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

Finishing P1 year

It’s sad that time flies and a year has already passed. I’m officially done with my P1 year and I am free to relax for the summer. Unfortunately, I still have one more assignment that needs to be completed before I’m actually done. I am still required to spend 70 hours in either an institutional or community pharmacy during the summer for my IPPE course. We actually have an incomplete for that course until we actually fulfill the 70 hours. I am looking forward to acquiring new experience during my hours at a Target pharmacy this summer.

It has been an entertaining school year at BJD and my transition to life in Virginia has been wonderful. I enjoyed the small class environment and the accessibility of the professors. I learned a great deal of new knowledge that will benefit me in my career. I look forward to next year when I will learn even more in-depth knowledge as a P2. In addition, I will be more involved with events hosted by Kappa Psi and promoting interest in community pharmacy as the NCPA president.

All things eventually must come to an end and this will be my last post. I’m signing out as a P1 and looking forward to my new status as a P2.

Before finals

Yesterday was the last day of lectures and now it is time to shift our attention on the upcoming finals. Before I began to prepare for my finals, I had one more moment to relax and celebrate the Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester. The school has given us today as a holiday to enjoy the festivities. From carnival rides to food stands, there are many activities that people can partake in. Interestingly, one of the food vendors sold jumbo turkey legs and it is worth checking out. Val Kilmer was present at the festival as the Grand Marshal. Our school was involved in the events and they hosted a one-hour Wale concert at the school stadium. I will be looking forward to the festival again during the next school year when I will be taking classes in Winchester.

Also, we had a pharmacy formal last weekend to end the school year as well. It was hosted by the three pharmacy fraternities. It was a fun night to enjoy the company of our fellow classmates and to dance the night away. For future incoming students, it has always been a tradition for our Student Dean, Dr. Kirkpatrick to dance with all the male students. She will only leave the party after she has danced with all of the male students at the event.

We accomplished a great deal this semester with our service learning course. The project for this semester was to raise money for Capital Hospice. Capital Hospice is one of the first and largest non-profit organizations in the United States to provide end-of-life care. The funds raised will help them towards the new unit that they will be opening in Loudoun County. We raised about $725 with several fundraising events such as bakes sales, a car wash, and a yard sale.

That’s all for now, I have to get back to studying for my finals next week.

Overdue Update

I’ve been over due on updating my P1 life this past month. To summarize the events within the past month, we experienced a big snowfall before the start of spring break. I did not have class for about a week as a result of it. The snowstorm gave me more time to study for the exam that was postponed. However, I thought it was irritating to prepare for the exam and later hear an announcement of another day of canceled classes. With this lost week, schoolwork got rushed as we tried to compensate for the missed days. Unfortunately, we ended up holding an additional class session after our normal classes to make up for the missed lecture in pharmacogenomics.

Schoolwork eventually leveled off and I had more time to become involved with my extracurricular activities. During the last weekend of February, several organizations, including some from our school, operated the health booths at the nearby Apple Blossom Mall in Winchester. From offerings such as free flu shots to health screenings, it was a health fair to promote wellness to the community. I was there with some of my fellow brothers in the Vial of Life booth by the Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity. These vials that we handed out would contain important medical information that can help in emergencies. With a decal on the front door of the house and the fridge, the emergency personnel will know about the vial in the fridge.

Despite academics, I still have to set aside time for social activities. This past week, I went with several of my classmates to a club in Washington DC called “The Park at Fourteenth”. With four different floors playing different music, there is something for everyone. Besides clubs, good food is also our focus. About 40 minutes away from Ashburn, there is a Korean community in the city named Annandale. My fellow classmates and I went there for a Korean barbeque buffet restaurant called “Il Mee” at 10:00 pm for their nighttime special. At the current price of $10, it’s a great deal if you can wait that late to eat dinner.

That’ll be all for now and stay tuned for more updates.

Beginning the last semester of the P1 year.

It has been a while since I have updated the P1 blog. The weather has been getting colder for the past few days. We are expecting another encounter with snow tomorrow. This might be a good motivator for me to stay home and study for our upcoming pharmacogenomics exam on Monday. I anticipate this semester to be quite intensive based on our schedule. There is an exam almost on a weekly basis, mainly from the course in pharmacogenomics or the IBHS series.

Another new interesting tidbit for us students in Ashburn is that we have finally moved to the new building. The new classroom can seat 46 people ideally, but the design of the room is best suited for 40 students. One row of seats doesn’t provide a good view of the presentation screen. The transition wasn’t smooth during the first week since there was no fridge, microwave, and vending machines for us to utilize. Also, the video conferencing system wasn’t working exactly in tiptop shape. The video signal would suddenly disconnect periodically. A new gimmick we have to get use to as well is that our microphones are always on. Any slight noise will be picked up and transmitted to the main campus.

During the second week of the semester, my classmates and I attended the Fraternity Round Robin event on the main campus. Each fraternity was given 15 minute for introductions and intermingling. The three professional pharmacy fraternities are Kappa Psi, Kappa Epsilon, and Phi Delta Chi. Also there is an honor fraternity called Rho Chi which, is limited to the top 20% of the class. Afterwards, each fraternity held a rush event in the following days.

Guess that will be it for this post and stay tuned for more updates.

Completion of P1 Fall Semester

Finally, I just finished my first semester in pharmacy school with my last final in Introduction to Pharmacy Practice. Overall, the finals weren’t so bad as I originally thought it would be. I thought Introduction to Pharmacy Practice was hard for me due to the specific details that I had to recall. I have a feeling that the final will be curved as it was for the midterm.

It feels like I just started school but I have already completed 1/8^th of my education. A long and rigorous journey still lies ahead. There will be more studying to look forward to as we hit more in-depth subjects. From pharmacogenomics (genetics and medication relationship) to individual organ systems, I will be expecting more interesting topics to absorb in the upcoming semester.

However, studying isn’t the only thing to look forward to next semester. I’m looking forward to the Phollies on April 29, which is a day to enjoy student made videos. Also, the Apple Blossom Festival is another activity that I look forward to experiencing for the first time. Unfortunately, the excitement will have to wait until we return from our month long break.

It is time for me to catch my flight back to California.

Have a happy holiday and new years everyone!

Nearing the end of Fall Semester

Cold and beautiful is the two words that I would use to describe the weather today. It snowed, and boy, was it cold! Unfortunately, I didn’t stay outside for too long because of the weather and I had to study for finals. Next week is officially finals week for us. The school is considerate because they provide us an extra day for those last minute studying. It actually begins on Tuesday for this semester.

I just finished taking our anatomy and physiology lab final yesterday. Therefore, I have another 5 finals and 1 presentation to worry about for finals week this upcoming week. The lab exam was composed of two parts, one part is done electronically and the other part is written. The written exam focused on identifying the parts of bones and the eye while the electronic portion of the exam was a mixture of multiple choices and matching. Overall, the exam was representative of what we have been learning for the semester in the course and wasn’t too hard.

As for the other finals, we have one for the IBHS course that I have talked about in my previous post. There will also be finals for Patient Counseling/Communication, Pharmaceutics I (math calculations), Psychosocial Aspects of Disease, and finally Introduction to Pharmacy Practice. Our presentation is for our service-learning course. BJD wants to provide us with an opportunity to learn and develop a sense of community involvement through service learning.

That’ll be all for now since I have to return to my studies.

More P1 Updates

It is time for another quick update before I resume studying for our 2^nd exam next week in Integrated Basic Health Sciences (IBHS). For those of you who are not familiar with the course at the school, IBHS is a condensed course series in anatomy and physiology. It is divided into 3 modules and each of them lasts about 4 weeks. Each module is a 2-unit course and the exams are usually given every other week. At first, the pacing of the exams might be overwhelming for some, but I think it is beneficial in the end. This allows you to focus on a specific subject for each exam.

However, studying isn’t the only thing that we do. Last night, our student officers hosted a Thanksgiving potluck in the cafeteria at the Winchester campus. This was a big opportunity for the Ashburn students and the Winchester students to intermingle and show off our cooking skills. We had the opportunity to taste the various unique dishes of casseroles and 3 styles of turkey. Family members as well as some of our professors had even joined in the festivities.

Things have been quiet over here in Ashburn as all the professors have relocated to the new building. However, it would not be too long before we will be moving in as well. The students will be moving into the new building, which is two blocks down the road, for next semester. I still have not visited the building yet, but I heard it is still under construction. With the movement of the professor’s office, we have to bear another month of driving back and forth between the 2 buildings to speak with professors and retrieve our paperwork.

It’s is time for me to return to my studies on the central nervous system. Stay tuned for the next update on the life of a BJD P1.

P1 Student Introduction

Greetings Everyone!

My name is David Ngo and I am a first year pharmacy student at BJD. I graduated from the University of California of San Diego (UCSD) with a degree in Pharmacological Chemistry. After graduation, I was working as a pharmacy clerk for two years at the UCSD Medical Center. So far, I have been generally pleased with the course work and the social atmosphere at the school.

I was attracted to this school because of its small size and its embracement of technology. For instance, lectures are telecasted from the main campus in Winchester to the satellite site in Ashburn and vice versa. Sixteen classmates and I are located in the Ashburn facility owned by George Washington University. Major advantages of being on the satellite campus are 24 hour access to the facility and the opportunity to visit Washington DC by the free GWU shuttles with out charge. Unfortunately, the satellite class is only for the first year and I’ll be joining the rest of my colleagues of about 60 at the main campus for my remaining years.

Stay tuned for future posts on the life of a first year pharmacy student at BJD.