stuff is what you fall back on. But therapeutics should be primarily taught in Socratic method...because that is where the need for critical thought is the most needed in the real world.

And who the **** said you couldn't provide notes? What i'm saying is that simply reading powerpoints to kids has no point. What they SHOULD do is literally expect and force people to memorize the **** to begin with THEN have lectures where one stresses the points of critical thought. I.E. Lecture with socratic method.

Hell, at worst, it's still better than the "memorize powerpoint" method.

You mean, actually learn the concepts behind the material as well as the material's application instead of just rote memorization of the material?

Oh, someone in academia is shaking their fist hard at you, young man.
 
But then when someone adapts the system for "real-world learning" (University of Phoenix, Westwood College, etc.) their school gets a lousy reputation! What do you guys want?

Ow. I've just been tasered by the concept of University of Phoenix being legitimate. Way to go from one extreme to the other. Shades of gray, anyone?
 
Ow. I've just been tasered by the concept of University of Phoenix being legitimate. Way to go from one extreme to the other. Shades of gray, anyone?


I can't wait for their online PharmD program to open!
 
It won't ever go that far. University of Phoenix will never award degrees that are actually useful.

My sister wanted to do their nursing program. I told her it was a bad idea and now she is in dental school


I like the red text.
 
...And why can't I complain about academia...even you admit that its a fantasy world. ****.

Complain away! Hell that’s half the fun of this forum. It seems your complaining has a note of disbelief in it still. As if you still can't believe how out of touch academia is. It is what it is. It will never change. 50 years ago you had a professor writing stuff on a chalk board that students dutifully copied and memorized. 30 years ago you had an overhead projectors with transparency sheets and markers that students dutifully copied and memorized. Today we have power point slides that we sit in class and listen to a professor read word for word that we dutifully memorize. The technology has changed but the concept and teaching style is still the same.
 
Partied my way through it and got out of there with a 3.4 so I'm not complaining. A lot of late nights cramming and crashing the next day but I'm a bit of a procrastinator by trade so you reap what you sew.

The 2nd professional year, IMO, was the worst. I hated Virology and Anti-infectives with a passion. If you can make it through that year, you'll be fine.
 
Bull****.

Socratic method is superior because it instantly allows one to apply something that would otherwise just be memorized. Application of critical thought is what needs to be taught above all else. You can look anything they teach in school up. I can see the memorization in the basic science classes like med chem and pharmacology as a neccessity because that type of stuff is what you fall back on. But therapeutics should be primarily taught in Socratic method...because that is where the need for critical thought is the most needed in the real world.

And who the **** said you couldn't provide notes? What i'm saying is that simply reading powerpoints to kids has no point. What they SHOULD do is literally expect and force people to memorize the **** to begin with THEN have lectures where one stresses the points of critical thought. I.E. Lecture with socratic method.

Hell, at worst, it's still better than the "memorize powerpoint" method.

My biggest gripe is that the Socratic method NEVER EVER gets to the point.

I am sure you could pose a question, and allow a debate to ensue. Through the debate - you can enlighten people of the truth... or you could just spit out the main point right away...

Which one is more efficient? Perhaps you could argue that the Socratic method is more engaging. I would tend to agree, but only at the expense of all other lessons you were going to learn that day... So you can learn one lesson really well, or learn 5 or 6 moderately well.

The Socratic worked in the days before we knew bacteria existed... The amount of information that needs to be learned is growing ever more complex and involved. Socratic method is antiquated (at best).

And WVU football suxz...!!!
 
Make that all Virginia football :lol:
 
I would tend to agree, but only at the expense of all other lessons you were going to learn that day... So you can learn one lesson really well, or learn 5 or 6 moderately well.

Bull****. You get powerpoints read to you. In no way, shape, or form is that "really well"

The Socratic worked in the days before we knew bacteria existed... The amount of information that needs to be learned is growing ever more complex and involved. Socratic method is antiquated (at best).

It's only "antiquated" because people are too ****ing ******ed for critical thought and too lazy to be challenged. What SHOULD be going on, and I'm targeting therapeutics classes, is that the basic information should be learned on your own time. THEN, lectures would literally be discussion lectures. Cases could be presented in an open-ended format and time wouldn't be wasted reading. That isn't a waste of time. That's preparing you for the real world. This bull**** where they basically throw a Cliff's Notes version of the latest disease management guideline at you in powerpoint format, you memorize it, and you regurgitate it is pointless. You don't need lectures on that. At all. I can ****ing read. And that's why I got so opposed to school. There was no point. I was paying thousands of dollars to be read to. Why was I there? Add that to the fact that I have ADD like a mother****er and I just didn't care about school. No challenge, no point, no value, just disappointment with it all.

And WVU football suxz...!!!

They did last year. They gonna kick some ass this year...
 
Bull****. You get powerpoints read to you. In no way, shape, or form is that "really well"



It's only "antiquated" because people are too ****ing ******ed for critical thought and too lazy to be challenged. What SHOULD be going on, and I'm targeting therapeutics classes, is that the basic information should be learned on your own time. THEN, lectures would literally be discussion lectures. Cases could be presented in an open-ended format and time wouldn't be wasted reading. That isn't a waste of time. That's preparing you for the real world. This bull**** where they basically throw a Cliff's Notes version of the latest disease management guideline at you in powerpoint format, you memorize it, and you regurgitate it is pointless. You don't need lectures on that. At all. I can ****ing read. And that's why I got so opposed to school. There was no point. I was paying thousands of dollars to be read to. Why was I there? Add that to the fact that I have ADD like a mother****er and I just didn't care about school. No challenge, no point, no value, just disappointment with it all.



They did last year. They gonna kick some ass this year...

Apathy towards school + ADD + a signature that tells the rest of us how smart he is = too cool for school? :smuggrin:

I agree that the way universities teach needs to be changed. However, there's a lot more to school than just lectures.
 
Bull****. You get powerpoints read to you. In no way, shape, or form is that "really well"



It's only "antiquated" because people are too ****ing ******ed for critical thought and too lazy to be challenged. What SHOULD be going on, and I'm targeting therapeutics classes, is that the basic information should be learned on your own time. THEN, lectures would literally be discussion lectures. Cases could be presented in an open-ended format and time wouldn't be wasted reading. That isn't a waste of time. That's preparing you for the real world. This bull**** where they basically throw a Cliff's Notes version of the latest disease management guideline at you in powerpoint format, you memorize it, and you regurgitate it is pointless. You don't need lectures on that. At all. I can ****ing read. And that's why I got so opposed to school. There was no point. I was paying thousands of dollars to be read to. Why was I there? Add that to the fact that I have ADD like a mother****er and I just didn't care about school. No challenge, no point, no value, just disappointment with it all.



They did last year. They gonna kick some ass this year...

Actually, one of our professors last year attempted that and people HATED it. Basically, we were responsible for reading up on the material before the class, and when we got to class, he would ask questions, basically it would be a discussion. It just didn't work.
 
Actually, one of our professors last year attempted that and people HATED it. Basically, we were responsible for reading up on the material before the class, and when we got to class, he would ask questions, basically it would be a discussion. It just didn't work.

Yeah, I know, that's why I said people are too ****ing ******ed and/or lazy for critical thought. I mean let's be honest...the average pharmacy student just wants to learn enough for the test...of course they don't want to have to think. But if they aren't given an option and the first day of therapeutics is like that from class one and its made clear what is expected of them, it would be different.
 
Yeah, I know, that's why I said people are too ****ing ******ed and/or lazy for critical thought. I mean let's be honest...the average pharmacy student just wants to learn enough for the test...of course they don't want to have to think. But if they aren't given an option and the first day of therapeutics is like that from class one and its made clear what is expected of them, it would be different.
I'm actually curious as to how much and how extensive the material is applied during rotations and beyond.

Oh, and nice hat.
 
Yeah, I know, that's why I said people are too ****ing ******ed and/or lazy for critical thought. I mean let's be honest...the average pharmacy student just wants to learn enough for the test...of course they don't want to have to think. But if they aren't given an option and the first day of therapeutics is like that from class one and its made clear what is expected of them, it would be different.

One of the neatest exams I ever took was my first quarter of biochem. The first two exams were just spitting back info you were required to memorize. However, the last exam forced you to use that info to think critically. I don't remember the exact questions, but one of them was something along the lines of putting together the wrong DNA base pairs and what effect that would have. It kind of freaked me out at first, but I calmed myself down and had fun with it.

Maybe a better way to format classes, especially in a professional program, is have 4/5 of it be the memorization stuff, and then the last fifth be the application process. The first two exams can be all the memorization stuff, and the final could be more like case studies or whatever would be more applicable to the field you're going into.
 
One of the neatest exams I ever took was my first quarter of biochem. The first two exams were just spitting back info you were required to memorize. However, the last exam forced you to use that info to think critically. I don't remember the exact questions, but one of them was something along the lines of putting together the wrong DNA base pairs and what effect that would have. It kind of freaked me out at first, but I calmed myself down and had fun with it.

Maybe a better way to format classes, especially in a professional program, is have 4/5 of it be the memorization stuff, and then the last fifth be the application process. The first two exams can be all the memorization stuff, and the final could be more like case studies or whatever would be more applicable to the field you're going into.

I thought this kind of stuff was more common. My whole experience last few years of undergrad was like that. I don't even remember taking any "memorization" tests in any classes besides anatomy - everything else was application.

Last semester for one the classes half of the first test was esentially design an experiment or a research study based on the information provided. For physiology we had case studies instead of memorizing the pathways, for immunology we analyzed latest primary research papers and exams were based on those papers rather than textbook. For clinical toxicology we did research presentations as well and then class discussions, instead of just grinding up the book. I guess my CSU education was not half bad overall. :laugh:
 
Top