This Train Ain't Stopping...

Hi Everyone!

I'm excited to be writing for the Life at BJD blog! I am a P1 student at the Ashburn campus and a native from NJ. These past few weeks have been very busy for us P1s. Between midterms and assignments, I know all of us have been amazed that somehow we are managing to get everything done and on time! It seems like every week we have something new added to our plates.

Life here at the Ashburn campus is different from the Winchester campus. We have a smaller class size so we know each other well but many commute so it doesn't necessarily have a university campus feel like Winchester does. We are lucky though. We get our classes through video conference when the professors are in Winchester and sometimes they visit! When they visit, it really gives us a chance to get to know them since we are hardly ever on the Winchester campus.

There are lots of pharmacy organizations and many of their activities are on the Winchester campus. On Nov. 5th, AMCP held the Mentor/Mentee Luncheon and Mock Interviews. The Mentor/Mentee program pairs an undergraduate student with a pharmacy student so the undergraduate can get insight in what it's like to apply to pharmacy school, help preparing for interviews, or ask questions about pharmacy in general.

A friend made this comment to me and I realize now know how true it is. Pharmacy school is like being on train. Once you are on it, It keeps moving unless you get a break, graduate, or fall off of it.

I'm definitely looking forward to winter break but for now I have to get back to studying for Pharmaceutics. No scheduled stops until Thanksgiving!

Kasey

Into the Future...

The P3s, including myself, just ranked our rotation clusters this past week and we signed up for our Spring 2012 semester classes.  All of these things make me think long and hard about my future - my aspirations and goals as a future pharmacist.  The thought of becoming a licensed pharmacist in less than 1.5 years is extremely exciting, but honestly, a bit frightening.  It calls for a lot of responsibility, much more than what I'm used to, because lives are in your hands.  I went on pre-rounds at the WMC this past week with one of my professors, and it was a bit depressing, but at the same time, quite amazing.  The different thoughts the pharmacist goes through, the many suggestions they come up with for medication therapy interventions, and the what-seems-like infinite knowledge they have was jaw-dropping.  I hope that I can do what they do someday - making a difference in patient's lives.