If you’ve gotten this far and actually been accepted into pharmacy school then one of your biggest hurdles has been overcome.

But, some students stumble in the figurative sense when they start taking their actual pharmacy classes.

In this chapter we’ll talk about some of the things that I saw other students doing that sabotaged their success as well as things I should have done differently that would have made my journey even easier, especially in my first year of pharmacy school.

Heavy Load

No doubt about it – for me my first year of pharmacy school as a heavy load.

While it was generally accepted that your second professional year (this had the moniker P2 at the University of Montana) was the most difficult.  I struggled more my first year.

Only Two Years in Pre-Pharmacy

When I applied to pharmacy school I only had two years of pre-pharmacy classes satisfied.  What that meant for me was that when I got to pharmacy school – in addition to my regular pharmacy classes –  I would also have to take Biochemistry as well as Medical Microbiology.

Students who applied after three years of pre-pharmacy training or who even had undergraduate degrees had already taken these courses.  So they could focus strictly on their pharmacy courses.

Still Do It The Same

Despite the fact that I struggled this year I still did well grade-wise.  But I envied the older students who got to ‘adapt’ more to pharmacy school.  My first year was like being thrown into the fire.

An Advantage

I suspect that’s why the dreaded P2 year was easier for me though.  So, in hindsight, my heavily-loaded P1 year gave me a good footing for my P2 year.

Group Study

Up until pharmacy school I had always studied alone.  And, unknowingly to me, it was how I thrived.

But, when I got to pharmacy school there was a mentality that we were all pharmacy students and we should get together and study.

Big mistake on my part.

Not that I tried it – it’s good to try other things.  But, once I felt that it wasn’t working, I stubbornly continued to try to make it work.

Obviously, if you’ve been accepted into pharmacy school you’ve done quite a few things right.  That likely includes your study habits.  Don’t change something if it’s already working for you.

As I said above, there is a time and a place for group study.  For example, it gives you a chance to put your theories to the test in front of your colleagues.  But, for general study purposes group study did not work for me.

Crammers

I’ve already touched on this a bit, but it bares repeating and covering in a little more detail.

You may already be someone who enjoys cramming.  If so, my recommendation is that you stop.

Why?  Remember, each class in pharmacy is building a foundation.  When you take the next class you have to be able to recall some of that bedrock, fundamental things you learned in the previous class.

If you can’t you’re going to have to go back and relearn all the information over again.

He was my personal experience with cramming.  Yes, the ‘crammers’  in my class and other classes often times did well on the test.  Sometimes better than I did.  But, I’ve worked with crammers after pharmacy school and they are constantly teasing me about the information I’m able to recall that they have seemingly forgot.

And some of it is information you need.

And, even if cramming was a long-term viable solution to studying why on earth would you want to do it?

You’re up all night the day before the exam.  You’re stressed out and jittery from too much coffee.  Those aren’t the makings for good results on a test.

Let alone what you’ll feel like for the next day or two when you are recovering.

Again, if there was one thing that helped me get through pharmacy school is the fact that I was a ‘chunker’ not a ‘crammer’.

Chunking is a sort of psychobabble term used by psychologist for a learning method used on ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) kids.  And, as much as I hate to admit it, I think I am a bit ADD myself.  Which may explain why it worked so well.

So, instead of doing 100 math problems in one night you do 20 a night for each school night of the week.  You take each subject and each assignment in small chunks.

The Downside

Obviously, I have a personal biased towards chunking because it worked for me.  But there are downsides.  Actually, I wrote this section because when I described it to people in person they would kind of crinkle their noses and look sort of disgusted because you had to do some studying every night.  They considered that a downside.

I didn’t.  I’d much rather take a little bit every night than try to cram three weeks worth of pharmacokinetics exercises into one night.

And, although I don’t have any solid scientific evidence behind my theory, I think you’ll retain more of the information you learn.

This will not only help you immensely on the NAPLEX but also if you choose to become Board Certified after graduation.

One Downside

One thing I did learn when researching this section is that I’m a bit biased in this regard and that each student learns differently.

For me, chunking was the way to go.  Some students can get by with cramming.  Although, I think it’s the exception rather than the rule.

Related posts:

1. What If The Pharmacy School Rejects Me?
2. Pharmacy School Rankings Are A Waste of Time
3. Should You Work During Pharmacy School?