Wish I knew what I know now...

[inquirer89]

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Hey guys. I'm a pre-pharm student and I mostly hang around that board, but I wanted to start a topic where current pharmacy students could add in on what they would advise to those of us who are still doing pre-reqs. It could be anything from study skills to application advise to random facts/information.

Please add in!

 

[soyroger]

I would have gained more relevant work experience rather than doing research.

Totally not related to academics, but I wish I would have gotten around to some of my hobbies sooner. During undergrad I had a beat up $700 VW bug and thought about overhauling the engine for a good year or so before I got up the cajones to actually do it. When I finally finished the job all was great and it started up on the first try. Being wishy washy about tackling some big projects led me to not do some of them...so yeah...I wish I would have tinkered around more. Sounds lame, but I like tinkering with things. Same thing goes for brazing my own lugged bike frame and fork. That project took waaaaaaaaaay too long.

 

[pharmtastic]

Studying habit is very important. Once a slacker, always a slacker. It's very hard to break a habit (at least for me). My advise would be to have a schedule and stick to it. Treat every class seriously, do not slack off ever. I remember when I was in college, I was hella slacking off, always put things off till the last minute, study the night before. Now that habit sticks with me to pharmacy school, I'm still passing but it's sad because I know that I could have done much better.

 

[kellia]

Work in a pharmacy as soon as you can! You really will learn a lot that way!

 

[PharmDstudent]

I would have learned about the heart and kidneys inside and out BEFORE going to pharmacy school. As a pre-pharm student, I wasn't required to take Anatomy or Physiology.
It seems like every class relates back to the physiology of those organ systems. Plus, everyone seems to have some form of heart disease, and a lot of drugs are nephrotoxic.
There's a good bit of emphasis on the CNS too.

 

[evilolive]

Studying habit is very important. Once a slacker, always a slacker. It's very hard to break a habit (at least for me). My advise would be to have a schedule and stick to it. Treat every class seriously, do not slack off ever. I remember when I was in college, I was hella slacking off, always put things off till the last minute, study the night before. Now that habit sticks with me to pharmacy school, I'm still passing but it's sad because I know that I could have done much better.

Amen.

 

[Farmercyst]

Studying habit is very important. Once a slacker, always a slacker. It's very hard to break a habit (at least for me). My advise would be to have a schedule and stick to it. Treat every class seriously, do not slack off ever. I remember when I was in college, I was hella slacking off, always put things off till the last minute, study the night before. Now that habit sticks with me to pharmacy school, I'm still passing but it's sad because I know that I could have done much better.

= still a slacker😳

 

[evilolive]

At least the profession allows us to breathe a little. There is no real slacking in medical school.

 

[shaolinRX]

There's a thread in the pre-pharmacy forum called Pre-requisites: How to do them right the 1st time. LINK HERE. Great Stuff! I'd check out pickaprof.com if you haven't already.

 

[inquirer89]

I have experience volunteering in a hospital pharmacy. I plan on working at retail this summer while continuing to visit the hospital. What are your thoughts about becoming a pharmacy tech? Is it pretty much expected, especially if I will be applying without a bachelor's?

Thanks guys for your comments. Keep at 'em.

 

[shaolinRX]

I have experience volunteering in a hospital pharmacy. I plan on working at retail this summer while continuing to visit the hospital. What are your thoughts about becoming a pharmacy tech? Is it pretty much expected, especially if I will be applying without a bachelor's?

Thanks guys for your comments. Keep at 'em.

I never worked as a tech before going to USN and I don't have a bachelor's degree (I have an associates in general studies). I wish that I had, just for the experience, but all the schools I was accepted to obviously didn't hold too much weight to it. I think that it barrels down to your attitude...I know of many applicants that had a bachelor's degree and years of tech experience but weren't admitted because they came across as know-it-alls.

I also had a lot of extracurricular experience (shadowing, volunteering at hospital, student leadership, etc.); so if you can attain experience in a variety of settings, even for a month or two each, I think that would be more valuable than a tech with years of training under your belt.

 

[SCCpharm]

Get a good GPA the first time around. Trying to fix a bad GPA is incredibly hard to do.

The key to getting a good GPA is taking every point seriously. Get all the easy points you can. Study for all the quizzes, do the homework, group work, etc, and it usually works out that if you have near a 100% on all the easy stuff, you can score around an 85% on the tests.

I usually get near 100% on all non-test material, then score from 90-95% on the first few exams, then for the Final Exam all I need is like a 75% to get an A and I'm not stressed during finals.

 

[inquirer89]

Thanks guys for your input!