First Week Down, 15 to Go

Hello all,

Well - a first week of class at Pharmacy school is much different than the first week at an undergraduate college. I went to Penn State for undergrad and we used to call the first week "syllabus week", meaning that every class during the first week only lasted about 20 minutes while the teacher read over the syllabus (pretty much a week to goof off)...well, that's not the case here. Our teachers know we are smart enough to read over the syllabus ourselves. So instead, on the first day, they dive right into the nitty gritty of their material.

This first week has been a little rough, 1) because I had to work 25 hours at CVS and, 2) I am still in summer mode! I would find myself sitting in class, paying attention and really grasping the material, but as soon as it was over...I wanted to go home and relax with my husband, watch a movie/TV or run outside...and not so much do the studying, reading, and reviewing that I knew I should be doing.

But, besides my crazy work schedule, my first week back was actually pretty good. It was great to see all of my friends again and also good to see the P3's that I had just begun to know at the end of my P1 year (they were then P2's). I feel like our group gets along really well and I like the atmosphere at the school. Our classmates are also really helpful to each other. People share their home-made study guides, charts, and cheat sheets with the rest of the class, hoping it can benefit them as well. I usually use the guides that are sent out and find them helpful supplements to my studying.

So - Fall semester classes for a P2 consist of Pharmacology, Pharmacokinetics, Nonprescription Products (OTC), Pharmacy Outcomes, Biostats, Biostats lab, Pharmacy Practice Lab, and an elective, which for me is Intro to Health Care Management. Also, since P1 year, I have become much more involved in some of the organizations in the school. I am webmaster of the student government of the class of 2012, webmaster of APhA-ASP, and new member coordinator (pledgemaster) of Kappa Epsilon fraternity. I will go more into those things later.

Now the key is to get myself motivated enough to start studying for quizzes and exams that I know are coming up. I have mapped out all of the exams both on a google calendar and in my planner that I carry with me almost everywhere. It helps me manage my time more efficiently which I have learned is very important for pharmacy school.

This coming week I have lots of organization meetings, 10 hours at CVS, and of course classes to attend. I have a trip home planned for labor day weekend to go to the first Penn State home football game and visit with my family - and I have my first quiz in OTC the following week - so we will see how this goes!