Tough week

This week has been pretty stressful. I had an A&P exam on Monday and a Pharm Sci test on Tuesday. Therefore, I spent my weekend at North Metro working my 8 hour shift Saturday and Sunday attempting to study. Most of the time, I am able to concentrate. Not this weekend..I've gotten to that point where I need a little mind break. Just want to sit on the couch and do nothing. Well, there is no time for that right now. After taking A&P yesterday, I thought I had failed. Looked back over my notes and highlighted things I remembered from the exam..will probably see it again on the final. Pretty much everything I remembered I didn't get correct on the exam..kind of upset about that..so I found it pretty hard to focus last night to study for Pharm Sci test for Tuesday morning. I studied much of what I thought was going to be on the test.
Got the test this morning and skipped pretty much half the test! The first page had calculation problems that were so wordy, I got intimidated. Went through the test once and only answered about 20 of the 50. Then I realized I only had 20 minutes left! I immediately went back to the calculations and started punching on the calculator to try to at least get one of the answer choices. I was successful on most of them. With the time I had left, I chose my initial thought of what the answer might be.
In the end, I didn't pass the A&P exam. Only by a few points. Once I calculated my grades thus far, I'm still passing! Thank goodness! As for Pharm Sci, I passed..barely..again thank goodness!
I have learned not to take being in pharmacy school for granted. It is going to be a tough road and there will be bumps. I feel like I am on a roller coaster. One day I am at the top, thinking I am going to be a pharmacist! Other days I am at the bottom, thinking I am going to be a pharmacy school flunk out with a ton of debt.
Gotta keep truckin'! No turning back..just do the best I can.
Goal for this week: just pass!

Tough times..

So the last couple of weeks have been pretty tough..We've had our first Intro to Pharm. Sciences and Immunology tests on the same day, only to have our first A & P exam the following Monday. School is starting to get tough. Every day, there seems to be something to do as well as something to study. After looking at the calendar, we will have at least one exam every week until Thanksgiving. Yuck!
So in my mind, I have been thinking I may not be cut out for this. I am really struggling with where I am in my life. I really want to focus on my family. I want to work on the house. I want to come home and just watch tv. These things are really messing with my mind.
Everyone keeps saying.."you are doing the right thing. It will all be worth it."
I just find it hard to think long term..I want immediate results.
So the lesson I have learned thus far is patience. I have had to be patient to get here; why not be patient to get through it.

Second week...

I survived another week. I must admit I was having second thoughts on Tuesday. I started wondering if I had made the right decision. Pharmacy school is going to take some work and most of my time. I literally took my blood pressure I was feeling so stressed.
I took a moment and thought, honestly I can only do so much. Taking my to do list and crossing off one thing a day will be the best. By Thursday, I was back on track..Not stressing so much...
Passed my first OTC quiz and anatomy Skull ID quiz!
Working on my poster, Safe Medication Disposal, this weekend.

Busy first week...

So here is a quick update...Tuesday, I had Intro to Pharm sciences and Immunology..Not too bad. Started out with a pre quiz in both classes just to see what we knew.

Wednesday was very long..but will be each week 8am-5pm. Yikes! Had first Pt Counseling/Communication class... Two words: Dr. Nesbit. He is an interesting man but I am sure I will learn to appreciate his excitement for life.. A&P after that..then lunch.
During lunch, some of my classmates and I worked on Calculations HW for Intro to Pharm Sciences. Tried to remember how to draw a graph and add/subtract Roman numerals.
Intro to Pharmacy and Health Care Delivery with Dr. Max: We discussed the history behind health care professionals and the pharmacy profession. OK..now for Patient Centered Care: Buckle your seatbelts! We discussed our experiential education experiences..this includes shadowing, patient caring, pharmacy service learning, and IPPEs. WOW alot to take in! But I've got my handy dandy calendar!

Thurday: Not as exciting as the beginning of the week...Interesting things I learned today included: the history of drug regulation in Intro to Pharm Sciences and how to read a CBC to tell if a patient is suffering from anemia, a bacterial infection, or a viral infection. Pretty exciting!

Friday: SO glad it is Friday! Pt Counseling/Communication..always interesting..
The first A&P quiz..I was so nervous! First grade of the first year of pharmacy school..I studied for hours for this quiz..13 questions with at least one being a mathematical question..Hello! The questions were straight from the back of the chapters! Which, of course, I had studied to prepare for the quiz...yeah for me!
I was so relieved! The anatomy portion of the class started today with Dr. Phillips, an Arkansan! (You remember an earlier post about the physiology instructor, Dr. Hao, from China) I understand everything Dr. Phillips is saying! And it was pretty much a review from what I had learned in x ray school. Again yeah for me!

Going to spend the weekend working on my poster topic, calculations homework, reading "The Jungle"(to read for a book review for Intro to Pharm Sciences), and reviewing for any quizzes for next week. Need to learn ~10 OTC drugs

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First Day of Class

So today was officially the first day of class...
Mentor/Mentee groups meet on Monday mornings at 8 am.
My group includes Dr. Jeff Mercer. P2s: Elizabeth, Minh, and Meredith. P1s: Devin and Ankita

• We introduced ourselves, talked about what we like to do in our spare time, and discussed our strengths determined by StrengthsQuest.

A & P: Ok...so here is where it gets interesting..

• Dr. Hao, our physiology instructor, is from China. He was a little hard to understand. I tried to follow the powerpoints and look at the items in my textbook..still very hard to figure out what was going on..

In the end, I went home and read over the chapters and reviewed back over the powerpoints.

After talking to some P2s, they stated they had the same problem. Physiology will pretty much be a self taught course.

First day rating: A little challenging

Week 1: Orientation

Monday:

• Meet and Greet- meet the dean, faculty, and staff of HUCOP (Harding University College of Pharmacy)
  

• Played Bingo-this encouraged us to learn a little bit about our classmates and the faculty

• A few P2s (Cameron, Brian, and Mallory) came and told us a little bit about what they learned in pharmacy school

• Lunch provided by Simmons First (Ann's Bridal; chicken and rice, green beans, roll, and questionable dessert)-found it odd that they were encouraging mortgage loans on our first day of pharmacy school..Hello! We just paid tuition in the amount of a car loan!

• Finally, we had IDs made, connected our laptops to the school's internet, and got a tour of the library. Brittany and I were teamed up and got some M&Ms for being the first to complete an alphabet library game.
• It was a very long day...I got home at 6 pm
  

HOMEWORK: StrengthsQuest (learned about my strengths which are developer, discipline, includer, harmony, and input)

Tuesday:

• Our first assessment: Prior knowledge-this included chemistry, biology, math, and statistics

• Round Tables-this allowed us to meet/learn more about the departments of the college (ex. pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacy practice)

• Lunch- on our own...Brittany and I went to McAlisters

• Round Tables continued...

• Went over strengths and discussed professionalism from our handbooks
  
• Skit Rehearsals (my groups' topic was portraying the pharmacy as if it were Chuck E Cheese)

APA Picnic @ Sherwood Forest (it rained but Corky's BBQ was served inside :)

Wednesday:

• Health Science Reasoning Test..another assessment
• Moodle Training, Register for classes, vehicle registration
• RX for Student Success *aka Psychiatrist came to tell us how to get help if we get overwhelmed
• Lunch provided by Kroger (chicken salad or turkey sandwiches, chips, vegetables, fruit, and cookies)
• NDRT-Reading Assessment
• Student Round Table-learned more about student professional organizations
• Skits performed *My favorites included Pharmacy superheroes (Nexium defeating the acid reflux because Ankita had eaten a jalapeno and pizza) and Pharmacy American Idol (Eunah portrayed Paula Abdul "it was wonderful, you are going to Hollywood!", Shervin portrayed Simon "it was absolutely dreadful")

Thursday

• Last assessment-DIT
• Training on e*value
• Lunch provided by Walmart (Rib Crib) Received calculations ruler and a free subscription to Pharmacist Today
• Scavenger Hunt around campus and Searcy-this allowed us to become familiar with frequent places we may go and places essential to our pharmacy experience. My favorite hunt was driving to Walmart to find out the greeters name ( we received a bonus if we were able to get a smile sticker)

Friday

• Devotional with physician assistant students, meet the president of the university
• Professionalism Panel- physicians, pharmacists, and nurses came to talk about their experiences in the profession
• John Kirtley, PharmD from the AR State Board of Pharmacy came to speak to us about internship applications and training plans
• Lunch on our own- Brittany and I went to Chili's and enjoyed 2 for $20!
• My class and I assembled for the white coat ceremony held in the Heritage Auditorium. My mom, Marybeth, her boyfriend, Cody, and my husband, Clay, attended the ceremony. My name was announced, I walked onto the stage, and I was 'cloaked' with my white coat. I shook the dean, Dr. Julie Hixson-Wallace's hand, had my photo taken, and walked off the stage.

I am excited that I am officially starting my pharmacy school experience!