What Study Strategy worked during your Accelerated PharmD Program?

[Butterfly750]

Hi Everyone!!! 😛

I understand an accelerated PharmD program is extremely intense and very much unlike undergraduate course load...

Thus, what recommendations would you advise for studyinggg and exam preparation to survive an accelerated pharmD course load?? Specifically, your MO for encoding large amounts of information in such shorts periods of time? I am assuming make notecardss for everythinggg hehe 😳

Thank You So Much!!!😍

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[Sugoi Travis]

Granted I'm not in an accelerated program, but thinking conceptually and looking at the big picture has helped cut my study time down a significant margin.

 

[PharMed2016]

I went to an accelerated PharmD program and what I found useful wasn't so much memorization but rather understanding of the core principles behind medications; pathophysiology and pharmacology. If you have a strong basis; your not going to have to memorize all the side effects of a medication simply because you understand how it works and can anticipate the ADRs that will arise. An example would be the action of beta-blockers; which can be selective or non-selective. Understanding the differences between the two will be helpful in understanding their actions. Selective BB have a greater affinity for B1 than for B2; meaning that at a lower concentration, B1 would be inhibited more so than B2. However, you lose that selectivity when you have higher doses of said BB and hence the ADRs that you would associate more so with nonselective agents come into play. After all that, just slot into your head which ones that are selective vs. nonselective or you can use memory tricks like BB begining with A-N in general are non-selective vs. those M and beyond are more selective. Memorize the exceptions over time.

To this end; I think having a good study group that keeps on task is very important. Being in a group and having focused discussions really helps with long term retention. For myself, we would hold study group sessions that evening and go through all the material for the day. We would explain to each other our own understanding of the material and thereby reinforce it in our minds and for the exam. Cramming does not help with retention of the material.

The results; I did very well in pharmacy school and passed the NAPLEX without any preparation.

 

[trailerpark]

I went to a 3 year year school and studied the exact same as undergrad, start studying a few days before and cram the night before. My lowest grade in pharmacy school was a B.

 

[Butterfly750]

Thank you so much for the informative and yet some quirky responses guy's!!! 🙂😍

 

[Wheresmyaricept]

Don't memorize every minor detail. Know the class of medications as a whole, but know the particular exceptions for the individual drugs.

 

[Lucky One]

Definitely don't wait to study the day before. Once you enroll I would make an attempt to keep up or be ahead of the class in terms of not skipping. Especially if you have distance education, to not let all those missed lecture videos stack up or you'll fall behind. Some tips I have as a P1 in a traditional 4 year. Good luck to those in accelerated programs

But, you'll probably do fine though. I'm just having one of those crazy weeks of pharmacy school. It's a lot of volume you'll have to manage. Develop a routine that allows dedicated study time, short breaks, and time for fun while trying not to mess up your sleep patterns too much.