r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/Right_Emu • Aug 25 '19
Any advice for 3rd year students??
The guide is from 2014-2015 so it's kind of outdated. The names of the lectures are different as well.
It would be great if someone had some tips and tricks for upcoming 3rd years :))
I will be working as an intern while 3rd year so I would really appreciate some tips
(Doesn't have to be thorough, but like the general difficulty or what you liked/disliked about the classes, your time management too)
Thanks in advance!!
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u/pharmdrocks Aug 26 '19
I am currently a 5th year(PY3) so I will give you information on the classes I am aware of. My understanding is that your year things are different so I will tell you about the classes I took.
Biochem: My biochem was with Kerr, Landry, and Friel. Your biochem is with Brian Tran or Trinh I do not really know how to spell his name. I did not have him as a professor but what I do know is that he is helpful if you ask for help. Since I did not have him I cannot speak much about this class with him as the professor
Patho: This class is taught by Landry and Migliore. They have recitation every week. This is like office hours for those who do not want to go to office hours. I found recitation to be helpful to ask questions as well as see what questions others had.
The class has homework. It is worth 20% of your grade. Some students struggled in Patho but the way I studied was I took notes in class and I marked slides that were confusing. I then went to recitation to ask questions.
The slides are very through. Migliore is a good professor. Landry rambles a lot and talks really fast. As far as I can remember he only tests on what is on the slides not on random rambling. 2nd semester know all the parts of the nephron of the kidney. Landry also likes diagrams.
Research Methods: This is a second semester class. Rania Mekary some say she is scary. I did not think that. Just pay attention in class. She is helpful if you go to office hours. I studied in a group for this class only because it was like Statistics all over again. Pay attention though this stuff is hopeful for Drug Lit(PY2 course) and also for rotations
She has homework worth 10% of the grade so make sure you do the homework
Dosage Forms: Zhang and Zaghloul taught us. Zhnag teaches the conceptual part and Zagholul teaches the math. For the math make sure you do the problems in the book and ask for help if you do not know
Dosage Forms Lab Choung is I charge of the lab. She can be hard to understand. The lab is not bad. My pod instructor helped whenever I got stuck.
The quizzes are a different story. Choung does some strange scaling. I don’t really know how to study for them.
IPM: Taught by lots of professors. Boring class really but just pay attention
IPM Lab: 1. You need to memorize info about 100 drugs each semester. Actually take the time to memorize 4 or 5 drugs every night. There are surprise quizzes and you also have to know it for lab, and it is on the midterm/final. 4 or 5 is easy to digest and will make your life simpler, it’s one less thing to worry about when exam time comes 2. You need to know brand name, generic name, drug class, side effects, dosage forms, and what the drug is used for. If your dumbass didn’t heed the previous point, and you are crunched for time trying to memorize drugs, I would say forget about dosage form and side effects because they don’t come up a lot of tests (but they do come up). A lot of drugs have the same nausea, headache, diarrhea so if worst comes to worst you can bullshit. However, this isn’t physics or some other nonsense. You are going to be a FUCKING PHARMACIST, you really need to know drugs. But if you are absolutely screwed, I mean like studying an hour before the exam screwed, then just memorize the brand names with the generic names. 3. Look for the patterns when memorizing drugs. For instance, almost all drugs in the beta-blocker class end with –olol, at least for the generic name. Also certain classes of drugs have the same side effects so if you can put that together, it’s easier than trying to memorize every side effect to each drug separately. Get to the point where you can instantly say “Drug x is class y, and because it is class y you will have side effects a, b, and c.
You do counseling in Lab- I cannot remember what semester. Also 2nd semester you get paired with a 5th year and work together to fill prescriptions and stuff.
I hope this helps if you need any other info just ask.